USA Today College Basketball Coaches Poll 2016: Preseason Rankings Released

The first USA Today Coaches Poll for the upcoming 2016-17 men’s college basketball season was released Thursday.

The Duke Blue Devils sit atop the rankings, followed by the Kansas Jayhawks and the defending champion Villanova Wildcats. Here is a look at the entire Top 25, per USA Today:

Ranking	Team	Points
1	Duke Blue Devils	792
2	Kansas Jayhawks	721
3	Villanova Wildcats	700
4	Kentucky Wildcats	695
5	Oregon Ducks	620
6	North Carolina Tar Heels	614
7	Virginia Cavaliers	596
8	Xavier Musketeers	552
9	Michigan State Spartans	544
10	Wisconsin Badgers	487
11	Arizona Wildcats	468
12	Indiana Hoosiers	435
13	Gonzaga Bulldogs	371
14	Louisville Cardinals	367
15	Purdue Boilermakers	324
16	Connecticut Huskies	239
17	Syracuse Orange	224
18	West Virginia Mountaineers	204
19	St. Mary's Gaels	203
20	UCLA Bruins	185
21	Maryland Terrapins	153
22	Texas Longhorns	124
23	Creighton Bluejays	113
24	Rhode Island Rams	85
25	Cincinnati Bearcats	75

Florida State, Iowa State, California, Miami (Fla.) and Dayton were the top five teams in the "others receiving votes" category.

One of the initial things that jump out about preseason rankings is the conference representation across the Top 25, since strength of schedule and conference RPI rankings directly impact the seedings come Selection Sunday.

The ACC and Big Ten lead the way with five teams apiece in the rankings. This season’s Big Ten-ACC Challenge promises to be a thrilling showdown between the two leagues that make up 40 percent of the initial poll. Michigan State and Duke will square off in a Top 10 showdown, while games pitting Wisconsin against Syracuse and North Carolina against Indiana also stand out.

The Pac-12, Big 12 and Big East all have three teams in the rankings, but the football-crazed SEC has just Kentucky.

All of those teams will be chasing Duke this season if the initial poll is any indication. Nicole Auerbach of USA Today pointed to the Blue Devils’ mix of experience and talented youth as a big asset. Seniors Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson and junior Grayson Allen understand the spotlight that comes with playing for Duke, and a loaded freshman class will quickly learn.

Scout.com ranked coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 2016 class as the top in the country and rated Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, Frank Jackson and Marques Bolden as 5-star prospects.

Villanova coach Jay Wright discussed the Blue Devils, per Auerbach: "Duke has the perfect balance of one-and-done guys and college All-Americans that stay. Even if those upperclassmen aren’t playing [a lot], they’re invested in the program and they’re holding those freshmen to a higher standard."

Auerbach cautioned that Duke has been the preseason No. 1 team in this poll five times in the past (1991, 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2010) but took home the national title just once in those seasons (1992 NCAA tournament).

Elsewhere, Kansas figures to challenge for the eventual top spot with Josh Jackson on the wing, Carlton Bragg in the frontcourt and Devonte’ Graham and Frank Mason in the backcourt.

Villanova will look to defend its national title behind National Player of the Year candidate Josh Hart and an impressive supporting cast of Kris Jenkins, Jalen Brunson, Eric Paschall and Darryl Reynolds, among others.

Duke captured the top billing in the preseason on Thursday, but every team will be shooting for the Wildcats’ title in March.