clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Virginia Basketball ranked No. 11 in initial AP Top 25 Poll

The reigning national champions have some work ahead of them.

NCAA Basketball: Final Four-National Championship-Virginia vs Texas Tech Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

A whole new season means whole new expectations. For defending national champions Virginia Cavaliers, it still means an uphill battle ahead of them to climb back to the top of the rankings. The AP released its initial college basketball Top 25 Monday afternoon, and the Hoos are at No. 11.

Virginia finished last year at No. 2 (the AP does not release a final postseason poll). As the Hoos lost considerable talent to the NBA, there are still a lot of question marks for the perennial contenders.

Fellow Final-Four team Michigan State takes the top spot in the AP Poll. There are four ACC teams in the Top 25, with Virginia being the lowest ranked among them. Duke checks in at No. 4, Louisville No. 5, and North Carolina comes in at No. 9.

Florida State, Notre Dame, Syracuse, and NC State each also received votes.

Of last year’s Final Four, Texas Tech is No. 13 and Auburn comes in at No. 24.

Here’s the full AP Poll:

AP Top 25

Rank Team Conference
Rank Team Conference
1 Michigan State Big Ten
2 Kentucky SEC
3 Kansas Big 12
4 Duke ACC
5 Louisville ACC
6 Florida SEC
7 Maryland Big Ten
8 Gonzaga WCC
9 North Carolina ACC
10 Villanova Big East
11 Virginia ACC
12 Seton Hall Big East
13 Texas Tech Big 12
14 Memphis AAC
15 Oregon Pac-12
16 Baylor Big 12
17 Utah State MWC
18 Ohio State Big Ten
19 Xavier Big East
20 St. Mary's WCC
21 Arizona Pac-12
22 LSU SEC
23 Purdue Big Ten
24 Auburn SEC
25 VCU A-10

Outside of conference play, Virginia will also be taking on No. 23 Purdue on the road as part of the ACC-B10 challenge. The Hoos will also play Vermont, who received votes.

Season Tipoff is on November 6 at 9:00 p.m. at Syracuse!

(I know some of you are going to put in the comments that “none of this matters. Just play the game and get the Ws.” )