I was out of the house this evening, so I'm a little late to the party here, but the ACC preseason basketball poll came out today. Unsurprisingly, Duke topped the list; more importantly, Maryland came in at sixth. The full list after the jump, via the ACC's official site:
2010-11 ACC Basketball Predicted Order of Finish
1. Duke
2. Virginia Tech
3. North Carolina
4. NC State
5. Florida State
6. Maryland
7. Clemson
8. Miami
9. Georgia Tech
10. Boston College
11. Virginia
12. Wake Forest
2010-11 ACC Preseason All-Conference Team
Kyle Singler, Duke (unanimous)
Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech
Nolan Smith, Duke
Tracy Smith, NC State
Chris Singleton, Duke [sic]
Calling the ACC "up for grabs" is an understatement. Duke will almost certainly be #1, and UNC and VT will jostle for #2.
Past that? N.C. State has talent, but they're unproven and have Sidney Lowe. Florida State has Chris Singleton and some solid guards (and a potential breakout star in Michael Snaer) but do you really have any faith in FSU? Will Brad Brownell succeed at Clemson?
There's a lot of room for Maryland to succeed here, especially if Jordan Williams and Sean Mosley progress as they could. Sixth sounds about right, but there's potential to be higher.