Virginia Basketball Ranked No. 18 in AP Preseason Top 25
For the fifth season in a row, Virginia is ranked in the preseason AP Top 25. The AP released its preseason men's basketball poll on Monday and UVA came in at No. 18, its highest preseason ranking since starting the 2020-2021 season at No. 4.
UVA was ranked No. 25 to start the 2021-2022 season, but quickly dropped out of the rankings after a season-opening loss to Navy. The Cavaliers received votes at points through the season, but never cracked the top 25 again as the team finished with a 21-14 overall record and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013.
Virginia is one of three ACC teams ranked in the preseason top 25, joining No. 7 Duke and No. 1 North Carolina. The Big 12 and SEC have five ranked teams each, while the Big Ten, Pac-12, and ACC have three teams ranked in the top 25. The West Coast, Atlantic 10, American Athletic, and Mountain West conferences are each represented with one team in the poll.
Returning four starters from a team that reached the national title game last season, North Carolina earned 47 of 62 first-place votes as the landslide pick as the preseason No. 1 team in the country. The Tar Heels are followed by No. 2 Gonzaga, No. 3 Houston, No. 4 Kentucky, and Kansas and Baylor, who received the same number of votes and share the No. 5 spot.
Associated Press Men's Basketball Preseason Top 25 Poll
1. North Carolina
2. Gonzaga
3. Houston
4. Kentucky
5. Kansas
5. Baylor
7. Duke
8. UCLA
9. Creighton
10. Arkansas
11. Tennessee
12. Texas
13. Indiana
14. TCU
15. Auburn
16. Villanova
17. Arizona
18. Virginia
19. San Diego State
20. Alabama
21. Oregon
22. Michigan
23. Illinois
24. Dayton
25. Texas Tech
UVA will play seven games against opponents ranked in the preseason top 25 this season:
- No. 5 Baylor on Nov. 18 (Las Vegas)
- No. 8 UCLA or No. 23 Illinois on Nov. 20 (Las Vegas)
- at No. 22 Michigan on Nov. 29
- No. 3 Houston on Dec. 17
- No. 1 North Carolina on Jan. 10
- No. 7 Duke on Feb. 11
- at No. 1 North Carolina on Feb. 25
Virginia is set to open the 2022-2023 season against North Carolina Central on Monday, November 7th at 9pm at John Paul Jones Arena.
Watch the full highlights from the UVA men's basketball Blue-White Scrimmage below:
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