Duke and UNC Open Season in AP Top 10

The Associated Press released their first men’s college basketball Top 25 Poll ahead of the upcoming season. Michigan State is the top ranked team, followed by Kentucky and Kansas. ACC powerhouses Duke and UNC were ranked 4th and 9th respectively.

Rank	Trend	Team	Conference	Record	Points	Game scores	Share
1	–	Michigan State	Big Ten	32-7	1,619(60)	_	Share
2	–	Kentucky	SEC	30-7	1,497(2)	_	Share
3	–	Kansas	Big 12	26-10	1,457(3)	_	Share
4	–	Duke	ACC	32-6	1,399	_	Share
5	–	Louisville	ACC	20-14	1,386	_	Share
6	–	Florida	SEC	20-16	1,313	_	Share
7	–	Maryland	Big Ten	23-11	1,134	_	Share
8	–	Gonzaga	West Coast	33-4	1,096	_	Share
9	–	North Carolina	ACC	29-7	1,060	_	Share
10	–	Villanova	Big East	26-10	1,048	_	Share
11	–	Virginia	ACC	35-3	1,007	_	Share
12	–	Seton Hall	Big East	20-14	863	_	Share
13	–	Texas Tech	Big 12	31-7	837	_	Share
14	–	Memphis	American Athletic Conference (AAC)	22-14	773	_	Share
15	–	Oregon	Pac-12	25-13	742	_	Share
16	–	Baylor	Big 12	20-14	523	_	Share
17	–	Utah State	Mountain West	28-7	491	_	Share
18	–	Ohio State	Big Ten	20-15	407	_	Share
19	–	Xavier	Big East	19-16	356	_	Share
20	–	Saint Mary’s (Cal)	West Coast	22-12	330	_	Share
21	–	Arizona	Pac-12	17-15	265	_	Share
22	–	LSU	SEC	28-7	234	_	Share
23	–	Purdue	Big Ten	26-10	230	_	Share
24	–	Auburn	SEC	30-10	210	_	Share
25	–	VCU	Atlantic 10	25-8	193	_	Share

Others receiving votes:Washington 164, Colorado 152, Tennessee 78, Marquette 68, Florida St. 36, Davidson 34, Harvard 24, Illinois 14, Missouri 13, Mississippi St. 12, Houston 11, Georgetown 11, Cincinnati 8, Notre Dame 7, Creighton 4, Syracuse 3, NC State 3, Vermont 2, Alabama 2, Southern Cal 2, Liberty 2, Michigan 2, Dayton 1, Colgate 1, Providence 1.

More than 60 sports writers and broadcasters of AP-affiliated media from around the country help determine the teams that appear in the polls. All voters have extensive backgrounds in covering college basketball. The team rankings are decided by a points system based on how each voter ranks college basketball’s best teams. A team receives 25 points for each first place vote, 24 for second place and so on through to the 25th team, which receives one point. The rankings are set by listing the teams’ point totals from highest to lowest.

Duke will open their season against 3rd ranked Kansas in the State Farm Champions Classic November 5th. The Tar Heels will tip off their season the very next day in a conference matchup against Notre Dame.