By John Nestor

Chapel Hill, NC

The North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team will head into the new season as the team-to-beat in college basketball after achieving near unanimous No.1 status in the ESPN/USA Today preseason coaches' poll, multiple media outlets reported Thursday.

The Tar Heels collected 30 of the coaches' 31 first-place votes to become the No.1 team in the preseason poll.

With sophomore phenom Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller returning, the Tar Heels are primed for another successful year of college hoops.

Meanwhile, John Calapari's Kentucky Wildcats nabbed the No. 2 spot in the preseason coaches' poll after receiving 721 points.

Rounding up the top five of the preseason coaches' poll are the Ohio State Buckeyes, NCAA defending champ Connecticut Huskies, and the Syracuse Orange.

UNC's rival Duke, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Memphis and Florida also made it into the top-10, while Pittsburgh, Baylor, Kansas, Wisconsin, Xavier, Arizona, Alabama, Michigan, Texas A&M and UCLA strut their ware into the top-20.

Marquette, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, California and Missouri completed the to-25 best in the coaches' poll, with two-time NCAA tournament finalist Butler looking in from outside the list.

 

 

UNC Tops Preseason Coaches' Hoops Poll