The Tigers are No. 19 in the preseason poll, one of three SEC teams in the rankings as the season gets close.
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Duke (fourth), Kansas (fifth), Virginia (sixth), Iowa State (seventh), Oklahoma (eighth) and Arizona (10th) finish out the top 10.
Following two of the winningest programs in college basketball history is Maryland, which received five first-place votes despite having not reached the second week of the NCAA Tournament since 2003. Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin are gone and they are going to be putting a lot of pressure on Simmons and the rest of their third ranked recruiting class to carry the team.
Louisville sits just outside the top-25 at No. 27 after receiving 93 votes. N.C. State (36 points), Florida State (25) and Miami (11) were among the other teams to receive votes.
The Cats share the spot with the North Carolina Tar Heels.
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The Kentucky Wildcats tied with the North Carolina Heels for first honors with 749 points in the season-opening edition of the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Terrapins feature Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Melo Trimble, fellow future National Basketball Association selection Jake Layman, highly touted freshman center Diamond Stone and former Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon.
