SMU Basketball Ranked No. 22 in Preseason AP Poll
Oct 31 | Men's Basketball
DALLAS (SMU) - SMU Men's Basketball comes in at No. 22 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25, released today. The Mustangs are also No. 22 preseason USA Today Coaches Top 25.
The Mustangs are entering their third season under Head Coach Larry Brown after going 27-10 en route reaching the 2013-14 NIT title game. The 2014-15 season begins at Moody Coliseum on Nov. 14 when the Mustangs host Lamar.
Five SMU opponents are in the AP preseason poll. In non-conference action, the Mustangs visit No. 13 Gonzaga (Nov. 17) and No. 24 Michigan (Dec. 20). Arkansas, which is receiving votes, visits Moody Coliseum on Nov. 25. In the American Athletic Conference, defending NCAA Champion Connecticut is No. 17 while Memphis and Cincinnati are receiving votes.
The Mustangs were picked to finished second in The American by the league's coaches. [17/15] Connecticut was picked to win the conference. SMU juniors Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy were unanimous preseason all-conference selections.
SMU was in the top 25 in four of the last five regular season polls in 2013-14, being ranked for the first time since 1984-85. The Mustangs finished tied for third in the inaugural season of the American Athletic Conference, going 12-6 with two wins over Connecticut.
Last season, the Mustangs won a program-record 18 home games (18-1). SMU also established a new home attendance record at 107,412. The Mustangs sold out nine of 13 games in Moody Coliseum last season and have already sold out season tickets for the entire 2014-15 season.
For the complete poll, click here.
Associated Press Poll1 Kentucky (52) 16042 Arizona (5) 15183 Wisconsin (8) 14834 Duke 14155 Kansas 13466 North Carolina 12747 Florida 11538 Louisville 11149 Virginia 109010 Texas 106111 Wichita State 102712 Villanova 88513 Gonzaga 84014 Iowa State 78115 Virginia Commonwealth 57416 San Diego State 56017 Connecticut 55218 Michigan State 52119 Oklahoma 42620 Ohio State 34021 Nebraska 30922 SMU 28523 Syracuse 17824 Michigan 16725 Harvard 9825 Utah 98Others Receiving Votes: Stanford 71; Iowa 58; Colorado 57; UCLA 35; Minnesota 34;Kansas State 27; Arkansas 21; Pittsburgh 20; Memphis 15; North Carolina State 14;Louisiana Tech 9; Cincinnati 8; LSU 8; George Washington 7; Dayton 6; Notre Dame 6;Oklahoma State 6; Florida State 5; Georgetown 5; Illinois 3; Maryland 3;Brigham Young 2; UNLV 2; Baylor 1; Stephen F. Austin 1; Texas-El Paso 1;West Virginia 1
USA Today Coaches Poll1 Kentucky (24) 7852 Arizona (3) 7463 Duke (2) 7154 Wisconsin (3) 7065 Kansas 6546 North Carolina 5987 Florida 5688 Virginia 5199 Louisville 50710 Texas 47911 Wichita State 47112 Villanova 43913 Gonzaga 42314 Iowa St. 32315 Connecticut 29216 Virginia Commonwealth 25917 San Diego State 25118 Michigan State 24119 Oklahoma 23720 Ohio State 22321 Nebraska 15622 SMU 14923 Michigan 13924 Syracuse 12825 Iowa 56Receiving Votes: Harvard 47; Stanford 47; Kansas State 37; Pittsburgh 36;Utah 26; Memphis 25; Minnesota 18; UCLA 15; New Mexico 11; Oregon 9;Louisiana Tech 8; Colorado 8; Arkansas 8; Dayton 6; Providence 5; Notre Dame 5;Massachusetts 4; Georgetown 4; Illinois 4; UTEP 4; Florida State 3; Baylor 2;George Washington 1; Miami (Fla.) 1; Toledo 1; Saint Mary's 1.
