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College basketball preseason coaches poll released, Gonzaga and Wichita State make cut

The initial college basketball coaches poll has been released with only Gonzaga and Wichita State representing basketball outside of the power conferences.

"I'm so fancy"
"I'm so fancy"
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The preseason college basketball coaches poll has been released with the majority of the spots being handed out to teams from the Power Conferences.

Despite the parity that the numbers would imply (five teams picked up first place votes), it seems that the coaches still feel that there is a gap remaining between those at the top and everyone else.

Only two teams managed to buck this trend: the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Wichita State Shockers. Gonzaga came in at No. 11 followed just behind by the Shockers at No. 12.

Other schools received votes, but none were close to being included in the initial rankings. Davidson led the way with five points, followed by Stephen F. Austin, Dayton, Belmont and Old Dominion.

Here is the complete 2015-16 college basketball preseason coaches poll:

USA Today Coaches Poll

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS 1ST PREV CHANGE HI/LOW
1 Kentucky Wildcats 38-1 749 11 NR 0 -
1 North Carolina Tar Heels 26-12 749 12 NR 0 -
3 Maryland Terrapins 28-7 723 5 NR 0 -
4 Duke Blue Devils 35-4 686 3 NR 0 -
5 Kansas Jayhawks 27-9 675 1 NR 0 -
6 Virginia Cavaliers 30-4 667 0 NR 0 -
7 Iowa State Cyclones 25-9 541 0 NR 0 -
8 Oklahoma Sooners 24-11 520 0 NR 0 -
9 Villanova Wildcats 33-3 498 0 NR 0 -
10 Arizona Wildcats 34-4 477 0 NR 0 -
11 Gonzaga Bulldogs 35-3 468 0 NR 0 -
12 Wichita State Shockers 30-5 461 0 NR 0 -
13 Michigan State Spartans 27-12 386 0 NR 0 -
14 California Golden Bears 18-15 350 0 NR 0 -
15 Indiana Hoosiers 20-14 312 0 NR 0 -
16 Utah Utes 26-9 250 0 NR 0 -
17 Wisconsin Badgers 36-4 181 0 NR 0 -
18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish 32-6 172 0 NR 0 -
19 LSU Tigers 22-11 163 0 NR 0 -
20 Vanderbilt Commodores 21-14 153 0 NR 0 -
21 Baylor Bears 24-10 145 0 NR 0 -
22 Butler Bulldogs 23-11 132 0 NR 0 -
23 West Virginia Mountaineers 25-10 125 0 NR 0 -
24 Purdue Boilermakers 21-13 110 0 NR 0 -
24 Connecticut Huskies 20-15 110 0 NR 0 -
Others Receiving Votes

Michigan 108; Louisville 93; Texas A&M 58; UCLA 48; Georgetown 45; Cincinnati 43; North Carolina State 36; Oregon 33; Texas 29; Xavier 25; Florida State 25; Miami (Fla.) 11; San Diego State 10; Iowa 8; Davidson 5; Boise State 5; Providence 5; Stephen F. Austin 2; Belmont 2; Ohio State 2; Tulsa 1; Dayton 1; Old Dominion 1; Marquette 1.

Per the USA Today site, the following is the list of voters in the coaches poll: Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's; Jim Boeheim, Syracuse; Todd Bozeman, Morgan State; Glenn Braica, St. Francis Brooklyn; Scott Cherry, High Point; Tim Cluess, Iona; Ed Conroy, Tulane; Keith Dambrot, Akron; Cameron Dollar, Seattle; Scott Drew, Baylor; Matt Driscoll, North Florida; Steve Fisher, San Diego State; Bruiser Flint, Drexel; Mark Fox, Georgia; John Gallagher, Hartford; Matthew Graves, South Alabama; Ray Harper, Western Kentucky; George Ivory, Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa; Rob Jeter, Wisconsin-Milwaukee; James Jones, Yale; Mike McConathy, Northwestern State; Greg McDermott, Creighton; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Matt Painter, Purdue; Randy Rahe, Weber State; Heath Schroyer, Tennessee-Martin; Joe Scott, Denver; Zach Spiker, Army; Wayne Tinkle, Oregon State; Bob Williams, UC-Santa Barbara; Mike Young, Wofford.