AP Top 25 college basketball: How Channel 2 sports director Zach Klein voted

College football season hit the midway point for the season, but it won’t be long until college basketball tips off.

With the season only a few weeks away, the Associated Press unveiled its preseason top 25 rankings for men’s basketball on Monday.

Purdue is the preseason No. 1 for the first time. The Boilermakers earned 35 of 61 first-place votes. Last year’s champion Florida is No. 3 and runner-up Houston is No. 2.

The Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 each had six ranked teams. Here’s the top 25.

1. Purdue
2. Houston
3. Florida
4. UConn
5. St. John’s
6. Duke
7. Michigan
8. BYU
9. Kentucky
10. Texas Tech
11. Louisville
12. UCLA
13. Arizona
14. Arkansas
15. Alabama
16. Iowa State
17. Illinois
18. Tennessee
19. Kansas
20. Auburn
21. Gonzaga
22. Michigan State
23. Creighton
24. Wisconsin
25. North Carolina

NC State 101, Oregon 98, San Diego St. 74, Texas 35, Ohio St. 23, Kansas St 13, Mississippi 11, Southern Cal 10, Missouri 8, Washington 7, Vanderbilt 7, Iowa 6, Boise St. 4, Mississippi St. 3, VCU 2, Virginia 2, Saint Mary’s 2, Indiana 1, Oklahoma 1, Baylor 1.

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The AP Top 25 basketball media panel comprises of 61 members this year. Channel 2 sports director Zach Klein is the only TV reporter in the local Georgia market with a vote.

Here’s

1. Purdue
2. Florida
3. Houston
4. UConn
5. Kentucky
6. Duke
7. Louisville
8. Texas Tech
9. Michigan
10. St. John’s
11. BYU
12. Alabama
13. Arkansas
14. UCLA
15. Auburn
16. Arizona
17. Kansas
18. Tennessee
19. Wisconsin
20. Iowa State
21. Illinois
22. Creighton
23. Gonzaga
24. North Carolina State
25. North Carolina

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