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The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll was released on Monday, and voters seem to like Gonzaga the best out of the nation’s mid-major programs.
The Bulldogs earned the No. 14 ranking, three spots ahead of West Coast Conference rival Saint Mary’s, which came in at No. 17.
No. 23 Rhode Island, out of the Atlantic 10, was the third and final mid-major program in the rankings.
Dayton, San Diego State, Wichita State, Monmouth, Princeton, Ohio, and Harvard all fell into the receiving votes category.
Overall, Duke earned No. 1 ranking with 58 first-place votes. No. 2 Kentucky (two first-place votes), No. 4 Villanova (4), and No. 5 Oregon (1) were the other programs to earn the top spot on individual ballots.
The regular season tips off Nov. 11 with an opening week that features a number of early season matchups designed to give teams a chance to prove they may have been overlooked by the voters. Gonzaga faces San Diego State on Nov. 14, Saint Mary’s draws Nevada on opening night, and Rhode Island gets its first test Nov. 19 against Cincinnati.
Dayton, which received the second-most votes of any team to miss the rankings, can make its case with a win at Alabama on the 15th or against Saint Mary’s on the 19th.
The complete AP Poll can be found below:
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke (58) | 0-0 | 1,612 |
| 2 | Kentucky (2) | 0-0 | 1,479 |
| 3 | Kansas | 0-0 | 1,476 |
| 4 | Villanova (4) | 0-0 | 1,465 |
| 5 | Oregon (1) | 0-0 | 1,343 |
| 6 | North Carolina | 0-0 | 1,314 |
| 7 | Xavier | 0-0 | 1,167 |
| 8 | Virginia | 0-0 | 1,149 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 0-0 | 1,135 |
| 10 | Arizona | 0-0 | 1,004 |
| 11 | Indiana | 0-0 | 917 |
| 12 | Michigan State | 0-0 | 903 |
| 13 | Louisville | 0-0 | 755 |
| 14 | Gonzaga | 0-0 | 699 |
| 15 | Purdue | 0-0 | 672 |
| 16 | UCLA | 0-0 | 540 |
| 17 | Saint Mary's | 0-0 | 512 |
| 18 | Connecticut | 0-0 | 504 |
| 19 | Syracuse | 0-0 | 464 |
| 20 | West Virginia | 0-0 | 360 |
| 21 | Texas | 0-0 | 250 |
| 22 | Creighton | 0-0 | 231 |
| 23 | Rhode Island | 0-0 | 199 |
| 24 | Iowa State | 0-0 | 168 |
| 25 | Maryland | 0-0 | 144 |
| Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 110, Dayton 98, Florida State 88, California 74, San Diego State 48, Miami 35, NC State 29, Butler 21, Wichita St 21, Ohio State 18, Virginia Tech 18, Florida 18, Texas A&M 14, Mississippi State 14, Oklahoma 11, Colorado 10, Michigan 8, Monmouth 7, Notre Dame 6, Washington 5, Seton Hall 5, Princeton 2, Ohio 1, Vanderbilt 1, Harvard 1 | |||