Kentucky No. 1 in AP Poll, Followed by Arizona, Wisconsin, Duke, Kansas

To the surprise of no one, Kentucky was named the No. 1 team in the first Associated Press poll of the season.

The Wildcats feature nine McDonald’s All-Americans and were also No. 1 in the Coaches’ Poll.

“It’s something for our kids to live up to,” head coach John Calipari said, according to the AP. “At the end of the day, you’ve got to play the games and figure it out.”

Kentucky earned 52 first-place votes from the 65-member panel in landing its fourth preseason No. 1. The Wildcats also were No. 1 in 1995-96, when they won the national championship, and in 1980-81.

Kentucky joins UCLA (1966-60, 1971-74), UNLV (1990-91) and North Carolina (2008-09) to be named preseason No. 1 consecutive seasons since the AP poll started in 1961-62.

Arizona is ranked No. 2, followed by Wisconsin, Duke and Kansas.

“I think there are probably seven teams that all could be No. 1 in the country,” Calipari said.

Four of the Top 10 teams in the poll are in the new look ACC — No. 4 Duke, No. 6 North Carolina, No. 8 Louisville and No. 9 Virginia. Syracuse is also ranked No. 23.

The only ranked Big East team is Villanova at No. 12.

Defending NCAA champion UConn chimes in at No. 17.

AP TOP 25

1. Kentucky
2. Arizona
3. Wisconsin
4. Duke
5. Kansas
6. North Carolina
7. Florida
8. Louisville
9. Virginia
10. Texas
11. Wichita State
12. Villanova
13. Gonzaga
14. Iowa State
15. VCU
16. San Diego State
17. UConn
18. Michigan State
19. Oklahoma
20. Ohio State
21. Nebraska
22. SMU
23. Syracuse
24. Michigan
25. Utah