Clemson, Watson headline ACC’s preseason selections
Clemson and quarterback Deshaun Watson are the preseason picks for Atlantic Coast Conference favorite and player of the year.
The reigning champion Tigers were picked on 144 of 191 votes released Monday from media members attending last week’s league media days. Atlantic Division rival Florida State was second with 39 votes, while Coastal Division favorite North Carolina was picked on seven.
“We want to finish with no regrets,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said during the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte. “Even had we won the game, for us, we’re going to start over. We’re going to go back to the basics and try and reinstall our program, the core values of our program, get everybody on the same page with a common purpose and go grind. That’s just what we’re always going to do.”
The Tigers earned 148 first-place votes as the Atlantic favorite over FSU, which had 42 votes.
The Tar Heels earned 121 first-place votes as the Coastal favorite as they come off an 11-win season.
Miami was picked second with 50 first-place votes, followed by Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Duke, Georgia Tech and Virginia.
Watson earned 164 votes as player of the year, while FSU running back
Dalvin Cook was second
with 18.
BARRETT, KING LEAD THE WAY IN BIG TEN
Ohio State quarterback
J.T. Barrett and Iowa cornerback Desmond King highlight the preseason all-Big Ten selections.
Barrett was selected to the East team along with Michigan defensive back
Jabrill Peppers, Michigan State defensive lineman
Malik McDowell, Ohio State linebacker Raekwon McMillan and Penn State running back Saquon Barkley by a media panel. Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard and defensive back Desmond King, Northwestern running back Justin Jackson and linebacker
Anthony Walker, and Wisconsin running back Corey Clement were West picks.
SUN BELT COMMISH PREDICTS STABILITY
Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson won’t rule out Big 12 expansion plans affecting his own conference.
Still, Benson called the Sun Belt’s planned membership “perfect” in terms of geography, and he stressed that he envisions a period of stability in which member institutions will enjoy budding regional rivalries and see their football programs prosper.
“I truly hope that we can focus on 2016, what we know, what we can control, what we can achieve — and not get bogged down in speculation and rumors about conference membership,” Benson said Monday in his state-of-the-Sun Belt address at the conference’s annual preseason football media day. “Obviously, if the Big 12 or SEC or ACC made that phone call to a Sun Belt president or chancellor, he or she would be foolish not to have that discussion.
“However, I’ve said more than once that I will know that the Sun Belt has reached a level of sustainability and stability when a phone call comes from the president or chancellor of one of the Sun Belt’s peer conferences to a Sun Belt president or chancellor, and the answer will be, “Thank you very much, but my university is very happy where we are.’ That’s exactly where I believe the Sun Belt is today.”