North Carolina Tar Heels Top AP Basketball Poll
The North Carolina Tar Heels top the Preseason Associated Press College Basketball Poll for a record ninth time this year. This is a year that keeps building in terms of expectations for the Heels and their roster.
The team of freshmen and sophomores from a couple of years ago is now a team of juniors and seniors. The Heels return every important player from last year’s team except J.P. Tokoto and Jackson Simmons. They have added freshmen Kenny Williams and Luke Maye. The conclusion seems simple, title or bust.
The Heels are not the only team in the top ten of the poll from the state. Their rivals, the Duke Blue Devils, are ranked nearby at five in the poll. Duke is trying to pull something of a Kentucky style turnaround by reloading with coveted freshmen like Chase Jeter and Brandon Ingram. Since a freshman heavy team won it all last year, there is precedent for it to happen again.
There are no other teams in the AP Top 25 from the state. The others receiving votes section is pretty bare too. Davidson, who made it in the Coaches Poll in this additional section, did not make the cut for the AP.
The lone entrant in this bottom section is the N.C. State Wolfpack. This would be a good indicator that the AP believes that State will return to the NCAA Tournament this season, since they are in the top thirty-five.
The Preseason AP Poll
1. North Carolina Tar Heels (35 first-place votes)
2. Kentucky Wildcats (10)
3. Maryland Terrapins (14)
4. Kansas Jayhawks (5)
5. Duke Blue Devils
6. Virginia Cavaliers (1)
7. Iowa State Cyclones
8. Oklahoma Sooners
9. Gonzaga Bulldogs
10. Wichita State Shockers
11. Villanova Wildcats
12. Arizona Wildcats
13. Michigan State Spartans
14. Cal Golden Bears
15. Indiana Hoosiers
16. Utah Utes
17. Wisconsin Badgers
18. Vanderbilt Commodores
19. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
20. UConn Huskies
21. LSU Tigers
22. Baylor Bears
23. Purdue Boilermakers
24. Butler Bulldogs
25. Michigan Wolverines
Next: Marcus Paige: SI Preseason All-America Pick
Others receiving votes:
Oregon 116, SMU 112, West Virginia 84, Texas A&M 72, Cincinnati 63, Miami (FL) 48, Louisville 46, Georgetown 23, NC State Wolfpack 19, Texas 18, Florida State 18, Rhode Island 17, Dayton 12, Xavier 12, Providence 10, Iowa 6, BYU 5, Valparaiso 5, Boise State 4, Old Dominion 3, San Diego State 2, UCLA 2, Oklahoma State 2, Yale 1, UC Irvine 1, Iona 1, Central Michigan 1