This never gets easier, but the least you can do is be prepared and put in prep work.

All-ACC voting is important to me, and so I think it’s important to also be transparent with my ballot. I think this makes five of the last six years that I’ve voted for these awards and every time, I’ve made no secret about who I voted for and I’ve provided context about why for some of the picks.

The All-ACC teams will be announced Tuesday at about 4:30 on ACC Network’s “ACC PM.” The players and rookie of the year picks will be announced at about the same time Wednesday, followed by the coach of the year announcement on Thursday.

Here is the ballot I submitted:

Offense

QB – Drake Maye (UNC)

RBs – Israel Abanikanda (Pitt), Trey Benson (FSU)

WRs – Zay Flowers (BC), Josh Downs (UNC), A.T. Perry (WF)

TE – Oronde Gadsden II (Cuse)

All-purpose back – Will Shipley (Clem)

OTs – Graham Barton (Duke), Matt Goncalves (Pitt)

OGs – Chandler Zavala (NCST), Marcus Minor (Pitt)

C – Grant Gibson (NCST)

My Take: Pretty straightforward here, right?

It matters that Maye didn’t finish the season strong, but I don’t think the second-team QB (keep scrolling for the spoiler) did enough to overtake the second-year UNC QB.

This would’ve been trickier if Gadsden was nominated as a WR; thankfully, he was not. Flowers and Downs were cemented into their spots; Perry’s strong finish to the season gave him the edge against a couple of guys on the second-team.

As noted on Twitter: There were four running backs in the league who stood out. Benson separated himself in the second half of the season and Abanikanda’s numbers were awesome. So it basically came down to Shipley being the all-purpose back and Sean Tucker landing on the second-team.

I will note: Jordan McFadden won the ACC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy on Monday, which goes to the top offensive lineman based on a poll of head coaches and defensive coordinators. I hate the timing of having to vote on All-ACC before we know who wins that award.

Defense

DEs – Kaimon Rucker (UNC), KJ Henry (Clem)

DTs – Calijah Kancey (Pitt), DeWayne Carter (Duke)

LBs – Yasir Abdullah (Lou), SirVocea Dennis (Pitt), Nick Jackson (UVA)

CBs – Fentrell Cypress II (UVA), Zamari Walton (GT)

Safeties – Tanner Ingle (NCST), Erick Hallett II (Pitt)

Special teams

K – Christopher Dunn (NCST)

P – Lou Hedley (Miami)

Returner – Will Shipley (Clem)

My Take: Linebacker was the toughest position to pick throughout all three teams. If you wanted to take my three second-team picks and make arguments for each of them that they should’ve been first-team picks, I’d have little issue with it.

Abdullah is the only one who was locked into my first-team going into the research process because (spoiler) he’s my defensive player of the year pick.

Kancey and Carter were easier first-team picks than I thought they’d be; DE was harder to pick than I thought it’d be but … it lacks some star power, at least compared to years past.

Ingle and Hallett were two others who were easy to plug into those spots a couple of weeks ago based on the eye test, and then easier to confirm when diving into the numbers.

Also, on my soapbox for a minute: It makes zero sense that we vote for 13 offensive positions but only 11 defensive positions — especially in light of how much more important versatility and depth are to college defenses than offenses. More than half of the ACC’s defenses play a 4-2-5 as their base defense, why not create a nickel position? Evidenced by Abdullah’s season, Clemson isn’t the only team with freaks of nature playing linebacker; why not create a hybrid EDGE/LB position?

Offense

QB – Jordan Travis (FSU)

RBs – Sean Tucker (Cuse), Henry Parrish Jr. (Miami)

WRs – Antoine Green (UNC), Jared Wayne (Pitt), Tyler Hudson (Lou)

TE – Will Mallory (Miami)

All-purpose back – Nate McCollum (GT)

OTs – Matthew Bergeron (Cuse), Jordan McFadden (Clem)

OGs – Dylan Gibbons (FSU), D’Mitri Emmanuel (FSU)

C – Bryan Hudson (Lou)

Defense

DEs – Donovan Ezeiruaku (BC), Davin Vann (NCST)

