North Carolina guard Dexter Strickland isn't buying the hype surrounding N.C. State. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Good stuff – no, great stuff – here from Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. Goodman recently visited Chapel Hill and spent some time with Dexter Strickland, the North Carolina senior guard.

 The pair talked about Strickland’s injury last season, about how things might have been different had he remained healthy. And, oh yes, the topic of N.C. State came up. The Wolfpack, after all, were picked to win the ACC for the first time since coming off their national championship season in 1974.

Roy Williams, Dexter Strickland and the Tar Heels have history on their side after being picked to finish third in the ACC. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Back from a long day yesterday at the ACC’s annual basketball media day, where voters picked North Carolina to finish third in the conference.

Which got to me thinking: What has happened the other times that UNC has been picked to finish third?

UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp said the university would likely raise entrance requirements for incoming athletes, but coach Roy Williams said he is unaware of any impending changes. CHUCK LIDDY

CHARLOTTE — University of North Carolina Chancellor Holden Thorp said in an interview with The News & Observer last month that the university would likely raise entrance requirements for athletes ahead of a more stringent NCAA policy that will go into effect in 2016.

But Tar Heels basketball coach Roy Williams said here on Wednesday that he was unaware of any imminent changes to UNC’s admittance standards for athletes.

Marcus Paige and the Tar Heels are No. 12 in the preseason coaches' poll. ROBERT WILLETT

CHARLOTTE — North Carolina will begin the season ranked No. 12 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, which was released earlier today. The Tar Heels are the third ACC team in the poll, behind No. 6 N.C. State and No. 8 Duke.

The Associated Press’ top 25 poll will be released later this month.

You can find the complete coaches poll right here.

Roy Williams has remained active in practice while he recovers from surgery to remove a tumor from his kidney. ROBERT WILLETT

CHARLOTTE — Remember that stuff Roy Williams said last week about how he might need to take it easy while he recovered from surgery to remove a tumor from his kidney?

Well, it hasn’t exactly happened that way. At least not during UNC’s first few practices.

The Tar Heels began preseason practice on Saturday, and Williams has been as feisty and fiery as ever, said Reggie Bullock, the UNC junior guard. 

North Carolina sophomore forward James Michael McAdoo doesn't consider this a rebuilding year for the Tar Heels. ROBERT WILLETT

CHARLOTTE — North Carolina lost its top four players from a season ago. Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller all were selected among the top 17 picks in the NBA draft. The Tar Heels lost nearly 70 percent of its scoring and rebounding, and nearly 80 percent of assists.

So it’s not surprise, then, that UNC arrived here in Charlotte at the ACC’s annual media day without the kind of hype and expectations that surrounded the Heels at the start of the past two seasons. Or is it a surprise? Reggie Bullock, the junior guard, said he hasn’t felt any difference without those high expectations.

“I don’t feel like it’s calmer at all,” he said. “I feel like we still have the bulls eye on our back.” 

Reggie Bullock will have to become a go-to player for North Carolina to reach its potential this season. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — I’ll be making the drive to Charlotte early Wednesday morning for the ACC’s annual basketball media day. We’ll hear from some of the league’s players. We’ll hear from all of the league’s coaches. And members of the media will try to predict how the teams will finish.

Here’s what my preseason ballot will look like:

UNC will rely on freshmen J.P. Tokoto, Joel James, Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — The ACC earlier today released the results of its first-ever ACC preseason men’s basketball coaches poll. The league’s coaches selected North Carolina to finish third, behind N.C. State and Duke. The Tar Heels received one first-place vote.

The ACC will host its annual basketball media day on Wednesday in Charlotte. The conference will then release the predicted order of finish from media members who cover the league.

In the meantime, here are the results of the coaches poll: 

UNC coach Roy Williams said on Thursday he plans to coach another six to 10 years. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Roy Williams didn’t know what a bucket list was until the movie bearing the same name came out in 2007. Williams still hasn’t seen it. But he has thought in recent days and weeks about his own bucket list – about things he’d like to do before his time is up.

UNC coach Roy Williams on Wednesday had a biopsy on a tumor on his left kidney. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina coach Roy Williams on Wednesday underwent a biopsy to determine the pathology of a tumor on his left kidney, Tar Heels basketball spokesman Steve Kirschner said.

Williams, 62, already has endured one surgery to remove a tumor on his right kidney. Doctors performed that procedure on Sept. 19 at UNC Hospitals and they determined that the tumor was an oncocytoma, a benign tumor of that is often indistinguishable from kidney cancer on x-rays. Those tumors do not spread.