Kentucky ranked No. 2 behind Duke in AP preseason basketball poll
Kentucky is ranked No. 2 in the nation in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason college basketball poll released Monday.
The Wildcats, who opened their 2016-17 season with a 108-51 exhibition win over Clarion on Sunday night, stand behind only Duke, which was almost a unanimous choice at No. 1.
This marks the eighth time Duke has held the preseason No. 1 ranking. North Carolina has the most preseason No. 1s with nine and UCLA also has eight.
The Blue Devils, who return three starters from last season’s team and have what is considered one of the top recruiting classes in the nation, received 58 of the 65 first-place votes from the national media panel.
Kentucky received two first-place votes. The Wildcats were ranked No. 4 in the preseason coaches poll released on Oct. 20, behind Duke, Kansas and Villanova. UK also garnered two first-place votes in that poll.
Kansas is ranked No. 3 to start the season in the AP rankings.
Defending national champion Villanova had four first-place votes and is No. 4 in the poll while Oregon, which had the other No. 1 vote, is fifth.
North Carolina, Xavier, Virginia, Wisconsin and Arizona round out the top 10.
Indiana is 11th followed by Michigan State, Louisville, Gonzaga, Purdue, UCLA, Saint Mary’s, Connecticut, Syracuse and West Virginia.
The last five ranked teams are Texas, Creighton, Rhode Island, Iowa State and Maryland.
“It is always an honor to be ranked No. 1,” Duke Coach Mike 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.”
The Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten are tied with five ranked teams each while the Big 12 has four. Nine conferences have at least one team ranked in the preseason poll. Kentucky is the only representative from the Southeastern Conference.
Kansas extended the nation’s longest consecutive poll streak with its 143rd straight Top 25, a run that started on Feb. 3, 2009. Arizona is next with 79 followed by Iowa State with 57 and Villanova with 55.
The first regular-season poll will be Monday, Nov. 14.
Associated Press Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ preseason 2016-17 college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final 2015-16 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
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Duke (58) | 25-11 | 1612 | 19 |
2. Kentucky (2) | 27-9 | 1479 | 10 |
3. Kansas | 33-5 | 1476 | 1 |
4. Villanova (4) | 35-5 | 1465 | 6 |
5. Oregon (1) | 31-7 | 1343 | 5 |
6. North Carolina | 33-7 | 1314 | 3 |
7. Xavier | 28-6 | 1167 | 9 |
8. Virginia | 29-8 | 1149 | 4 |
9. Wisconsin | 22-13 | 1135 | - |
10. Arizona | 25-9 | 1004 | 17 |
11. Indiana | 27-8 | 917 | 14 |
12. Michigan St. | 29-6 | 903 | 2 |
13. Louisville | 23-8 | 755 | 16 |
14. Gonzaga | 28-8 | 699 | - |
15. Purdue | 26-9 | 672 | 12 |
16. UCLA | 15-17 | 540 | - |
17. Saint Mary’s | 29-6 | 512 | - |
18. UConn | 25-11 | 504 | - |
19. Syracuse | 23-14 | 464 | - |
20. West Virginia | 26-9 | 360 | 8 |
21. Texas | 20-13 | 250 | - |
22. Creighton | 20-15 | 231 | - |
23. Rode Island | 17-15 | 199 | - |
24. Iowa St. | 23-12 | 168 | 22 |
25. Maryland | 27-9 | 144 | 18 |
Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 110, Dayton 98, Florida St. 88, California 74, San Diego St. 48, Miami 35, N.C. State 29, Butler 21, Wichita St. 21, Florida 18, Virginia Tech 18, Ohio St. 18, Mississippi St. 14, Texas A&M 14, Oklahoma 11, Colorado 10, Michigan 8, Monmouth 7, Notre Dame 6, Washington 5, Seton Hall 5, Princeton 2, Ohio 1, Harvard 1, Vanderbilt 1.
This story was originally published October 31, 2016 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Kentucky ranked No. 2 behind Duke in AP preseason basketball poll."