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The Virginia Cavaliers are ranked #6 in the preseason AP poll released today. The Hoos received one first place vote out of the 65 ballots cast.
The North Carolina Tar Heels took the top spot in the poll, followed by the Kentucky Wildcats - the two teams tied for first in the USA Today Poll. Maryland, Kansas, and Duke round out the top five. With 1,347 points, UVA fell just behind Duke's 1,350.
At #19, Notre Dame was the only other ACC team to be among the top 25. But Miami, Louisville, NC State, and Florida State all received votes as well. The Wahoos will also face #11 Villanova and #14 Cal this season, both in December at JPJ, along with West Virginia, who fell just outside the top 25, at MSG.
Bob Sutton of the Times-News in Burlington, NC was responsible for the Hoos' #1 vote.
The number 6 ranking means that UVA continues its 23-week run among the top 10 in the AP poll, in which they rose as high as #2 last season. It's also the the program's highest preseason ranking in 30 years. Despite the excitement, remember Coach Bennett's opinion on pre-season accolades:
Bennett on #UVa being picked second in the #ACC: "It doesn't matter."
— Whitelaw Reid (@WhiteysWorld365) October 28, 2015
Here is the full AP Preseason Basketball Top 25:
2015-16 AP Preseason Poll
| RANK | TEAM (FIRST) | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina Tar Heels (35) | 1566 |
| 2 | Kentucky Wildcats (10) | 1520 |
| 3 | Maryland Terrapins (14) | 1487 |
| 4 | Kansas Jayhawks (5) | 1410 |
| 5 | Duke Blue Devils | 1350 |
| 6 | Virginia Cavaliers (1) | 1347 |
| 7 | Iowa State Cyclones | 1185 |
| 8 | Oklahoma Sooners | 1088 |
| 9 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 1047 |
| 10 | Wichita State Shockers | 1032 |
| 11 | Villanova Wildcats | 1013 |
| 12 | Arizona Wildcats | 917 |
| 13 | Michigan State Spartans | 838 |
| 14 | California Golden Bears | 757 |
| 15 | Indiana Hoosiers | 755 |
| 16 | Utah Utes | 499 |
| 17 | Wisconsin Badgers | 433 |
| 18 | Vanderbilt Commodores | 393 |
| 19 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 360 |
| 20 | Connecticut Huskies | 307 |
| 21 | LSU Tigers | 268 |
| 22 | Baylor Bears | 265 |
| 23 | Purdue Boilermakers | 236 |
| 24 | Butler Bulldogs | 223 |
| 25 | Michigan Wolverines | 126 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Oregon (0-0) 116; SMU (0-0) 112; West Virginia (0-0) 84; Texas A&M (0-0) 72; Cincinnati (0-0) 63; Miami (Fla.) (0-0) 48; Louisville (0-0) 46; Georgetown (0-0) 23; NC State (0-0) 19; Florida State (0-0) 18; Texas (0-0) 18; Rhode Island (0-0) 17; Dayton (0-0) 12; Xavier (0-0) 12; Providence (0-0) 10; Iowa (0-0) 6; Brigham Young (0-0) 5; Valparaiso (0-0) 5; Boise State (0-0) 4; Old Dominion (0-0) 3; Oklahoma State (0-0) 2; UCLA (0-0) 2; San Diego State (0-0) 2; Central Michigan (0-0) 1; UC Irvine (0-0) 1; Iona (0-0) 1; Yale (0-0) 1 | ||