First AP Top 25 basketball poll is out: Where are Duke and UNC ranked?
Duke and North Carolina are both in transition phases but their basketball programs are still considered among the nation’s top teams entering the new season.
The preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll has Duke at No. 9 and UNC at No. 19.
The Tar Heels have a new coach in Hubert Davis, previously assistant coach who took over as head coach following Roy Williams retirement last April.
Duke has Mike Krzyzewski on the sidelines for his 42nd season with the Blue Devils. But Krzyzewski announced his retirement plan in June and Duke selected associate head coach Jon Scheyer to take over as head coach following this season.
The Blue Devils went 13-11 last season, missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995. But they are the highest rated ACC team entering this season.
In addition to Duke and UNC, the other ACC teams in the top 25 are Florida State at No. 20 and Virginia at No. 25.
This is the 14th consecutive season Duke has been ranked in the top 10 of the AP preseason poll. The last time Duke as not ranked in the preseason AP poll was 1995, when the program was last coming off missing the NCAA tournament.
This season’s Blue Devils will be tested by two other preseason top 10 teams, and another one from elsewhere in the top 25, in the season’s first three weeks. Duke opens the season Nov. 9 against Kentucky, ranked No. 10, in the Champions Classic at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
The Blue Devils face preseason No. 1 Gonzaga on Nov. 26 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. They travel to Columbus, Ohio, to play No. 17 Ohio State on Nov. 30.
At UNC, Davis takes over a program that made the NCAA tournament last March but lost 85-62 to Wisconsin in the first round to finish with an 18-11 record.
This is the 16th consecutive season UNC has been ranked in the preseason poll. The Tar Heels were at No. 16 in last season’s initial AP poll.
AP Top 25 preseason poll
| Place | Team | Points |
| 1 | Gonzaga (55) | 1,562 |
| 2 | UCLA (8) | 1,459 |
| 3 | Kansas | 1,427 |
| 4 | Villanova | 1,332 |
| 5 | Texas | 1,315 |
| 6 | Michigan | 1,255 |
| 7 | Purdue | 1,213 |
| 8 | Baylor | 992 |
| 9 | Duke | 963 |
| 10 | Kentucky | 894 |
| 11 | Illinois | 861 |
| 12 | Memphis | 831 |
| 13 | Oregon | 775 |
| 14 | Alabama | 713 |
| 15 | Houston | 694 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 673 |
| 17 | Ohio State | 581 |
| 18 | Tennessee | 563 |
| 19 | North Carolina | 547 |
| 20 | Florida State | 381 |
| 21 | Maryland | 294 |
| 22 | Auburn | 267 |
| 23 | St. Bonaventure | 238 |
| 24 | Connecticut | 161 |
| 25 | Virginia | 125 |
Others receiving votes: Michigan State 87, Indiana 41, USC 30, Arizona 26, Virginia Tech 25, Oklahoma State 25, Xavier 22, Texas Tech 17, Richmond 13, Rutgers 11, Colorado State 11, LSU 7, Belmont 7, San Diego State 5, St. John’s 5, Mississippi State 5, Syracuse 5, Drake 4, Colorado 4, BYU 3, Notre Dame 3, Louisville 3.
Point values in parentheses indicate the number of first place votes.
This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 12:07 PM.