For the first time since USA Today took over the coaches poll in 1991, a team is the unanimous preseason No. 1 pick.
Surprise! UNC's No. 1 in the USA Today college basketball preseason Top 25, the Heels are a unanimous choice, receiving all 31 votes and they are the first team to start back-to-back seasons as the No. 1 team in the land.
UNC returns its starting lineup from last season's Final Four team and added three McDonald's All-Americans.
The Heels are one of four ACC teams ranked in the top 25. Duke is picked No. 5, Miami is No. 16 and Wake Forest is No. 24.
The full list with last year's record:
1. UNC (36-3)
2. Connecticut (24-9)
3. Louisville (27-9)
4. UCLA (35-4)
5. Duke (28-6)
6. Pittsburgh (27-10)
7. Michigan State (27-9)
8. Texas (31-7)
9. Notre Dame (25-8)
10. Purdue (25-9)
11. Gonzaga (25-8)
12. Memphis (38-2)
13. Tennessee (31-5)
14. Oklahoma (23-12)
15. Arizona State (21-13)
16. Miami (23-11)
17. Marquette (25-10)
18. Georgetown (28-6)
19. Florida (24-12)
20. Davidson (29-7)
T21. USC (21-12)
T21. Wisconsin (31-5)
23. Kansas (37-3)
24. Wake Forest (17-13)
25. Villanova (22-13)
Also receiving votes: UNLV (27-8) 60; Saint Mary's (25-7)
59; Ohio State (24-13) 54; Baylor (21-11) 47; Xavier (30-7) 27; Syracuse (21-14) 23; LSU (13-18) 19; Texas A&M (25-11) 19; Arizona (19-15) 18; Virginia Tech (21-14) 15; Brigham Young (27-8) 13; West Virginia (26-11) 10; Siena (23-11) 8; Washington (16-17) 8; Kentucky (18-13) 7; Vanderbilt (26-8) 7; Oklahoma State (17-16) 4; Clemson (24-10) 2; Washington State (26-9) 1.
J. Andrew Curliss covered state and local politics and government for The News & Observer for more than a decade before joining the investigative team in December 2008.
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Comments
Pre-season Rankings
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 23:08 — PwdrBluGuru (not verified)Anonymous,what exactly were you trying to say?kind of lost you around April or so!!! LOL!!!!!
It's nice and all....
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 20:03 — UNCAlumnusBut they haven't even really rolled the balls out yet. I expect the Heels to do well. Even cut some nets. It's just rare air when you get to the final 8, 4, and 2. We'll just wait and see. One things for sure, they don't mind the target.
Really Now?
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 17:21 — TarHeelFan05Ok lets see here...
this isnt the rankings after last year moron..its the preseason rankings for "this year". Carolina is returning basically the whole team from last year ( Hansbrough, Wright, Lawson, Ellington, Green, Ginyard, Thompson, and Frasor) the team that went 36-3 and went to the Final Four. How can you not be #1 the following year when you return all your starters from the previous season with that kind of record? ethier you know nothing about college basketball or you just hate UNC and cant stand seeing them #1
Kansas lost 3 main players from that national championship team..So please tell me why Kansas should be #1 agian?
TarHeelFan05
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 19:26 — gvillegatrI was impressed you were able to make out what anonymous was saying. I'm not sure what language he was writing out!?
true.
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 20:29 — TarHeelFan05yeah, I'm a senior in high school and im use to talk like that. I think anonymous isnt even high school standards yet though.
you can give thanks out to our great public school system!
You have got to be kidding
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 16:23 — Anonymous (not verified)You have got to be kidding that UNC is number 1, When Kansas one the champion. Sorry but I disagree and a whole lot of other people will agree with me. They lost and KU won. So where and whom selects the number one, apparently the people involved are bias and of course the number one all american team. This is a joke.