North Carolina is ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll for the ninth time, the most of any school in history.
The Tar Heels received 35 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel. Kentucky is ranked second with 10 first-place votes, followed by Maryland, which had 14 first-place votes, and Kansas, which was No. 1 on five ballots.
Carolina, which features four projected 2016 NBA Draft picks according to DraftExpress.com, was last ranked No. 1 in 2011-12.
“I do feel like we’re going to be a good basketball team,” said head coach Roy Williams. “I’m excited for our kids, because this is one of the best groups that I’ve ever worked with. We made a nice run last year but were disappointed with the way it ended. Hopefully we will use that as fuel to be the best team we can be this year. There are so many good teams, I don’t see how anybody could pick just one to be No. 1 at this point of the season. But it’s certainly nice to be one of those teams under consideration.”
Here are the rankings:
1. North Carolina
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
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
