Oct. 21, 2010
McLEAN, Va. - Gonzaga University is ranked 12th and defending champion Duke begins the 2010-11 men's college basketball poll on top of the preseason men's basketball ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
The Blue Devils received 29 of 31 first-place votes in the poll. No. 2 Michigan State received the other two first-place votes.
Gonzaga garnered 423 points, one behind No. 11 Florida and one ahead of No. 12 Syracuse. Gonzaga finished last season ranked 23rd in the final poll.
The Bulldogs were 27-7 a year ago and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs face another tough schedule this season, including games against third-ranked Kansas State Nov. 22 in the semfinals of the CBE Classic in Kansas City, Mo. Duke and Marquette play in the other semifinal.
Gonzaga has a date against 14th-ranked Baylor at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas and will meet 19th ranked Memphis Feb. 5 in the Spokane Arena.
In all, nine teams -- led by No. 9 North Carolina -- that finished last season unranked now hold spots in the preseason poll.
The USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 college basketballcoaches' poll, with number of first-place votes and recordin parentheses, total points and previous ranking:(Records through October 20, 2010) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. DUKE (29) 772 NR 2. MICHIGAN ST (2) 737 NR 3. KANSAS ST 656 NR 4. PITTSBURGH 621 NR 5. OHIO ST 615 NR 6. VILLANOVA 552 NR 7. KANSAS 538 NR 8. PURDUE 521 NR 9. NORTH CAROLINA 467 NR10. KENTUCKY 449 NR11. FLORIDA 424 NR12. GONZAGA 423 NR13. SYRACUSE 422 NR14. BAYLOR 362 NR15. MISSOURI 354 NR16. ILLINOIS 329 NR17. WASHINGTON 307 NR18. BUTLER 245 NR19. MEMPHIS 212 NR20. TENNESSEE 158 NR21. GEORGETOWN 129 NR22. TEMPLE 120 NR23. VIRGINIA TECH 97 NR24. WISCONSIN 91 NR25. TEXAS 89 NROthers Receiving Votes: SAN DIEGO ST 73, BYU 55, WESTVIRGINIA 49, MINNESOTA 41, FLORIDA ST 31, UNLV 19, WICHITAST 13, UCLA 12, VANDERBILT 11, NC STATE 10, GEORGIA 9,RICHMOND 9, XAVIER 8, MISSISSIPPI ST 7, UTAH ST 6,CALIFORNIA 5, TEXAS A&M 5, MURRAY ST 4, NEW MEXICO 4,LOUISVILLE 3, ARIZONA 2, DAYTON 2, MARQUETTE 2, MARYLAND 2,SAINT MARYS CA 2, NORTHWESTERN 1
