Every year at this time, I get to fill out two separate All-ACC ballots. One of those votes helps to decide the official teams and other honorees that are released by the conference office, and the other often serves as a tiebreaker in the annual awards handed out by the ACC Sports Journal and ACCSports.com.

That may be as close to "important" as I come in my life as a sportswriter, so I'm reaching out to you for help. This is one responsibility I'd really hate to screw up. All thoughtful, rational input is welcome. Thanks in advance.

There is some urgency here. The ACC regular season will end on Sunday, and my vote as a member of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA) is due by 8 that night. ACSMA produces the "official" All-ACC teams, which are recognized by the ACC office and the league's member schools and released via the Associated Press.

The ACC Sports Journal balloting gets a bit more creative. First, we now give our voters (including, every year, numerous Sports Journal readers) through the ACC Tournament to send in their votes. We also include many categories -- e.g., assistant coach of the year, best official, best interview, best media-relations person, writer, columnist, TV play-by-play guy, TV color commentator, radio play-by-play guy, radio color commentator, etc. -- that obviously are not included in the official voting. Feel free to make nominations for those awards as well.

Without further ado, here's the "rough draft" of my ballot, heading into this weekend's games. In the interest of space, I'll leave out my explanations for my choices until later, although I will say that I give a lot of credit for (1) players who have to be "the man" and whose presence takes a lot of pressure off their teammates, (2) two-way performers and (3) mentally and physically tough guys who play hard consistently.

Player of the Year: J.J. Redick, Duke

Defensive Player of the Year: Shelden Williams, Duke

Rookie of the Year:Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina

Coach of the Year: Roy Williams, North Carolina

First-Team All-ACC: J.J. Redick, Duke; Shelden Williams, Duke; Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina; Craig Smith, Boston College; Sean Singletary, Virginia.

Second-Team All-ACC: Jared Dudley, Boston College; Al Thornton, Florida State; Robert Hite, Miami; Guillermo Diaz, Miami; (you tell me).

Third-Team All-ACC: I have plenty of ideas, but for now I'm open to suggestions.

All-Freshman: Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina; Josh McRoberts, Duke; Tyrese Rice, Boston College; Bobby Frasor, North Carolina; Greg Paulus, Duke.

All-Defensive: Shelden Williams, Duke; Jamon Gordon, Virginia Tech; Vernon Hamilton, Clemson; (you tell me); (you tell me).

That's all for now. Thanks again, in advance, for the help. (Bonus points for those of you who make an argument for someone who is NOT on your favorite team.) Fire away!!