Advertisement

Duke Blue Devils top first college basketball coaches poll

By The Sports Xchange
Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski on Jan. 25, 2015, just one win away from 1,000 career victories. Duke tops college basketball's first coaches poll. File photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski on Jan. 25, 2015, just one win away from 1,000 career victories. Duke tops college basketball's first coaches poll. File photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Duke opens the season as the top-ranked college basketball team in the nation, according to the preseason USA Today coaches poll released Thursday.

The Blue Devils received 27 of 32 first-place votes. Kansas is second and defending national champion Villanova is third. Kentucky and Oregon round out the top five.

Advertisement

Duke is the preseason No. 1 in the coaches poll for the first time since 2010.

The Blue Devils feature a strong trio of returners in guards Grayson Allen and Matt Jones as well as forward Amile Jefferson. The Blue Devils also feature a strong freshman class though forward Harry Giles, rated the No. 1 recruit in the nation by ESPN, recently underwent knee surgery that will cause him to miss the beginning of the season.

Kansas, which received one first-place vote, is reloading but features an impact freshman in forward Josh Jackson.

The Jayhawks and Duke meet Nov. 15 in the Champions Classic at New York's Madison Square Garden. No. 4 Kentucky meets No. 9 Michigan State in the night's other contest.

Villanova also received a first-place vote and returns two stars from last season's NCAA title team in guards Josh Hart and Kris Jenkins.

Advertisement

No. 4 Kentucky received two first-place votes and is once again reloading behind freshmen. No. 5 Oregon, which received one first-place vote, won't have star forward Dillon Brooks (foot surgery) at the start of the season.

North Carolina is sixth and Virginia is seventh as part of five ACC teams in the Top 25. The Big Ten also has five ranked teams.

Xavier is ranked eighth and viewed as a trendy Final Four selection. The Musketeers return three starters from a team that won 28 games last season.

Wisconsin is ranked 10th, followed by Arizona, Indiana and Gonzaga.

Louisville checks in at No. 14 on the same day that it was revealed that coach Rick Pitino is charged with failure to monitor the basketball program, stemming from the investigation into allegations made by a former escort.

Purdue is 15th, followed by Connecticut, Syracuse, West Virginia and Saint Mary's. UCLA is ranked 20th.

Rounding out the Top 25 are Maryland, Texas, Creighton, Rhode Island and Cincinnati.

Latest Headlines