The college basketball season is near. Truthfully it has already begun with practices and a few exhibition scrimmages, but we’re still a few weeks away from games that count.
But the time for rankings is definitely at hand. The USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball preseason poll is here, with some familiar names and possibly a couple of unfamiliar ones around the top.
Florida will start the campaign with the No. 1 ranking. The Gators head the preseason poll for the first time since the 2006-07 season, which concluded with a successful defense of their first NCAA title. The strength of their run at a second championship in three years starts with a talented frontcourt led by veterans Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon (and Rueben Chinyelu.
While that might be good news for Florida fans, followers of the Duke Blue Devils should be just as happy to start the campaign at No. 2. Duke received eight first-place votes and finished just six poll points behind the Gators overall, but historically Duke has been more successful in years when the team isn’t No. 1 in the preseason.
There’s more good news for No. 3 Illinois, which picked up a pair of No. 1 nods and will open with its highest preseason ranking since 2001 with the Fighting Illini were No. 2. Arizona checks in at No. 4, and Connecticut rounds out the top five.
TOP 25: Complete USA TODAY Sports men's basketball preseason poll
Perennial contender Michigan State opens at No. 6. A couple of Lone Star State programs follow with Texas at No. 7 and Houston at No. 8. Tennessee checks in at No. 9, And Virginia edges fellow ACC contender Louisville for the No. 10 spot.
Gonzaga, the lone program from outside the five power conferences, opens at No. 12 ahead of its first season in the Pac-12. No. 14 St. John’s joins UConn as the only two Big East representatives in the rankings. Defending champion Michigan – after the departure of coach Dusty May to the NBA – starts at No. 20.
The No. 1 Gators head a group of seven SEC squads in the poll. The Big 12 is next with six teams in the Top 25, followed by the Big Ten with five and the ACC with four.
Missing out on the poll is North Carolina. It's the first time the Tar Heels have not been in the preseason rankings since 2005.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida leads men's basketball preseason coaches poll. See where Duke, UConn, others rank