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The Associated Press released their preseason Top 25 poll for college basketball today, and the Oregon Ducks didn't quite make the cut.
2015-16 AP Preseason Poll
| RANK | TEAM (FIRST) | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina Tar Heels (35) | 1566 |
| 2 | Kentucky Wildcats (10) | 1520 |
| 3 | Maryland Terrapins (14) | 1487 |
| 4 | Kansas Jayhawks (5) | 1410 |
| 5 | Duke Blue Devils | 1350 |
| 6 | Virginia Cavaliers (1) | 1347 |
| 7 | Iowa State Cyclones | 1185 |
| 8 | Oklahoma Sooners | 1088 |
| 9 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 1047 |
| 10 | Wichita State Shockers | 1032 |
| 11 | Villanova Wildcats | 1013 |
| 12 | Arizona Wildcats | 917 |
| 13 | Michigan State Spartans | 838 |
| 14 | California Golden Bears | 757 |
| 15 | Indiana Hoosiers | 755 |
| 16 | Utah Utes | 499 |
| 17 | Wisconsin Badgers | 433 |
| 18 | Vanderbilt Commodores | 393 |
| 19 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 360 |
| 20 | Connecticut Huskies | 307 |
| 21 | LSU Tigers | 268 |
| 22 | Baylor Bears | 265 |
| 23 | Purdue Boilermakers | 236 |
| 24 | Butler Bulldogs | 223 |
| 25 | Michigan Wolverines | 126 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Oregon (0-0) 116; SMU (0-0) 112; West Virginia (0-0) 84; Texas A&M (0-0) 72; Cincinnati (0-0) 63; Miami (Fla.) (0-0) 48; Louisville (0-0) 46; Georgetown (0-0) 23; NC State (0-0) 19; Florida State (0-0) 18; Texas (0-0) 18; Rhode Island (0-0) 17; Dayton (0-0) 12; Xavier (0-0) 12; Providence (0-0) 10; Iowa (0-0) 6; Brigham Young (0-0) 5; Valparaiso (0-0) 5; Boise State (0-0) 4; Old Dominion (0-0) 3; Oklahoma State (0-0) 2; UCLA (0-0) 2; San Diego State (0-0) 2; Central Michigan (0-0) 1; UC Irvine (0-0) 1; Iona (0-0) 1; Yale (0-0) 1 | ||
The Ducks fell just short of cracking the top 25, receiving 116 points, the most among unranked teams to start the season.
Unlike last season, expectations are high for this year's Oregon basketball team, especially with talented young players like Kendall Small, Tyler Dorsey as well as returning players like Jordan Bell and Dwayne Benjamin.
Arizona is the highest ranked Pac-12 team at No. 12, while California and Utah came in at No. 14 and No. 16, respectively.
Oregon kicks things off tomorrow night with an exhibition against Northwest Christian at 7:00 PM PT. Their official season opener is November 13 against Jackson State as part of the Global Sports Shootout at Matthew Knight Arena.