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College basketball rankings: Indiana, Louisville and Kentucky top preseason AP Poll

Indiana is atop the preseason AP Poll, which Kansas is the top Big XII team and Texas just misses out on the top 25.

Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Defending national champions Kentucky are in a good spot to defend their title, but they will have two teams to pass if the preseason AP Top 25 tells us anything. That is because the Wildcats are No. 3, trailing top-ranked Indiana and No. 2 Louisville.

The Hoosiers are preseason No. 1 for the first time since the 1979-80 season, in large part due to Cody Zeller. The center surprised many by returning to Bloomington despite being a projected lottery pick in the NBA Draft and is now hoping to improve on last season when he averaged 15.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. If he does, and the rest of the Hoosiers' talented squad comes along, then it is tough to imagine them not improving upon last year's trip to the Sweet 16.

Ohio State and Michigan round out the top 10, giving the Big Ten an excellent top of the conference. They do only have two more teams in the top 25, raising questions about the league's depth, but the Big Ten certainly appears to be stacked at the top.

Texas just missed out on the Top 25, tying with St. Louis as the third teams left out of the top 25.

Kansas is the top ranked Big XII team in the poll, checking in at No. 7, and Baylor is the only other team in the league ranked, down at No. 19.

Here is the complete top 25:

Team (First-place votes) 2011-12 Record Pts
1. Indiana (43) 27-9 1,592
2. Louisville (20) 30-10 1,568
3. Kentucky (2) 38-2 1,453
4. Ohio St. 31-8 1,292
5. Michigan 24-10 1,290
6. NC State 24-13 1,270
7. Kansas 32-7 1,210
8. Duke 27-7 1,094
9. Syracuse 34-3 1,062
10. Florida 26-11 936
11. North Carolina 32-6 904
12. Arizona 23-12 902
13. UCLA 19-14 840
14. Michigan St. 29-8 789
15. Missouri 30-5 664
16. Creighton 29-6 622
17. Memphis 26-9 539
18. UNLV 26-9 488
19. Baylor 30-8 486
20. San Diego St. 26-8 463
21. Gonzaga 26-7 384
22. Notre Dame 22-12 297
23. Wisconsin 26-10 285
24. Cincinnati 26-11 120
25. Florida St. 25-10 101

Others receiving votes: Murray St. 59, VCU 58, Saint Louis 46, Texas 46, Minnesota 40, Butler 33, Pittsburgh 32, Saint Joseph’s 25, Marquette 23, Tennessee 15, Oklahoma St. 14, Kansas St. 12, Georgetown 9, New Mexico 9, Ohio 9, Miami 8, Saint Mary’s (Cal) 6, West Virginia 6, Davidson 5, Drexel 5, N. Iowa 5, Valparaiso 3, Lehigh 2, Stanford 2, Colorado St. 1, Oral Roberts 1.

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