The Arizona Wildcats landed in the top 10 of the preseason college basketball rankings by The Associated Press, and while ASU and GCU didn’t make the top 25, they each received some love from voters in the poll.
Arizona is No. 10 in the AP rankings and the fifth-ranked team in its new Big 12 Conference.
Grand Canyon received three points in the voting, while ASU got two.
The new-look Big 12, which lost Oklahoma and Texas but welcomed Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado, has three of the top five and five of the top 10 in the preseason AP poll. The SEC leads the way with nine in the Top 25.
Kansas was picked first in the AP Top 25 preseason men’s basketball poll Monday, getting the No. 1 nod on half of the 60 ballots from a national media panel to start the season ahead of Alabama and two-time defending national champion UConn.
Kansas scooped up 30 first-place votes from the AP panel. The Crimson Tide, led by All-American guard Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson, earned 14 first-place votes and UConn, which is trying to become the first school since John Wooden’s teams at UCLA to win three straight titles, received 11 first-place votes and is third.
Houston earned four first-place votes and is fourth ahead of Iowa State, which returns its top four scorers from a team that was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga received one first-place vote and is the sixth.
Duke, led by consensus No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, is seventh ahead of Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona in the top 10.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
| Team | Record | Pts | Prv |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Kansas (30) | 0-0 | 1449 | 19 |
| 2. Alabama (14) | 0-0 | 1428 | 3 |
| 3. UConn (11) | 0-0 | 1345 | 1 |
| 4. Houston (4) | 0-0 | 1343 | 3 |
| 5. Iowa St. | 0-0 | 1177 | 8 |
| 6. Gonzaga (1) | 0-0 | 1157 | 15 |
| 7. Duke | 0-0 | 1154 | 9 |
| 8. Baylor | 0-0 | 1109 | 16 |
| 9. North Carolina | 0-0 | 1037 | 7 |
| 10. Arizona | 0-0 | 905 | 11 |
| 11. Auburn | 0-0 | 901 | 18 |
| 12. Tennessee | 0-0 | 775 | 5 |
| 13. Texas A&M | 0-0 | 737 | – |
| 14. Purdue | 0-0 | 678 | 2 |
| 15. Creighton | 0-0 | 631 | 13 |
| 16. Arkansas | 0-0 | 625 | – |
| 17. Indiana | 0-0 | 492 | – |
| 18. Marquette | 0-0 | 484 | 12 |
| 19. Texas | 0-0 | 332 | – |
| 20. Cincinnati | 0-0 | 271 | – |
| 21. Florida | 0-0 | 249 | – |
| 22. UCLA | 0-0 | 210 | – |
| 23. Kentucky | 0-0 | 191 | 20 |
| 24. Mississippi | 0-0 | 132 | – |
| 25. Rutgers | 0-0 | 102 | – |
Others receiving votes: Illinois 92, St. John’s 91, Xavier 73, Texas Tech 58, Wake Forest 37, Kansas St 30, Michigan St. 29, Ohio St. 29, Michigan 19, BYU 14, Oregon 12, McNeese St. 11, Miami 11, Boise St. 9, Saint Louis 9, Clemson 9, Providence 9, Mississippi St. 6, VCU 6, Wisconsin 5, Saint Mary’s 5, Louisville 4, UAB 4, Ark Little Rock 3, Grand Canyon 3, Arizona St 2, San Diego St. 2, Princeton 2, High Point 1, Maryland 1.
