College basketball is almost here. On Monday, the first AP poll of the new season was released with North Carolina edging Kentucky for No. 1. The Tar Heels and Wildcats also tied atop the Coach’s Poll, released on Oct. 15.
College basketball rankings: Kentucky, North Carolina tie for No. 1 in first poll of the season
There’s two familiar names on top of the first poll of the season.
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Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Kentucky and North Carolina bring back wildly different teams. Kentucky lost its top seven scorers to the NBA, but return contributors like point guard Tyler Ulis, forward Alex Poythress and big man Marcus Lee. John Calipari has, of course, also added another round of talented freshmen, led by Canadian guard Jamal Murray and center Skal Labissiere.
UNC will not be relying on freshmen. The Tar Heels only lost one starter from a Sweet 16 team a year ago, and will return one of the biggest and most experienced squads in the country. Senior point guard Marcus Paige and junior big man Kennedy Meeks lead the way.
Reigning national champion Duke comes in at No. 4 after losing three star freshmen to the NBA, as well as guard Quinn Cook to graduation. Duke has again reloaded with freshmen, this time led by wing Brandon Ingram. Kansas, the No. 5 team in the poll, returns a deep and experienced roster, but is stuck waiting to see if five-star freshman big man Cheick Diallo will be eligible.
The rest of the poll can be found below:
2015-16 AP Preseason Poll
| RANK | TEAM (FIRST) | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina Tar Heels (35) | 1566 |
| 2 | Kentucky Wildcats (10) | 1520 |
| 3 | Maryland Terrapins (14) | 1487 |
| 4 | Kansas Jayhawks (5) | 1410 |
| 5 | Duke Blue Devils | 1350 |
| 6 | Virginia Cavaliers (1) | 1347 |
| 7 | Iowa State Cyclones | 1185 |
| 8 | Oklahoma Sooners | 1088 |
| 9 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 1047 |
| 10 | Wichita State Shockers | 1032 |
| 11 | Villanova Wildcats | 1013 |
| 12 | Arizona Wildcats | 917 |
| 13 | Michigan State Spartans | 838 |
| 14 | California Golden Bears | 757 |
| 15 | Indiana Hoosiers | 755 |
| 16 | Utah Utes | 499 |
| 17 | Wisconsin Badgers | 433 |
| 18 | Vanderbilt Commodores | 393 |
| 19 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 360 |
| 20 | Connecticut Huskies | 307 |
| 21 | LSU Tigers | 268 |
| 22 | Baylor Bears | 265 |
| 23 | Purdue Boilermakers | 236 |
| 24 | Butler Bulldogs | 223 |
| 25 | Michigan Wolverines | 126 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Oregon (0-0) 116; SMU (0-0) 112; West Virginia (0-0) 84; Texas A&M (0-0) 72; Cincinnati (0-0) 63; Miami (Fla.) (0-0) 48; Louisville (0-0) 46; Georgetown (0-0) 23; NC State (0-0) 19; Florida State (0-0) 18; Texas (0-0) 18; Rhode Island (0-0) 17; Dayton (0-0) 12; Xavier (0-0) 12; Providence (0-0) 10; Iowa (0-0) 6; Brigham Young (0-0) 5; Valparaiso (0-0) 5; Boise State (0-0) 4; Old Dominion (0-0) 3; Oklahoma State (0-0) 2; UCLA (0-0) 2; San Diego State (0-0) 2; Central Michigan (0-0) 1; UC Irvine (0-0) 1; Iona (0-0) 1; Yale (0-0) 1 | ||
USA Today Coaches Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | 1ST | PREV | CHANGE | HI/LOW |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky Wildcats | 38-1 | 749 | 11 | NR | 0 | - |
| 1 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 26-12 | 749 | 12 | NR | 0 | - |
| 3 | Maryland Terrapins | 28-7 | 723 | 5 | NR | 0 | - |
| 4 | Duke Blue Devils | 35-4 | 686 | 3 | NR | 0 | - |
| 5 | Kansas Jayhawks | 27-9 | 675 | 1 | NR | 0 | - |
| 6 | Virginia Cavaliers | 30-4 | 667 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 7 | Iowa State Cyclones | 25-9 | 541 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 8 | Oklahoma Sooners | 24-11 | 520 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 9 | Villanova Wildcats | 33-3 | 498 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 10 | Arizona Wildcats | 34-4 | 477 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 11 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 35-3 | 468 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 12 | Wichita State Shockers | 30-5 | 461 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 13 | Michigan State Spartans | 27-12 | 386 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 14 | California Golden Bears | 18-15 | 350 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 15 | Indiana Hoosiers | 20-14 | 312 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 16 | Utah Utes | 26-9 | 250 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 17 | Wisconsin Badgers | 36-4 | 181 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 18 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 32-6 | 172 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 19 | LSU Tigers | 22-11 | 163 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 20 | Vanderbilt Commodores | 21-14 | 153 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 21 | Baylor Bears | 24-10 | 145 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 22 | Butler Bulldogs | 23-11 | 132 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 23 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 25-10 | 125 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 24 | Purdue Boilermakers | 21-13 | 110 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| 24 | Connecticut Huskies | 20-15 | 110 | 0 | NR | 0 | - |
| Others Receiving Votes Michigan 108; Louisville 93; Texas A&M 58; UCLA 48; Georgetown 45; Cincinnati 43; North Carolina State 36; Oregon 33; Texas 29; Xavier 25; Florida State 25; Miami (Fla.) 11; San Diego State 10; Iowa 8; Davidson 5; Boise State 5; Providence 5; Stephen F. Austin 2; Belmont 2; Ohio State 2; Tulsa 1; Dayton 1; Old Dominion 1; Marquette 1. | |||||||
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