NEW YORK, Sporting Alert – Duke is ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball preseason top 25 rankings, which was released on Monday.
The Blue Devils, who were selected as the top-ranked team in the AP top 25 preseason poll for the eighth time in program history, collected 58 of the 65 first-place votes from the national media panel and 1,612 points.
Duke finished last season with a 25-11 record and was at No. 19.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski return three of his starters from last season’s team and has arguably the country’s top recruiting class coming in this season.
“It is always an honor to be ranked No. 1,” coach Krzyzewski said. “We understand that no teams have played a regular season game at this point, so many things can and often do change throughout the course of a college basketball season.
“Certainly, we’re excited that people think highly of our team, and the ACC as a whole.”
Kentucky, which received two first-place votes from the panel, is No. 2 in the rankings, while Kansas, which finished last year as the top-ranked team in the nation, comes in at No. 3 in the preseason release.
Defending national champion Villanova had four No. 1 votes and was selected fourth with Oregon, the team with the other first-place vote, completed the top five.
North Carolina, which has the most preseason No. 1s with nine, is No. 6 this season, while Xavier, Virginia, Wisconsin and Arizona rounded out the top 10.
Indiana is No. 11 and is followed in the top 20 by Michigan State, Louisville, Gonzaga, Purdue, UCLA, which has eight preseason No. 1s, Saint Mary’s, Connecticut, Syracuse and West Virginia.
Texas, Creighton, Rhode Island, Iowa State and Maryland made up the last five teams in the national poll.
Associated Press Preseason Rankings
Released, Oct. 31 – 2016-17 Season
Rankings – Schools (first place votes) – points
1 – Duke (58) – 1,612
2 – Kentucky (2) – 1,479
3 – KANSAS – 1,476
4 – Villanova (4) – 1,465
5 – Oregon (1) – 1,343
6 – North Carolina – 1,314
7 – Xavier – 1,167
8 – Virginia – 1,149
9 – Wisconsin – 1,135
10 – Arizona – 1,004
11 – Indiana – 917
12 – Michigan State – 903
13 – Louisville – 755
14 – Gonzaga – 699
15 – Purdue – 672
16 – UCLA – 540
17 – Saint Mary’s – 512
18 – Connecticut – 504
19 – Syracuse – 464
20 – West Virginia – 360
21 – Texas – 250
22 – Creighton – 231
23 – Rhode Island – 199
24 – Iowa State – 168
25 – Maryland – 144
Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 110, Dayton 98, Florida State 88, California 74, San Diego State 48, Miami 35, NC State 29, Butler 21, Wichita St 21, Ohio State 18, Virginia Tech 18, Florida 18, Texas A&M 14, Mississippi State 14, Oklahoma 11, Colorado 10, Michigan 8, Monmouth 7, Notre Dame 6, Washington 5, Seton Hall 5, Princeton 2, Ohio 1, Vanderbilt 1, Harvard 1
that the Blue Devils have claimed the top spot in the preseason rankings.
