Sept. 24, 2008

CHAPEL HILL - The 2008-09 edition of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook will be available on newsstands and at bookstores soon, and the respected annual has named North Carolina as the top team in the nation in its preseason poll.

Blue Ribbon also picked Carolina to win the Atlantic Coast Conference for a third consecutive season and named Tar Heel senior Tyler Hansbrough as its preseason ACC and National Player of the Year.

Hansbrough, the consensus National Player of the Year last season, heads Blue Ribbon's first-team All-America squad, joining Blake Griffin (Oklahoma), Luke Harangody (Notre Dame), Darren Collison (UCLA) and Stephen Curry (Davidson). The second team is Tyler Smith (Tennessee), Tyrese Rice (Boston College), Sam Young (Pittsburgh), James Harden (Arizona State) and Damion James (Texas). The third team includes Duke's Kyle Singler and Miami's Jack McClinton.

Carolina tops Blue Ribbon's preseason national poll and is one of three ACC teams in the poll. Duke comes in at No. 8 and Miami is No. 14. Other 2008-09 UNC opponents in the Blue Ribbon preseason poll include possible Maui Invitational opponents Notre Dame (No. 3) and Texas (No. 10) and ACC/Big Ten Challenge foe Michigan State (No. 13).

Blue Ribbon's predicted order of finish in the ACC for 2008-09 is Carolina in first place, followed by Duke, Miami, Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Maryland, NC State, Boston College and Virginia.