When does the 2016 preseason college basketball Coaches Poll get released?
By Adam Stocker
Initial Coaches Poll released October 20th, ranks Duke as top team in the nation.
The first USA Today coaches poll of the college basketball season is out and to the anger of many outside of Cameron, North Carolina, the much hated Duke Blue Devils are ranked number one.
Joining Duke in the top five of the initial coaches poll is Kansas, reigning champion Villanova, Kentucky and Oregon. The ACC and Big 10 both have the most teams in the initial poll with five. The ACC has Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisville, and Syracuse all ranked in the top 17. The Big 10 has Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue and Maryland.
The top six teams in the coaches poll are also have the best odds of winning the National Championship according to the odds makers. Duke is currently the favorite at 7-2, followed Kansas and Kentucky at 8-1. Defending champion Villanova is a 10-1 favorite to repeat as champions. Oregon joins Villanova at 10-1 favorites. North Carolina is sixth at 15-1 odds of cutting down the nets on the first Monday in April.
Next: Top 5 Teams To Never Win A National Title
The coaches poll is made up of 32 coaches, who each represent one of the 32 conferences that receive an automatic spot into the tournament. The 32 coaches on the 2016-17 coaches poll are:
Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s
Jim Boeheim, Syracuse
Tad Boyle, Colorado
Todd Bozeman, Morgan State
Glenn Braica, St. Francis Brooklyn
Scott Cherry, High Point
Tim Cluess, Iona
Jon Coffman, IP-Fort Wayne
Mick Cronin, Cincinnati
Keith Dambrot, Akron
Cameron Dollar, Seattle
Scott Drew, Baylor
Matt Driscoll, North Florida
Bill Evans, Idaho State
Steve Fisher, San Diego State
Mark Fox, Georgia
John Gallagher, Hartford
Matthew Graves, South Alabama
Mike Rhoades, Rice
George Ivory, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa
James Jones, Yale
Greg Kampe, Oakland
Dave Loos, Austin Peay
Mike McConathy, Northwestern State
Greg McDermott, Creighton
Chris Mooney, Richmond
Matt Painter, Purdue
Brett Reed, Lehigh
Zach Spiker, Drexel
Bob Williams, UC-Santa Barbara
Mike Young, Wofford