As ACC Kickoff came to an end on Monday, the preseason ballots had to be turned in and the final results of the player voting will be made available on Wednesday afternoon. But the voting for who will finish where in each Division was certainly interesting, particularly in the wide-open Coastal Division.
Of the 112 ballots cast, Florida State was the no-brainer pick to win the ACC with 104 of the 108 voters that picked a champion. Two picked Clemson and two picked Virginia Tech, interestingly enough. Florida State has been picked to win the league in 2011, 2012 and its first 14 seasons in the ACC (1992-05), which is quite a run.
Florida State was picked to win the Atlantic by 109 of the 112 voters (the other three picked Clemson). But the Coastal was a lot more wide open as all but one team got at least one first-place vote. Miami led the way with 614 points, but the Hurricanes only got 26 first-place votes, fewer than two teams lower than them on the ballot (Duke, picked second, got 33 first-place votes and North Carolina, picked fourth, got 27). Virginia Tech was picked third and got 23 first-place votes.
And of course, Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston was the pick of 99 of the 108 voters who picked a Player of the Year, with Clemson defensive end Vic Beasley getting six votes. The others were fairly logical -- Miami's Duke Johnson and Duke's Jamison Crowder -- but Virginia Tech quarterback Brenden Motley was perhaps the most random pick of the last few years.
As one of the 112 ballots, I voted for Florida State to win the league and Winston as Player of the Year. Will he repeat last year's performance? It will be tough, but there's no one that sticks out right now as a logical successor. If I had to take the field or Winston, I'd take the field -- but not by much, and that wasn't an option on the ballot. A year older and better with one of the nation's best offensive lines, though, it's all right there for Winston.
Here's the rest of my ballot:
COASTAL DIVISION
1. Miami
2. Duke
3. North Carolina
4. Virginia Tech
5. Pittsburgh
6. Georgia Tech
7. Virginia
ATLANTIC DIVISION
1. Florida State
2. Clemson
3. Louisville
4. Syracuse
5. Boston College
6. NC State
7. Wake Forest
PRESEASON ALL-ACC OFFENSE
QB: Jameis Winston, Florida State
RB: Duke Johnson, Miami
RB: Karlos Williams, Florida State
WR: Jamison Crowder, Duke
WR: Tyler Boyd, Pittsburgh
TE: Nick O'Leary, Florida State
OT: Cameron Erving, Florida State
OG: Tre' Jackson, Florida State
OG: Shaquille Mason, Georgia Tech
OT: Ereck Flowers, Miami
C: Austin Barron, Florida State
PRESEASON ALL-ACC DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
DE: Vic Beasley, Clemson
DT: Luther Maddy, Virginia Tech
DT: Adam Gotsis, Georgia Tech
DE: Mario Edwards, Florida State
LB: Denzel Perryman, Miami
LB: Quayshawn Nealy, Georgia Tech
LB: Kelby Brown, Duke
CB: P.J. Williams, Florida State
CB: Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech
S: Jeremy Cash, Duke
S: Anthony Harris, Virginia
PK: Niklas Sade, NC State
P: A.J. Hughes, Virginia Tech
ST: Ryan Switzer, North Carolina
