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GREENSBORO — Duke or North Carolina? Tar Heels or Blue Devils? Who's best in the ACC?

Apparently, it's too close to call this season.

For the first time in the 41-year history of the balloting, the preseason ACC basketball poll ended in a tie at the top with Duke and North Carolina each scoring 545 points. In all, 48 media voters cast ballots at ACC Operation Basketball at Grandover Resort. Duke led with 25 first-place votes. Carolina got 20, but got more second-place votes than Duke in the weighted balloting.

Georgia Tech received two first-place votes and Wake Forest got one.

Both Duke and Carolina got votes based on the potential of freshman players. The Blue Devils lost two starters from last season's team, while the Heels lost five of their top seven scorers.

"There's always some value to (the polls)," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "... But now, you're voting on the unknown. &ellipses; We do realize that's part of it. The game changes every year. Your personnel changes every year. Part of that is exciting. I like that experienced talent, but if you don't have experienced talent, then plain ol' talent is the second choice, and I think we've got some of that."

Even so, Williams hinted that No. 1 in the poll might be a bit much.

"The unrealistic expectations are now, because these guys haven't done anything," Williams said. "In some ways this is even more difficult. Last year, people said 'You're going to be really good,' and I said, 'Yeah, we are.' Now, when we leave here today, people are going to say, 'You're going to be really good.' And you know what I'm going to say? 'I have no idea.' "

Duke's Kyle Singler — who moves from power forward to the perimeter this season — was named the ACC's preseason player of the year, edging Maryland's do-it-all senior Greivis Vasquez.

Vasquez, Singler, Clemson forward Trevor Booker, Virginia Tech point guard Malcolm Delaney and North Carolina forward Ed Davis made the preseason All-ACC team.

Georgia Tech forward Derrick Favors was the overwhelming rookie of the year choice, getting 40 of 48 votes.

SITE CHANGE: Atlanta will still host the 2012 ACC Tournament, but the venue has changed.

Philips Arena, which seats a little over 20,000 fans, will host the games instead of the cavernous Georgia Dome.

Last year's tournament drew an average attendance of 26,352 -- the second-highest in the event's history, but well short of the football stadium's capacity.

The Greensboro Coliseum hosts five of the next six ACC Tournaments, starting with this season's event.

NORTH CAROLINA: Freshman John Henson was the runner-up in the rookie of the year balloting, and coach Roy Williams said the 6-foot-10 forward gives the Tar Heels rare versatility.

Case in point: So far in practice, Henson has taken — and hit — more 3-point shots than starting point guard Larry Drew.

"John Henson has not played the low-post spot once yet in practice," Williams said. "Every practice has been as a (small forward). So in saying that, we're going to have a big lineup sometimes. &ellipses; We're going to work on all the different combinations we can, and we've had some unusual combinations already in practice."

With such a big lineup — the Heels also have incumbent big men Deon Thompson, Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller — will North Carolina go away from Williams' preferred man-to-man defense? Don't bet on it.

"I haven't worked on a zone (defense) yet, but everybody says we'll have to play it," Williams said. "I'm still resisting it."

DUKE: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski is in his 30th season at Duke, and he shows no signs of slowing down.

Krzyzewski, 62, said there was no timetable for the rest of his career and retirement is not an option any time soon.

"I feel like I could coach for a while," Krzyzewski said. "I think my Olympic experience has helped that."

Krzyzewski, who led Team USA to a gold medal at the Beijing Games, has signed on to coach another Olympic team. He said the national team experience has rejuvenated his career.

"When you stop learning, you stop living," Krzyzewski said. "Well, coaching the Olympic team was a learning experience for me. That's one of the big things (I took) from it. Instead of reducing shelf life, it's increased shelf life."

N.C. STATE: A role player last season, 6-9 senior forward Dennis Horner has become one of the Wolfpack's leaders during the preseason.

Surprised? You shouldn't be, Horner said, because this Wolfpack team could be full of surprises. One of the biggest could come from Greensboro Day School.

"Johnny Thomas is a kid who worked hard in the offseason and surprised all of us with his ability and his style of play during pickup games," Horner said.

Thomas played in just 14 games last season, averaging 2.1 points as a redshirt freshman. He sat out his first year at N.C. State with a serious knee injury.

"He's been injured, so we hadn't really seen the real Johnny Thomas until this summer," Horner said. "It's just everything with him: he can get to the basket, his ability to shoot the ball, how athletic he is. I think a lot of people will be surprised."

Pack coach Sidney Lowe said Thomas still shows some lingering effects from the surgery.

"Johnny has had a tough time, and he's up and down because of the injury," Lowe said. "He'll have a couple of great days, but then it'll tighten up on him at the end of a practice and the next day he can barely bend it. I feel so bad for him, because he works so hard. You want to see him succeed, but I worry about him."

WAKE FOREST: Senior point guard Ish Smith started shaking his head no even before the end of the question.

Did head coach Dino Gaudio deserve all the criticism he got after Wake Forest's one-and-done performances at last season's ACC and NCAA tournaments?

"Absolutely not," Smith said. "It absolutely wasn't fair. I might be biased, but I feel like coach Gaudio is one of the best coaches in the ACC. Hopefully, this year as a team we can prove it."

After a 16-0 start and a No. 1 national ranking, Wake finished 24-7 despite having two players — power forward James Johnson and point guard Jeff Teague — who were first-round NBA draft picks.

"I think the hardest thing as a coach is coaching a lot of talent," Smith added. "It's easy to have a really good player and a bunch of role players that you can count on to set a screen here or there. We had a lot of talent, and coach Gaudio pushed us to climb that ladder last year, and we crumbled at the end. Obviously, he's going to take the heat. But it wasn't his fault at all. Sometimes, as players, you've got to put responsibility on yourselves."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com