Duke No. 1, Buckeyes 4th in AP poll

Associated Press

Defending national champion Duke was a runaway No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason Top 25 men’s basketball poll.

At the other end of the Top 25 there was big news Thursday with San Diego State entering the rankings for the first time ever.

Duke, on top for a seventh time, has two starters returning to a roster featuring highly touted freshman Kyrie Irving and transfer Seth Curry, Stephen’s little brother.

Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski doesn’t think it’s fair to say a team is trying to repeat when there have been so many changes since the Blue Devils beat Butler for their fourth national championship.

“To repeat is a bad word [to use],” said Krzyzewski. “What you want to do is have the same result, of winning the national championship, but figure out what journey you’re going to be on along the way. And so pursue is a good word for me, and develop.”

Duke garnered 55 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel, easily outdistancing Michigan State, which had eight No. 1 votes. Kansas State was third, followed by Ohio State and Pittsburgh.

Kansas State, which matched its highest ranking since 1962, got the other two first-place votes.

Pittsburgh, Villanova, Kansas, North Carolina, Florida and Syracuse round out the top 10.

Kentucky, which had five underclassmen taken in the first round of the NBA draft, was 11th followed by Gonzaga, Illinois, Purdue, Missouri, Baylor, Butler, Washington, Memphis and Georgetown.

The last five ranked teams were Virginia Tech, Temple, Tennessee, BYU and San Diego State.

The Aztecs return five starters from last season’s team that won 25 games and earned the school’s sixth NCAA tournament bid, all of which resulted in first-round losses.

“I didn’t know San Diego State had never been ranked until someone mentioned it to me earlier this week,” said Aztecs coach Steve Fisher, who led Michigan to one national championship and two other title game appearances. “This is nice surprise but makes me — and I believe all of us — proud of the fact we now have national recognition.”