Duke favored to win the ACC and Parker, Hood named Preseason All-ACC in the preseason polls

With the college basketball season right around the corner it is time for preseason polls to start making their way into the news cycle. Monday, at the ACC media day, the ACC preseason poll results were released.

With 50 of 54 first place votes, Duke finished atop the ACC preseason poll. This marks the 13th time in the Mike Krzyzewski era that Duke earned the top spot in this poll. Newcomer Syracuse finished second in the poll with three first place votes, followed by perennial ACC powerhouse North Carolina, who earned the final first place vote. Virginia and Notre Dame finished out the top five. Other teams of note included No. 6 Pittsburgh, No. 7 Maryland, No. 9 Florida State, No. 10 N.C. State and No. 12 Miami.

Both Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team. Though neither have played a single minute of Blue Devil Basketball, the two forwards are projected to be the focal point of the Duke offense this season. Aside from the young Blue Devil players, the rest of the All-ACC team was comprised of seniors—Syracuse forward C.J. Fair, Virginia guard Joe Harris and Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant. Fair averaged 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game for the Orange as a junior, also adding more than a steal and a block per game. Harris was one of the top players in the ACC last season, scoring 16.3 points per game while grabbing 4.0 rebounds. Grant scored 13.3 points and added 5.5 assists per game as a junior for the Fighting Irish.

Parker and Fair earned other honors as well. Parker earned 52 of 54 votes for ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year, with the only dissenting vote going to Syracuse's Tyler Ennis—one ballot was left blank. Fair was named ACC Preseason Player of the year, receiving one more vote than Harris for that title. Hood finished third in the Player of the Year vote with seven votes, and Parker was fourth with five.