North Carolina made history today, as the Tar Heels earned the top spot in the Associated Press’ preseason poll for a record-setting ninth time. The Heels—who are coming off of a 26-12 campaign last year—received 35 first-place votes in this season’s inaugural poll. This isn’t too surprising, as North Carolina returns nine of its top 10 from last year’s squad, most notably senior point guard Marcus Paige.
Rounding out the top five of the poll are Kentucky, Maryland, Kansas and Duke. The Wildcats, Terrapins and Jayhawks all received first-place votes in the poll, while the defending national champion Blue Devils were passed over. Outside of that group, the only other team to receive a first-place vote was sixth-ranked Virginia.
Here is the entire top-25, via ESPN:
- North Carolina (35 first-place votes)
- Kentucky (10)
- Maryland (14)
- Kansas (5)
- Duke
- Virginia (1)
- Iowa State
- Oklahoma
- Gonzaga
- Wichita State
- Villanova
- Arizona
- Michigan State
- California
- Indiana
- Utah
- Wisconsin
- Vanderbilt
- Notre Dame
- Connecticut
- LSU
- Baylor
- Purdue
- Butler
- Michigan