Louisville Men's Basketball Receives Votes in 2021-22 Preseason AP Top 25
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With the 2021-22 men's college basketball season roughly three weeks away, the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll has finally dropped.
As many expected, Louisville will begin the year unranked for the second consecutive season - although they did manage to receive three votes. It will be the first time missing back-to-back preseason AP Polls for the Cardinals since they were absent in five straight from 1998-99 through 2002-03.
Louisville is coming off of a 2020-21 season in which they finished 13-7 and 8-5 in the ACC - missing the NCAA Tournament by a razor-thin margin. They opened up the year at 9-1 and as high as the No. 16 team in the nation, but went 4-6 in the second half of the season due to COVID issues, injuries, and at times offensive inconsistencies.
Over the offseason, the Cardinals got deep into roster management mode, as eight newcomers replaced six departing players. Head coach Chris Mack also let go of assistant coaches Dino Gaudio and Luke Murray, replacing them with Kahil Fennell and Ross McMains.
Fortunately for Louisville, they won’t consist of exclusively newcomers. Forward/center Malik Williams is back after he opted to stay for a fifth year with the program; starting forwards Samuel Williamson, Jae’Lyn Withers and Dre Davis return; as do role players forward JJ Traynor and center Gabe Wiznitzer.
The Cardinals will tip-off the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 9 against Southern at the KFC Yum! Center.
Full Associated Press Top 25 Poll (2021-22 Preseason)
*First place votes in parenthesis
1. Gonzaga - 1,562 (55)
2. UCLA - 1,459 (8)
3. Kansas - 1,427
4. Villanova - 1,332
5. Texas - 1,315
6. Michigan - 1,255
7. Purdue - 1,213
8. Baylor - 992
9. Duke - 963
10. Kentucky - 894
11. Illinois - 861
12. Memphis - 831
13. Oregon - 775
14. Alabama - 713
15. Houston - 694
16. Arkansas - 673
17. Ohio State - 581
18. Tennessee - 563
19. North Carolina - 547
20. Florida State - 381
21. Maryland - 294
22. Auburn - 267
23. St. Bonaventure - 238
24. UConn - 161
25. Virginia - 125
Others receiving votes:
Michigan State 87, Indiana 41, USC 30, Arizona 26, Virginia Tech 25, Oklahoma State 25, Xavier 22, Texas Tech 17, Richmond 13, Rutgers 11, Colorado State 11, LSU 7, Belmont 7, San Diego State 5, St. John's 5, Mississippi State 5, Syracuse 5, Drake 4, Colorado 4, BYU 3, Notre Dame 3, Louisville 3
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