North Carolina Tar Heels: Atop the Basketball Coaches Poll

The North Carolina Tar Heels were number one in the Coaches Poll released today. This came as quite a shock since the Heels have 1 loss on the season already and were in a bye week last week. Also shocking was that they shared the floor with the Kentucky Wildcats, who I did not think were having crazy football success wither. What did Ohio State do to tick off the voters so?

There is an easy answer of course, this is a basketball poll. A preseason basketball poll invading in the middle of the day into the college football season. So the North Carolina Basketball Tar Heels are expected to be number 1 when the season starts. They are tied with the basketball Kentucky Wildcats for that top spot though they did have more first place votes than Kentucky.

The two teams offer an interesting contrast to each other. Much of Kentucky’s team is brand new following the almost perfect season from last year. North Carolina is keeping the same roster intact with the addition of only one impact freshman. This story line of talent versus experience may be a false one, but look for it to reappear again and again if the two teams seemed destined to meet.

Duke’s new kid roster is already ranked fourth in the country as the Devils look to defend their national championship season of last year. ACC rival Virginia is 6 and former ACC rival Maryland is 3. Down below the poll, the NC State Wolfpack and Davidson Wildcats received votes. Just receiving votes makes you top 40, which is close to a NCAA lock for a bid.

Preseason Coaches Poll

1. Kentucky Wildcats (11 first-place votes)
1. North Carolina Tar Heels (12)
3. Maryland Terrapins (5)
4. Duke Blue Devils (3)
5. Kansas Jayhawks (1)
6. Virginia Cavaliers
7. Iowa State Cyclones
8. Oklahoma Sooners
9. Villanova Wildcats
10. Arizona Wildcats
11. Gonzaga Bulldogs
12. Wichita State Shockers
13. Michigan State Spartans
14. California Golden Bears
15. Indiana Hoosiers
16. Utah Utes
17. Wisconsin Badgers
18. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
19. LSU Tigers
20. Vanderbilt Commodores
21. Baylor Bears
22. Butler Bulldogs
23. West Virginia Mountaineers
24. Purdue Boilermakers
24. UConn Huskies