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Arizona rises again Wildcats are preseason No. 1 for third time in six yearsPosted: Monday November 11, 2002 6:35 PMUpdated: Monday November 11, 2002 7:20 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- With five returning starters, Arizona was No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason poll Monday for the third time in six years. (Complete poll) Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas -- all of the Big 12 -- held the next three spots in the poll, the third time one conference has had that many teams in the preseason top five. Arizona, seventh in last season's final poll before reaching the NCAA tournament's round of 16, received 50 first-places votes and 1,773 points from the national media panel. The Wildcats, who play at Kansas on Jan. 25, were the preseason No. 1 for the 1997-98 and 2000-01 seasons. "We've never had the depth of athleticism that we have on this team," Arizona coach Lute Olson said, referring to the three seniors, five sophomores and four freshmen. "I think our teams have always been fun to watch, but this year we'll try to create even more havoc on the defensive end of the court. I think we go deep enough that we can do that at every position." The ACC had the No. 1 and 2 teams in last year's preseason poll in Duke and Maryland, which went on to win it all. The last preseason No. 1 team to win the national championship was Kentucky in 1995-96. Arizona seniors Jason Gardner, Luke Walton and Richard Anderson also began their sophomore seasons at No. 1. "Just a couple of years ago we had the same expectations, so I'm used to all that," Walton said. "I don't think it's going to be an extra burden on this team. We're into just having fun and playing basketball as much as we can. We're not going to let the hype get to us." Kansas had 14 No. 1 votes and 1,715 points, while Oklahoma had six first-place votes. The Atlantic Coast Conference is the only other league to have three teams in the preseason top five. In 1973-74, North Carolina State was No. 2, Maryland No. 4 and North Carolina No. 5. In 1997-98, Duke, North Carolina and Clemson were third through fifth. It is the 25th time since the first preseason poll, in 1961-62, that one conference has had at least two teams in the top five. Kansas coach Roy Williams agreed that the three Big 12 teams are going to be good. He just didn't think the order was correct. "I think we all have a chance to be very good," Williams said. "But those two, on paper ... you'd have to pick those guys above us." Pittsburgh, which received one first-place vote, was No. 5 in the preseason poll, with Duke, Florida, Alabama, Michigan State and Xavier completing the top 10. Duke finished No. 1 in last season's final poll for a record fourth straight year. Oregon was 11th, followed by Mississippi State -- the only other team to receive a first-place votes -- Maryland, UCLA, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Marquette, Missouri and Western Kentucky. The last five ranked teams were Indiana, Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Tulsa. The Southeastern Conference had the most teams with five, ranging from No. 7 Florida to No. 17 Kentucky. The Big 12 was next with four, while the Pac-10 and Big Ten had three each. Fourteen of last year's preseason Top 25 weren't in the final poll of the season, including No. 5 UCLA. The first regular-season poll will be released Nov. 18. |
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