The North Carolina Tar Heels landed on top of the 2015-16 ACC preseason poll.

Media members made their selections at ACC Media Day on Wednesday.  The Carolina basketball team received 60 out of the possible 89 first-place votes.  The Virginia Cavaliers were picked second, followed by Duke, Notre Dame, and Miami.

In the 47-year history of the ACC preseason poll, the Tar Heels have been selected a record 21 times (20 times outright and 1 tie).  This is the sixth time Carolina has earned the top spot under head coach Roy Williams.

Since joining the ACC in 1953, the Tar Heels have won 29 ACC regular season titles and 17 ACC Tournament championships.

Earlier in the month, the Tar Heels landed on top of the USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll with the Kentucky Wildcats.

Last season, Roy Williams and the Tar Heels reached the finals the ACC Tournament and made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.  They return four starters.

One of those starters, Marcus Paige, landed at the top of another ACC preseason poll.  The Tar Heel guard was named the Preseason ACC co-player of the year. He shares that honor with Virginia’s senior guard Malcolm Brogdon.  Both players received 36 votes on that ballot.

However, Paige did receive the most votes for the 2015-16 Preseason All-ACC Team.  The Tar Heel pulled in 86 votes to Brogdon’s 77 on that ballot.

Paige’s teammate, Brice Johnson, landed on the All-ACC Second Team list.

See the full voting run-down via TheACC.com here.

Williams has previously made note of the high expectations of this team.  “In ’05 I thought we were if not the best, one of the two best teams in the country,” Williams said. “In ’09 I thought we were the best. I think this year we’re one of the best.  And if we play the best down the stretch, then we could be the best,” he continued. “But there’s a big difference there.”

The Tar Heels officially kicked off the 2015-16 season with Late Night With Roy on Friday night.  Their first game is November 13 against Temple.

 

 

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