USA TODAY International Edition
Duke is No. 1 in USA TODAY coaches poll
First regular- season hoops rankings quite different from preseason, with four of top six from the ACC.
The first USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll of the regular season is out, and it looks considerably different from the preseason rankings. The changes start all the way at the top.
Duke takes over at No. 1, a position with which the program is quite familiar. The Blue Devils will head the coaches poll for the 115th time, the most appearances at the top since USA TODAY began administering the rankings in 1991.
Duke’s 4- 0 start to the current season began with a win against Kansas at Madison Square Garden at the same event where preseason No. 1 Michigan State lost to Kentucky.
The Blue Devils picked up 25 of 32 first- place votes. Louisville moved up to No. 2, picking up a single No. 1 vote. The Spartans dropped to third overall but retained four first- place nods. The remaining firsts went to Kansas, which finished fifth overall in this week’s voting, and No. 7 Maryland.
The Atlantic Coast Conference claimed four of the top six positions with North Carolina checking in at No. 4 and reigning NCAA champion Virginia moving up to No. 6. Gonzaga, Ohio State and Kentucky round out the top 10. The Wildcats appeared on the verge of assuming the No. 1 spot but suffered a stunning home loss to Evansville.
No. 19 Virginia Commonwealth heads a group of four new teams in the top 25.
Florida, which began the season at No. 6 but has lost twice early, took the most precipitous drop all the way out of the rankings.