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Despite winning eight games against NCAA teams last season, and having a more talented cast in 2016-17, Coach Avery Johnson’s Alabama Crimson Tide basketball program is getting precisely zero respect from AP voters.
This AP Preseason Top-25 has been released, and the Crimson Tide did not receive a single vote. Not one. You will not find anyone that believes the Tide are, or can be, even the 25th best team. Nary a soul to put the Tide in the “others receiving votes category.”
Wait-and-see is probably warranted. But, after those first-year returns, against that schedule, with this influx of talent, no one is willing to take a flyer on Alabama. Now, the question is, what are voters seeing (or not seeing) that suggests Alabama won’t be even better than last year’s 18-win campaign (that was, itself, a small miracle for a team many projected to finish well below .500)?
Here’s the Top 25:
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke (58) | 0-0 | 1,612 |
| 2 | Kentucky (2) | 0-0 | 1,479 |
| 3 | Kansas | 0-0 | 1,476 |
| 4 | Villanova (4) | 0-0 | 1,465 |
| 5 | Oregon (1) | 0-0 | 1,343 |
| 6 | North Carolina | 0-0 | 1,314 |
| 7 | Xavier | 0-0 | 1,167 |
| 8 | Virginia | 0-0 | 1,149 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 0-0 | 1,135 |
| 10 | Arizona | 0-0 | 1,004 |
| 11 | Indiana | 0-0 | 917 |
| 12 | Michigan State | 0-0 | 903 |
| 13 | Louisville | 0-0 | 755 |
| 14 | Gonzaga | 0-0 | 699 |
| 15 | Purdue | 0-0 | 672 |
| 16 | UCLA | 0-0 | 540 |
| 17 | Saint Mary's | 0-0 | 512 |
| 18 | Connecticut | 0-0 | 504 |
| 19 | Syracuse | 0-0 | 464 |
| 20 | West Virginia | 0-0 | 360 |
| 21 | Texas | 0-0 | 250 |
| 22 | Creighton | 0-0 | 231 |
| 23 | Rhode Island | 0-0 | 199 |
| 24 | Iowa State | 0-0 | 168 |
| 25 | Maryland | 0-0 | 144 |
| Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 110, Dayton 98, Florida State 88, California 74, San Diego State 48, Miami 35, NC State 29, Butler 21, Wichita St 21, Ohio State 18, Virginia Tech 18, Florida 18, Texas A&M 14, Mississippi State 14, Oklahoma 11, Colorado 10, Michigan 8, Monmouth 7, Notre Dame 6, Washington 5, Seton Hall 5, Princeton 2, Ohio 1, Vanderbilt 1, Harvard 1 | |||
Finally, a programming note: Tomorrow we’ll have Part Two of our basketball preseason round table. In the meanwhile, chime in on shooty hoops below.