Kentucky tops preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
Kentucky coach John Calipari believes there are two ways for a team to handle preseason attention: Shy away from it is one option.
"The other side of it is, 'Let's prove them right. Let's strive to be the best team out there,' " Calipari told USA TODAY Sports.
The Wildcats will be striving to prove right the voters in the preseason USA TODAY Sports men's basketball Coaches Poll after claiming the No. 1 spot in the preseason top 25 rankings for the second consecutive season.
Twenty-four of 32 first-place votes in the poll released Thursday went to Kentucky. No. 2 Arizona (three votes), No. 3 Duke (two votes) and No. 4 Wisconsin (three votes) also received No. 1 consideration. Kansas, North Carolina, Florida, Virginia, Louisville and Texas rounded out the top 10.
Last October, predictions the Wildcats could go 40-0 proved to be way off as a freshman-laden Kentucky team struggled to jell early. But by March they caught fire and earned a national runner-up finish.
This season, Calipari and his staff will have their deepest, most experienced roster since taking over in Lexington, bringing back Willie Cauley-Stein, Alex Poythress, Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee, Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison. That veteran group will mesh with another strong recruiting class, which starts with dominant big men Karl Towns and Trey Lyles.
"I never expected my guys to return like they did," Calipari said. "I've never had to coach this way, playing so many guys. It's the only way to do it right so these kids get the chance they deserve. But there's a real challenge here. They have to become great teammates. Can they share? Can they sacrifice? Can they handle adversity together?"
No. 2 Arizona lost its two best players — Nick Johnson and Aaron Gordon — to the NBA but brings back a loaded roster led by point guard T.J. McConnell and highly-touted freshman Stanley Johnson. Having reached five Sweet 16s and three Elite Eights, coach Sean Miller has perhaps his best chance to reach his first Final Four.
"There's no better team than Arizona," Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "Their defensive commitment and toughness on a night-in and night-out basis make them so hard to beat. In the Pac-12, it's Arizona and the rest of us."
The Big Ten has the most teams in the preseason top 25 with six: Wisconsin, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 20 Ohio State, No. 21 Nebraska, No. 23 Michigan and No. 25 Iowa.
One of last season's main story lines was the arrival of one of the best freshman classes in recent memory, but the projected top teams in 2014-15 are built on returning talent. Wisconsin is the quintessential example of that. The Badgers bring back their nucleus from a Final Four squad, led by All-American candidates Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky.
Both Duke and Kansas have reloaded after losing their top players to the NBA draft. The Blue Devils lost Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood, while the Jayhawks lost top-three draft picks Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid.
The Blue Devils welcome top-10 recruits Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones to join regulars Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon and Amile Jefferson. "Duke is always tough to beat, but now we'll see a different kind of Duke team with a highly skilled big man," Virginia coach Tony Bennett said of Okafor. The defending ACC champion Cavaliers are ranked eighth in the preseason poll after a breakout campaign.
The ACC had five teams in the top 25, which included four teams in the the top 10.
"It's a tough conference, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "We lost to two of the worst teams in the league and beat two of the best last season. It's difficult top to bottom and with Louisville in, the conference will continue to stay at a high level."
PHOTOS: Full preseason USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll
