Heel Tough Blog: UNC Picked to Finish 3rd in the ACC in 2025-26

Sports Illustrated

Last week, the ACC held its annual preseason event in Charlotte, where coaches and players met with the assembled media ahead of the 2025-26 season. It’s during that time that the preseason voting takes place, and today the results were released, and they set the bar of expectations for the UNC program from a media perspective going into this season. Despite a roster that features 11 new players, and a coach that is believed to be coaching for his job, the media picked UNC to finish 3rd in the ACC, behind defending champion Duke, and the Louisville Cardinals. While Carolina was picked to finish third in the league, they did not receive a first-place vote, as only the two teams mentioned ahead of them received such a thing. 

Listed below are the preseason voting results, as listed on GoHeels.com: 

2025-26 ACC Preseason Poll

School (first-place votes), Points

1. Duke (34), 866

2. Louisville (15), 842

3. North Carolina, 741

4. NC State, 710

5. Virginia, 623

6. SMU, 616

7. Clemson, 510

8. Miami, 500

9. Syracuse, 489

10. Notre Dame, 477

11. Wake Forest, 412

12. Virginia Tech, 355

13. Georgia Tech, 315

14. Pitt, 301

15. Florida State, 221

16. California, 156

17. Stanford, 138

18. Boston College, 107

First-place votes in parentheses; 49 total voters 

In addition to the preseason order of finish, voting is conducted for preseason awards, and All-ACC teams, and incoming five-star freshman, Caleb Wilson, was selected to the Second Team All-ACC Preseason team, while also earning votes for preseason Player of the Year and Preseason Rookie of the Year. Wilson was the only Tar Heel individual to garner preseason accolades, leaving guys like Seth Trimble, Henri Veesaar, and Luka Bogavac off such lists, which should only add fuel to the fire for a motivated team ready to bounce back after last year's disappointing campaign. 

Listed below are the voting results for the Preseason All-ACC teams, Preseason Player of the Year, and Preseason Rookie of the Year, via GoHeels.com as well: 

2025-26 Preseason All-ACC Team

First Team

Name, School, Votes

Cameron Boozer, Duke, 46

Darrion Williams, NC State, 45

Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 46

Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville, 36

Ryan Conwell, Louisville, 36

Second Team

Boopie Miller, SMU, 27

J.J. Starling, Syracuse, 27

Isaiah Evans, Duke, 24

Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 24

Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 24

ACC Preseason Player of the Year

Darrion Williams, NC State, 23 votes

Cameron Boozer, Duke, 19

J.J. Starling, Syracuse, 2

Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 2

Donald Hand Jr., Boston College, 1

Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 1

Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 1

ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year

Cameron Boozer, Duke, 43 votes

Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville, 3

Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 2

Neoklis Avdalas, Virginia Tech, 1

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