The preseason basketball polls came out today, and to no surprise, our Michigan State Spartans are close to the top of the list. In both the AP and Coaches Polls, MSU opens the season as the sixth-ranked team. There has been hype all offseason about this team so the high ranking certainly feels warranted.
Coming in at #1 in both polls are the Florida Gators. They are followed by the Duke Blue Devils at 2 and the Illinois Fighting Illini at 3. The AP Poll has UConn at 4 and Arizona at 5, while the Coaches
Poll has those two flip-flopped. After MSU at 6, both polls have Texas at 7, and then they have Tennessee, Virginia, and Houston in varying orders.
With Duke, Illinois, and Tennessee on our schedule this year, MSU will be facing three preseason top 10 squads. We also have an exhibition against UConn tomorrow evening.
The other Big Ten teams appearing in preseason rankings are um (#16 AP/#20 Coaches), USC (21/22), UCLA (22 AP), and Purdue (24 Coaches).
Featuring Jeremy Fears Jr. (a strong early candidate for Player of the Year honors), Coen Carr (the best athlete in college basketball), a number of returning players looking to take the next steps in their development, one of the best incoming freshmen classes in the country, and also Anton Bonke (the tallest Spartan ever), this team should have a little bit of everything (and a lot of somethings), to go toe-to-toe with any other team in the nation.
We can start counting down the days until our season begins. Just 14 more days!
