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College basketball is almost back! On Thursday, USA Today released their preseason Coaches Poll and, as expected, the Big Ten is well represented. Highlighted by No. 3 Maryland, a total of eight teams received votes, including five in the Top 25.
The Fighting Illini weren't mentioned at all, but that was absolutely expected given what took place during this disastrous offseason. But let's not forget that this is a preseason poll. If Illinois can get healthy and take care of business during the first month of the season, they'll surely get a few votes thrown their way.
Preseason Coaches Poll
| TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | |
| 1 | Kentucky (11) | 38-1 | 749 |
| 1 | North Carolina (12) | 26-12 | 749 |
| 3 | Maryland (5) | 28-7 | 723 |
| 4 | Duke (3) | 35-4 | 686 |
| 5 | Kansas (1) | 27-9 | 675 |
| 6 | Virginia | 30-4 | 667 |
| 7 | Iowa St. | 25-9 | 541 |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 24-11 | 520 |
| 9 | Villanova | 33-3 | 498 |
| 10 | Arizona | 34-4 | 477 |
| 11 | Gonzaga | 35-3 | 468 |
| 12 | Wichita St. | 30-5 | 461 |
| 13 | Michigan St | 27-12 | 386 |
| 14 | California | 18-15 | 350 |
| 15 | Indiana | 20-14 | 312 |
| 16 | Utah | 26-9 | 250 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 36-4 | 181 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 32-6 | 172 |
| 19 | Louisiana State | 22-11 | 163 |
| 20 | Vanderbilt | 21-14 | 153 |
| 21 | Baylor | 24-10 | 145 |
| 22 | Butler | 23-11 | 132 |
| 23 | West Virginia | 25-10 | 125 |
| 24 | Purdue | 21-13 | 110 |
| 24 | Connecticut | 20-15 | 110 |
Others Receiving Votes:
Michigan 108; Louisville 93; Texas A&M 58; UCLA 48; Georgetown 45; Cincinnati 43; North Carolina State 36; Oregon 33; Texas 29; Xavier 25; Florida State 25; Miami (Fla.) 11; San Diego State 10; Iowa 8; Davidson 5; Boise State 5; Providence 5; Stephen F. Austin 2; Belmont 2; Ohio State 2; Tulsa 1; Dayton 1; Old Dominion 1; Marquette 1.
Also, here are the 32 coaches that will participate in the poll for the 2015-16 season:
Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's; Jim Boeheim, Syracuse; Todd Bozeman, Morgan State; Glenn Braica, St. Francis Brooklyn; Scott Cherry, High Point; Tim Cluess, Iona; Ed Conroy, Tulane; Keith Dambrot, Akron; Cameron Dollar, Seattle; Scott Drew, Baylor; Matt Driscoll, North Florida; Steve Fisher, San Diego State; Bruiser Flint, Drexel; Mark Fox, Georgia; John Gallagher, Hartford; Matthew Graves, South Alabama; Ray Harper, Western Kentucky; George Ivory, Arkansas-Pine Bluff; Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa; Rob Jeter, Wisconsin-Milwaukee; James Jones, Yale; Mike McConathy, Northwestern State; Greg McDermott, Creighton; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Matt Painter, Purdue; Randy Rahe, Weber State; Heath Schroyer, Tennessee-Martin; Joe Scott, Denver; Zach Spiker, Army; Wayne Tinkle, Oregon State; Bob Williams, UC-Santa Barbara; Mike Young, Wofford.