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College Basketball: No Surprises in the 2015-16 Associated Press Preseason Basketball Poll

By James Fitzgerald

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The Associated Press released their 2015-16 Associated Press Preseason Basketball Poll and to be honest there were very few if any surprises in the Top 25.

All the preseason hype has culminated into the North Carolina Tar Heels topping the the AP Poll as the No.1 team receiving 35 No.1 votes and 1,566 total points.

North Carolina has been viewed as the team to beat all offseason long because they return “National Player of the Year” candidate Marcus Paige at the point along with one of the best rebounding frontcourt tandems in the land in Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks.

UNC has not taken home the NCAA crown since 2009, and the consensus is that this is Roy Williams’ best chance to grab another title.

Kentucky and their No.1 recruiting class is ranked No.2 according to the Associated Press Basketball Poll. John Calipari is going to lean on freshman sensations Jamal Murray, Isaiah Briscoe and Skal Labissiere to make a run at the championship which eluded UK last year.

Kentucky hopes that a healthy Alex Poythress could be the difference maker they need to meet their expectations for this season.

Don’t know if they are going to be able to equal the undefeated run that last year’s Wildcats attempted to make, but this team is going to factor in the Final Four picture.

No. 3 in the poll was the Maryland Terrapins who is another squad that has received a lot of hype during the offseason and rightfully so.

(Photo: Mitch Stringer, Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports)

Melo Trimble and Jake Layman are expected to blend in with Diamond Stone who is one of the top freshman in the land, as well as transfers Rasheed Sulaimon and Robert Carter Jr. to make Mark Turgeon’s Terps a contender.

Maryland has received as much hype as North Carolina and the two teams will meet up for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Dec 1st.

The Kansas Jayhawks chimed in at No.4 in the A.P. poll which is a slight surprise considering that just behind them is the Defending Champion Duke Blue Devils at No.5.

Kansas is ranked above Duke because of the experience that they are going to be returning to the court.

Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden, and Frank Mason will lead a squad that lost in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32 last season to Wichita State.

Bill Self is hoping that the NCAA will clear his top recruit Cheick Diallo who is having eligibility issues. Diallo alongside Perry Ellis would give the Jayhawks a very formidable frontcourt.

Duke being No. 5 is not disrespect at all. Though they are the defending champions, the cornerstones of that team have all moved on to the NBA.

So Duke will be defending their crown with the the second best recruiting class in the country headlined by Brandon Ingram and Chase Jeter.

Mixing this freshman class in with sophomore Grayson Allen along with seniors Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee is going to be interesting to watch, but it should not take long at all for Coach K to push the right buttons with this team.

The full Associated Press Preseason Basketball Poll Top 25 looked like this care of SI.com:

1. North Carolina

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2. Kentucky

3. Maryland

4. Kansas

5. Duke

6. Virginia

7. Iowa State

8. Oklahoma

9. Gonzaga

10. Wichita State

11. Villanova

12. Arizona

13. Michigan State

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    • 14. California

    15. Indiana

    16. Utah

    17. Wisconsin

    18. Vanderbilt

    19. Notre Dame

    20. Connecticut

    21. LSU

    22. Baylor

    23. Purdue

    24. Butler

    25. Michigan

    This poll is going to change a few times before conference play starts. If there is any team that should be able to crack the Top 10 before conference play begins you have to look at the No. 14 California Golden Bears.

    Cuonzo Martin returns a whole lot of talent including senior leading scorer Tyrone Wallace who dropped 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds on the stat sheet last season.

    Wallace will be joined by highly touted freshman Ivan Rabb and Jaylen Brown making the California Golden Bears a contender for the PAC-12 crown.

    This is just the beginning of a six month journey to crown a champion.

    Next: BYU Cougars 2015-16 Season Preview

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