AP College Basketball Poll 2015: 1st Regular-Season Rankings Released

The Associated Press released its debut regular-season Top 25 college basketball poll on Monday, with the North Carolina Tar Heels as the No. 1 team in the country.

Kentucky, Maryland, Kansas and Duke respectively round out the Top Five, while Virginia is only seven points behind the Blue Devils and received one first-place vote. Check out the complete rankings below:

Rank	Team (1st-Place Votes)	Points
1	North Carolina (37)	1,571
2	Kentucky (8)	1,520
3	Maryland (14)	1,496
4	Kansas (5)	1,415
5	Duke	1,348
6	Virginia (1)	1,341
7	Iowa State	1,189
8	Oklahoma	1,095
9	Wichita State	1,043
10	Gonzaga	1,040
11	Villanova	1,013
12	Arizona	913
13	Michigan State	837
14	Indiana	763
15	California	761
16	Utah	514
17	Vanderbilt	462
18	Notre Dame	414
19	Connecticut	373
20	Baylor	368
21	Purdue	291
22	Butler	284
23	LSU	283
24	Michigan	141
25	Oregon	121

Led by senior point guard Marcus Paige and numerous returnees, North Carolina has the blend of experience and talent to go deep in the NCAA tournament.

The Tar Heels' structure stands in stark contrast to Kentucky. Coach John Calipari will seek to reload in Lexington yet again with numerous new blue-chip recruits after losing his top seven scorers from last year's 38-1 squad.

Duke has its work cut out to emulate last year's success. The defending national champions lost star center Jahlil Okafor, senior leader Quinn Cook and dynamic floor general Tyus Jones. Two players who stepped up down the stretch last season were guards Grayson Allen and Matt Jones.

Since head coach Mike Krzyzewski likes to rely on the perimeter game and three-point shooting, it stands to reason that the backcourt will go a long way toward determining the Blue Devils' 2015-16 outlook.

After two easy games to start the slate, Tuesday marks a massive showdown between Duke and Kentucky that will have a considerable impact on the basketball hierarchy and also indicate where both traditional powerhouses currently stand.

ESPN's Seth Greenberg believes both the Blue Devils and Wildcats are going to take all year to jell and realize their full potential, despite their elite status at the moment:

Kentucky star freshman big man Skal Labissiere had 26 points in his last outing against New Jersey Institute of Technology but will have a tougher task facing Duke's Marshall Plumlee. Former Blue Devil Jay Williams believes in Labissiere's ability, though:

Calipari spoke about how Labissiere is different from the exceptional frontcourt players he's coached in recent years, via the Courier-Journal's Kyle Tucker:

"

He's totally different than Karl (Towns). He’s totally different than Anthony (Davis). And I'm not comparing him to those two – as far as he's as good as them – he's different. So now you want to like him like Shaq. He's not Shaq. He's never going to be Shaq. When you get him the ball seven, eight feet from the basket and he can turn and shoot, I don't know how you guard him. He's 7 foot and he raises that thing up.

"

Also taking place Tuesday is a duel between Kansas and Michigan State—another matchup that ought to alter the next AP rankings release.

It isn't long until Dec. 1, when the Tar Heels will battle the Terrapins in what should be a fascinating matchup. UNC's frontcourt is deep but will have to deal with 5-star Maryland recruit Diamond Stone, who figures to have a big impact as a true freshman. Sophomore star Melo Trimble also returns for the Terrapins and has an exciting challenge in taking on Paige head-to-head.

A deserving first-place vote recipient, Virginia figures to be a factor in the ACC along with usual suspects Duke and North Carolina.

The Cavaliers are known for stout defense and have two returning captains between guard and 2014-15 leading scorer Malcolm Brogdon and fellow senior Anthony Gill, a forward who's also back after being part of a Virginia group that was a No. 2 seed in March Madness.

In looking further down the list of the Top 25, the undeniable standout toward the bottom is LSU. Ben Simmons was the consensus top prospect in the country this year and could parlay a strong season with the Tigers into a first-overall NBA draft selection. Only the fourth freshman to be named to the AP's preseason All-America team, Simmons has no shortage of hype and could lead LSU on a deep March Madness run.

The Tigers' schedule doesn't really pick up until January, when SEC play begins, which ought to help Simmons and Co. gain confidence and remain fixtures in the rankings.

All recruiting information courtesy of 247Sports.