The NCAA Tournament is in action, keep up with things at HNGN Sports and check here for scores, news and updates.
-------------
The NCAA college basketball season is just around the corner and the 2015 Associated Press Top 25 rankings have North Carolina, Kentucky, Maryland, Kansas, Duke and Virginia as the best teams. Maryland is getting a ton of hype this year, while North Carolina is being looked at as a national title favorite out of the ACC.
The AP Top 25 has the Tar Heels coming into the season ranked number one and they received 35 votes to come in on top. Kentucky is ranked second and they received 10 votes for first place, while Maryland ended up in third despite getting 14 votes. The Terrapins are looked at as a major contender this year with the group they have and they are also a team to watch out of the Big Ten.
Kansas comes in at number four and they received five votes, while Duke is ranked number five and Virginia comes in at numbers six and they received one vote for first place. The top 10 is rounded out by Iowa State, Oklahoma, Gonzaga and Wichita State, while Villanova, Arizona, Michigan State, California and Indiana finish the top 15.
Utah, Wisconsin, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame and UConn come in ahead of LSU in the top 20, while the Tigers, Baylor, Purdue, Butler and Michigan round out the top 25 ranks. There were a number of teams that received votes but did not make it into the top 25, including schools like Oregon, West Virginia, Miami, Georgetown, NC State, Texas, Florida State and Iowa.
The split voting among the top teams means that many voters feel that there is no true number one team, although UNC did get a decent amount more than Maryland and Kentucky. That group of teams likely will make deep runs this year and the ACC could end up as one of the best conferences again with the Tar Heels, Blue Devils and Cavaliers all coming in as top six ranked teams. Last season the ACC was tight and UVA won out in the regular season with a 16-2 record in conference and they went 30-4 overall.
Duke had a strong season and they went on to win the national title after going 15-3 in the ACC and 35-4 overall. The team lost Justise Winslow and Jahlil Okafor to the NBA and that means new players will have to step in. Kansas won the Big 12 regular season title and they should be in the mix again by the end of things after going 27-9 overall last season. Iowa State is coming in with a strong team and they finished second with Oklahoma with 12-6 records in the conference.
Villanova won the Big East regular season title with a 16-2 record and the team came into the tournament at 33-3. Teams like Butler and Georgetown should be solid, but the Wildcats have the chance to win the conference again. Wisconsin won the Big Ten regular season title last season, but Maryland likely will be the favorites out of that conference this year. Michigan and Michigan State also should be contenders.
A super early final four prediction:
Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, Virginia
Check here for the full preseason rankings and more on college basketball. Check here for the ESPN power rankings coming into the season.