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Virginia Basketball ranked No. 25 in AP Top 25 Preseason Poll

NCAA Basketball: ACC Conference Tournament-Virginia Syracuse Nell Redmond-USA TODAY Sports

The Virginia Cavaliers check in at No. 25 in the first AP Top 25 poll of the 2021-2022 college basketball season. It’s the lowest Virginia has been ranked by the AP in the preseason since the 2017-2018 season when the Hoos were unranked (garnering enough votes for No. 27). That season...did not end well.

There are no ACC teams in the top five, with Duke leading the conference at No. 9 in Mike Krzyzewski’s final season. UNC comes in next at No. 19, while Florida State checks in at No. 20. Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Louisville, and Notre Dame all also received votes.

Here’s the full Top 25:

AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll Week 1

Rank Team Conference Points
Rank Team Conference Points
1 Gonzaga (0-0) West Coast 1,562 (55)
2 UCLA (0-0) Pacific 12 1,459 (8)
3 Kansas (0-0) Big 12 1427
4 Villanova (0-0) Big East 1332
5 Texas (0-0) Big 12 1315
6 Michigan (0-0) Big Ten 1255
7 Purdue (0-0) Big Ten 1213
8 Baylor (0-0) Big 12 992
9 Duke (0-0) Atlantic Coast 963
10 Kentucky (0-0) Southeastern 894
11 Illinois (0-0) Big Ten 861
12 Memphis (0-0) American Athletic 831
13 Oregon (0-0) Pacific 12 775
14 Alabama (0-0) Southeastern 713
15 Houston (0-0) American Athletic 694
16 Arkansas (0-0) Southeastern 673
17 Ohio State (0-0) Big Ten 581
18 Tennessee (0-0) Southeastern 563
19 North Carolina (0-0) Atlantic Coast 547
20 Florida State (0-0) Atlantic Coast 381
21 Maryland (0-0) Big Ten 294
22 Auburn (0-0) Southeastern 267
23 St. Bonaventure (0-0) Atlantic 10 238
24 Connecticut (0-0) Big East 161
25 VIRGINIA (0-0) Atlantic Coast 125
Others receiving votes: Michigan State 87, Indiana 41, USC 30, Arizona 26, Virginia Tech 25, Oklahoma State 25, Xavier 22, Texas Tech 17, Richmond 13, Rutgers 11, Colorado State 11, LSU 7, Belmont 7, San Diego State 5, St. John’s 5, Mississippi State 5, Syracuse 5, Drake 4, Colorado 4, BYU 3, Notre Dame 3, Louisville 3

Virginia’s only ranked non-conference opponent is No. 15 Houston, who hosts the Cavaliers on November 16. UVA’s B1G opponent this year, Iowa, comes in unranked.

This looks to be a rebuilding year by Virginia’s recent standards, with a stacked incoming class coming in next year. But that’s not to say the Hoos won’t still make a splash this season with national champion point guard Kihei Clark and company hungry to make another deep run in the tournament. On Monday afternoon, Clark was also named a candidate for the 2022 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

Season tips off on November 9 at 9:00 p.m. ET in Charlottesville against Navy, a game that will be shown on the ACC Network.