If Jamie Dixon’s Pitt Panthers are going to improve off a disappointing 2014-15 season and return to the NCAA Tournament, it looks as if they will have to surprise a lot of people.
The Panthers, who are coming off a 19-15 season in 2014-15, were selected 10th in the ACC as voted upon by the league’s media members.
North Carolina were tabbed the conference favorites after receiving 60 of 89 first-place votes in Wednesday’s preseason poll. Virginia received 18 first-place votes and placed second in the voting, while defending national champion Duke (eight first-place votes) placed third.
Defending ACC champion Notre Dame received one first-place and placed fourth, followed by Miami, Florida State (one first-place vote) and Louisville. North Carolina State placed eighth, while Syracuse (one first-place vote) finished ninth. Pitt placed 10th, while Wake Forest, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Boston College rounded out the voting.
Individually, North Carolina senior guard Marcus Paige and Virginia senior guard Malcolm Brogdon were named Preseason ACC Co-Players of the Year, while Duke freshman Brandon Ingram was the overwhelming choice as ACC Preseason Freshman of the Year.
The Panthers could be getting overlooked a bit as they return four starters, including ALL_ACC performers Michael Young and Jamel Artis, along with point guard James Robinson. Pitt should be pretty deep and should be pretty competitive.
Pitt opens the year against Gonzaga in Okinawa, Japan (Nov. 13) in the Armed Forces Classic.
The entire preseason ACC voting breaks down as follows:
ACC Operation Basketball 2015-16 Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parenthesis) Team & Points
1. North Carolina (60): 1292
2. Virginia (18): 1226
3. Duke (8): 1187
4. Notre Dame (1): 949
5. Miami: 841
6. Florida State (1): 827
7. Louisville: 821
8. NC State: 808
9. Syracuse (1): 666
10. Pitt: 623
11. Wake Forest: 391
12. Clemson: 359
13. Georgia Tech: 296
14. Virginia Tech: 260
15. Boston College: 134
2015-16 Preseason All-ACC Team (votes in parenthesis)
First team
Marcus Paige, Sr., North Carolina (86)
Malcolm Brogdon, Sr., Virginia (77)
Xavier Rathan-Mayes, So., Florida State (43)
Brandon Ingram, Fr., Duke (29)
Demetrius Jackson, Jr., Notre Dame (28)
Second team
Anthony Gill, Sr., Virginia (27)
Grayson Allen, So., Duke (27)
Zach Auguste, Sr., Notre Dame (24)
Anthony “Cat” Barber, Jr., NC State (22)
Brice Johnson, Sr., North Carolina (22)
ACC Preseason Co-Players of the Year
Marcus Paige, Sr., North Carolina
Malcolm Brodgon, Sr., Virginia
ACC Preseason Freshman of the Year
Brandon Ingram, Duke
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
