UNC sixth, Duke 9th in preseason AP poll
For the second time in its storied basketball history, Kansas is No. 1 in The Associated Press' preseason Top 25.
The Jayhawks were a runaway choice Thursday, receiving 55 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel to easily outdistance Michigan State, which was No. 1 on five ballots.
Kansas has all five starters and the top nine scorers back from last season's team that went 27-8 and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament. The Jayhawks also feature a recruiting class considered among the nation's best.
The Jayhawks received great news when guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich, last season's leading scorers, decided to return to school rather than test the NBA draft. Then brothers Xavier and C.J. Henry decided to enroll in Lawrence, making the Jayhawks the early national favorite as well as the choice to win a sixth straight Big 12 title.
Michigan State has seven of the top nine scorers back from the team that lost to North Carolina in the national championship game.
Texas, Kentucky and Villanova rounded out the top five, while North Carolina, a unanimous preseason No. 1 last season, was sixth. Kentucky received three first-place votes and Texas and North Carolina got one each. Purdue, West Virginia, Duke and Tennessee completed the top 10.
The Big Ten has six teams in the preseason poll, one more than the Big East. The ACC had four and the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference three each.
The Associated Press men's basketball poll
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' preseason 2009-10 college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final 2008-09 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last year's final ranking:
| RK | SCHOOL | W-L | POINTS | PRV. |
| 1. | Kansas (55) | 27-8 | 1,612 | 14 |
| 2. | Michigan State (5) | 31-7 | 1,515 | 8 |
| 3. | Texas (1) | 23-12 | 1,397 | — |
| 4. | Kentucky (3) | 22-14 | 1,372 | — |
| 5. | Villanova | 30-8 | 1,347 | 11 |
| 6. | North Carolina (1) | 34-4 | 1,320 | 2 |
| 7. | Purdue | 27-10 | 1,284 | 17 |
| 8. | West Virginia | 23-12 | 1,115 | — |
| 9. | Duke | 30-7 | 1,064 | 6 |
| 10. | Tennessee | 21-13 | 897 | — |
| 11. | Butler | 26-6 | 864 | 22 |
| 12. | Connecticut | 31-5 | 844 | 5 |
| 13. | California | 22-11 | 800 | — |
| 14. | Washington | 26-9 | 776 | 15 |
| 15. | Michigan | 21-14 | 578 | — |
| 16. | Ohio State | 22-11 | 465 | — |
| 17. | Oklahoma | 30-6 | 410 | 7 |
| 18. | Mississippi State | 23-13 | 393 | — |
| 19. | Louisvile | 31-6 | 335 | 1 |
| 20. | Georgetown | 16-15 | 326 | — |
| 21. | Dayton | 27-8 | 318 | — |
| 22. | Georgia Tech | 12-19 | 301 | — |
| 23. | Illinois | 24-10 | 282 | — |
| 24. | Clemson | 23-9 | 217 | 24 |
| 25. | Minnesota | 22-11 | 172 | — |
Others receiving votes: Maryland 171, Siena 112, Notre Dame 107, Florida State 92, Vanderbilt 90, Syracuse 83, Oklahoma State 65, UCLA 63, Florida 53, Wake Forest 50, Xavier 42, Gonzaga 37, South Carolina 28, Kansas State 24, BYU 21, Northern Iowa 16, Tulsa 16, Mississippi 15, Texas A&M 10, Missouri 8, Boston College 6, Pittsburgh 4, Utah St. 2, Va. Commonwealth 2, Western Kentucky 2, Holy Cross 1, Old Dominion 1.
Related Links
Search News-Record.com
closeSearch News & Record Article Archives
Not all of the newspaper's content appears online.
*There is a fee for downloading some older articles.
