November 06, 2006
Texas A&M is ranked No. 13 in The Associated Press' preseason college basketball poll, the highest preseason ranking in school history.
The Aggies have four starters back from a 22-9 team that made A&M's first NCAA tournament appearance since 1987. A&M is ranked for the first time in the AP poll since it was 11th on Dec. 30, 1980.
A&M appears for only the third time in the AP preseason poll. The 1979-80 team was ranked 14th and the 1980-81 team was ranked 15th.
Defending national champion Florida is No. 1, receiving 63 first-place votes and 1,788 points from the 72-member national media panel to easily outdistance North Carolina, which got the other nine No. 1 votes and 1,704 points.
A&M opponents in the rankings are No. 3 Kansas, No. 5 LSU, No. 6 UCLA and No. 21 Texas. Oklahoma State and Kansas State received votes.
AP College Basketball Top 25 Poll
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' preseason college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2005-06 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last year's final ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Florida (63) 33-6 1,788 11
2. North Carolina (9) 23-8 1,704 10
3. Kansas 25-8 1,636 12
4. Pittsburgh 25-8 1,407 16
5. LSU 27-9 1,399 19
6. UCLA 32-7 1,394 t7
7. Ohio St. 26-6 1,391 6
8. Georgetown 23-10 1,271 23
9. Wisconsin 19-12 1,197 _
10. Arizona 20-13 1,157 _
11. Alabama 18-13 1,106 _
12. Duke 32-4 1,051 1
13. Texas A&M 22-9 868 _
14. Memphis 33-4 811 4
15. Boston College 28-8 772 t7
16. Marquette 20-11 554 _
17. Washington 26-7 487 17
18. Connecticut 30-4 399 2
19. Creighton 20-10 384 _
20. Syracuse 23-12 367 21
21. Texas 30-7 366 9
22. Kentucky 22-13 332 _
23. Georgia Tech 11-17 262 _
24. Nevada 27-6 212 20
25. Tennessee 22-8 203 18
Others receiving votes: Wichita St. 181, S. Illinois 131, Gonzaga 129, Xavier 99, Florida St. 65, Louisville 62, Villanova 37, Illinois 31, Hofstra 24, Arkansas 20, San Diego St. 19, DePaul 16, Indiana 16, Oklahoma St. 13, Virginia Tech 8, Bucknell 6, Michigan 6, Houston 5, Southern Cal 5, Kansas St. 4, Akron 1, BYU 1, George Mason 1, Missouri St. 1, Oregon 1.