DTs – Kobie Turner (WF), Tyler Davis (Clem)

LBs – Cedric Gray (UNC), Drake Thomas (NCST), Ryan Smenda Jr. (WF)

CBs – Anthony Johnson (UVA), Aydan White (NCST)

Safeties – Brandon Johnson (Duke), Kamren Kinchens (Miami)

Special teams

K – B.T. Potter (Clem)

P – Ben Kiernan (UNC)

Returner – M.J. Devonshire (Pitt)

My Take: Another week like last week and maybe Travis is my pick over Maye for first-team QB. If Travis is back at FSU next season, it’ll certainly make for a hell of a debate between the two entering the year of which one is better.

Johnson is Duke’s nickel and is the perfect example of why position flexibility is needed for the defensive voting. I would’ve had him as a first-team pick as a cornerback.

Davis’ numbers aren’t great and it’s hard to overlook how Clemson was run over by Notre Dame, but his game against Wake Forest was the best single-game defensive lineman performance I saw this season.

Offense

QB – Sam Hartman (WF)

RBs – Justice Ellison (WF), Treshaun Ward (FSU)

WRs – Johnny Wilson (FSU), Jalon Calhoun (Duke), Kaleb Smith (VT)

TE – Bryson Nesbit (UNC)

All-purpose back – Lawrance Toafili (FSU)

OTs – Asim Richards (UNC), DeVonte Gordon (WF)

OGs – Marcus Tate (Clem), Loic Ngassam Nya (WF)

C – Maurice Smith (FSU)

Defense

DEs – Jared Verse (FSU), Jasheen Davis (WF)

DTs – YaYa Diaby (Lou), Leonard Taylor (Miami)

LBs – Shaka Heyward (Duke), Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (Clem), Mikel Jones (Cuse)

CBs – Marquis Williams (Pitt), Tyrique Stevenson (Miami)

Safeties – Darius Joiner (Duke), Malik Mustapha (WF)

Special teams

K – James Turner (Lou)

P – Aidan Swanson (Clem)

Returner – Mycah Pittman (FSU)

My Take: The most-agonizing pick on the ballot was picking Hartman or Riley Leonard for the third-team QB. I spent way more time on it than I should have, looked at it from a bunch of different angles, and have been second-guessing it constantly since filing the vote on Sunday.

Hartman was the better passer; Leonard the better runner. Leonard was more balanced and had more ball security; Hartman was asked to do more and delivered wins against a nine-win team (FSU) and an eight-win team (Liberty).

You can only play who’s on your schedule … but it matters to me that Leonard (and Duke’s) only win against a bowl-eligible team this season was in the finale against Wake Forest.

Davis landing here after basically being a backup for WF most of the season might surprise you, but then it would also surprise you that in ACC-only games, he was second in the league in TFLs.

Offensive player of the year

Drake Maye, UNC

Defensive player of the year

Yasir Abdullah, Lou.

Player of the year

Drake Maye, UNC

Offensive rookie of the year

Drake Maye, UNC

Defensive rookie of the year

Mansoor Delane, VT

Coach of the year

Mike Elko, Duke

My Take: It’s kind of similar to the quarterback discussion: Maye’s end to the regular season wasn’t up to par with the rest of his season, but it wasn’t enough to derail him from being the pick (IMO).

It matters to me that he’s a first-time starter, and it matters to me that partially because of scheme and partially because of a revolving door of running backs, he had to not only lead UNC through the air, but also rushing (629 yards, 6 touchdowns).

It’s fairly clear in my mind that Abdullah was the defensive player who made the biggest difference this season. Versatility and turnover creation have become the most-valuable commodities to a college defense, and Abdullah had eight sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles and 13 TFLs.

My feelings on Elko’s candidacy for coach of the year are kind of well-documented at this point. A first-year staff taking over a roster that was as downtrodden as it gets and having a five-win turnaround, going 3-1 in November, is a remarkable effort all around.

Throw in the fact that Duke was never out of a game, and that it’s a team that’s one or two bounces/calls away from playing Clemson in Charlotte this weekend instead of UNC … this was the easiest selection on the ballot.