Preseason AP Top 25 poll revealed ahead of college basketball season

College football season is still in full swing, but college basketball is going to be here before we know it. In fact, the start of the 2022-2023 college basketball season is less than a month away with games slated to tip off beginning on Nov. 7. Ahead of the new year, the preseason AP Top 25 has been revealed.

The preseason AP Top 25 features a lot of the same faces that finished towards the top of last year’s rankings. Kansas enters the season as the defending national champions, and the Jayhawks are highly ranked to kick off the new campaign. North Carolina, last year’s runner-up, also comes in very highly ranked.

Kansas entered the NCAA Tournament last season as a No. 1 seed, and the Jayhawks played extremely well on their way to the title. North Carolina entered March Madness as a No. 8 seed, and the Tar Heels knocked off No. 1 seeded Baylor, No. 4 seeded UCLA, and No. 2 seeded Duke while on their way to the championship game.

As always, the national landscape underwent some serious changes during the offseason. Prominent head coaches such as Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Villanova‘s Jay Wright decided to retire, meaning two of the game’s greatest ever will no longer be on the court when the new season gets underway.

With plenty of personnel changes through the transfer portal, a lot of prominent players have also switched schools.

Duke brings in the top-rated recruiting class this season, according to the On3 Consensus team recruiting rankings. Arkansas, Texas, Oregon, and South Carolina also bring in top five classes.

Full preseason AP Top 25 rankings

1) North Carolina Tar Heels
2) Gonzaga Bulldogs
3) Houston Cougars
4) Kentucky Wildcats
T5) Baylor Bears
T5) Kansas Jayhawks
7) Duke Blue Devils
8) UCLA Bruins
9) Creighton Blue Jays
10) Arkansas Razorbacks
11) Tennessee Volunteers
12) Texas Longhorns
13) Indiana Hoosiers
14) TCU Horned Frogs
15) Auburn Tigers
16) Villanova Wildcats
17) Arizona Wildcats
18) Virginia Cavaliers
19) San Diego State Aztecs
20) Alabama Crimson Tide
21) Oregon Ducks
22) Michigan Wolverines
23) Illinois Fighting Illini
24) Dayton Flyers
25) Texas Tech Red Raiders

On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this article.