The AP Top 25 preseason rankings for the 2022-23 campaign are out ,and while it doesn’t matter nearly as much as it does in the world of college football, it does offer an interesting barometer for a feel of the nation’s top competitors.
Hubert Davis’ North Carolina team, runner-up of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, comes in as the top-ranked team in the country. Defending March Madness champion Kansas comes in at tied for fifth alongside fellow Big 12 team Baylor. Four teams received first-place votes as well.
Other notables include No. 2 Gonzaga; No. 7 Duke (in the first year of the post-Mike Krzyzewski era); and No. 8 UCLA, among others.
Six conferences have multiple entries in the initial poll: The SEC and Big 12 each lead all conferences with five ranked teams, while the ACC, Pac-12 and Big Ten each have three apiece. The Big East has two.
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No. 2 Gonzaga remains the lone West Coast Conference member ranked, No. 3 Houston, No. 19 San Diego State and No. 24 Dayton give the American Athletic, Mountain West and Atlantic 10 conferences one representative apiece.
With that, The Sporting News looks at the initial rankings for the 2022-23 college basketball season:
AP Top 25 preseason rankings
Rank | Team | Points (1st place) |
1. | North Carolina | 1,532 (47) |
2. | Gonzaga | 1,479 (12) |
3. | Houston | 1,404 (1) |
4. | Kentucky | 1,364 (2) |
T-5. | Baylor | 1,200 |
T-5. | Kansas | 1,200 |
7. | Duke | 1,168 |
8. | UCLA | 1,093 |
9. | Creighton | 1,060 |
10. | Arkansas | 1,026 |
11. | Tennessee | 880 |
12. | Texas | 844 |
13. | Indiana | 745 |
14. | TCU | 735 |
15. | Auburn | 623 |
16. | Villanova | 578 |
17. | Arizona | 543 |
18. | Virginia | 462 |
19. | San Diego State | 394 |
20. | Alabama | 281 |
21. | Oregon | 260 |
22. | Michigan | 229 |
23. | Illinois | 215 |
24. | Dayton | 170 |
25. | Texas Tech | 122 |
Other receiving votes: Texas A&M 112; UConn 101; Miami 66; Purdue 56; Saint Louis 36; Michigan St. 35; Florida State 32; Xavier 29; Wyoming 25; Ohio State 23; Iowa 13; Rutgers 4; USC 3; Florida 3; Toledo 1; UAB 1; Memphis 1; Virginia Tech 1; Notre Dame 1.
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