Arizona basketball, Big 12 dominate top 10 in first USA Today Coaches Poll

The preseason men’s basketball poll is out after the 31 coaches on the voting panel submitted their ballots. The ranking is dominated by teams from the Power Four conferences and has traditional powerhouse programs occupying most of the top positions.

The University of Arizona Wildcats checked in at No. 9, Grand Canyon and Arizona State did not crack the Top 25, but GCU received three votes from the panel.

Arizona opens its season on Nov. 4 at home against Canisius and later in November takes on Wisconsin and Duke.

ASU has an exhibition on Sunday at Duke and opens its season on Nov. 5 at home against Idaho State. The Sun Devils meet GCU on Nov. 14 at Footprint Center.

Like previous seasons since the advent of the transfer portal, there has been a tremendous amount of roster turnover with players in new places, and it may be hard to get up to speed on what these teams look like. That’s why we’re here to help with our annual outlook for every team in the USA TODAY Sports preseason men’s basketball coaches poll.

1. Kansas (23-11)

Points: 743 (15 first-place votes). Last year’s final ranking: 21.

Entering the campaign with the highest ranking didn’t work out so well for the Jayhawks a season ago. But there’s a lot of production back in Lawrence, and coach Bill Self and his staff hope the depth issues that led to KU’s atypical second-round NCAA tournament exit have been addressed. The returning nucleus of center Hunter Dickinson (18.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg), forward KJ Adams (17.9 ppg, 10.9 rpg) and guard Dajuan Harris (9.0 ppg) will be joined by reinforcements from the portal. Those include sharpshooter Rylan Griffen from Alabama and swingman AJ Storr from Wisconsin.

2. Alabama (25-12)

Points: 718 (6 first-place votes). Last year’s final ranking: 4.

The program’s first Final Four squad returns a number of experienced hands, as well as an infusion of new talent that could lead to the ultimate prize. The cornerstone will again be high-scoring guard Mark Sears (21.5 ppg), a…

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Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

Publish date : 2024-10-23 16:42:00

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