OMAHA, Neb. --  The Creighton University men's basketball team has earned the No. 23 spot in the preseason USA Today Coaches poll, released on Thursday morning. The Bluejays are one of three BIG EAST Conference teams represented, joining No. 3 Villanova and No. 8 Xavier.

One Creighton non-conference opponents is also ranked, No. 10 Wisconsin. Other Bluejay foes that are receiving votes include Seton Hall and Butler.

Duke claimed the top spot in the poll, earning 27-of-32 first-place votes. Kansas is second, with Villanova, Kentucky, Oregon, North Carolina, Virginia, Xavier, Michigan State and Wisconsin rounding out the rest of the top-10.

Creighton earned 113 points in the poll to rank 23rd, just behind No. 22 Texas which got 124 points.

The voting represents a huge gain for Creighton, which did not receive any votes in last year's final USA Today poll. This marks CU's third preseason ranking from the coaches in the last 10 years, joining the 2012-13 team (No. 15) and the 2006-07 team (No. 23). Creighton was most recently ranked in the coaches poll at any point in any season on April 7, 2014, when it was No. 20 in the year-end poll.

A spot in the top 25 of the preseason poll is no guarantee of success. One team in last year's preseason top-25 missed out on the NCAA Tournament (No. 19 LSU), and six teams ranked in the preseason were not in the rankings at year's end (No. 12 Wichita State, No. 14 California, No. 19 LSU, No. 20 Vanderbilt, No. 22 Butler and No. 24 Connecticut).

The Associated Press preseason poll is scheduled to be released on October 31.

CU's first exhibition game will be Nov. 4 against Wayne State, while the regular-season opens Nov. 11 with UMKC heading to CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Picked third to finish in the BIG EAST preseason poll, Creighton has advanced to the postseason in 18 of the last 19 years and will return 11 lettermen and four starters from last season's 20-15 squad that reached the NIT quarterfinals.

For ticket information about Creighton Athletics, call (402) 280-JAYS.
 
RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS 1st Place Votes Prev
1 Duke 25-11 792 27 NR
2 Kansas 33-5 721 1 NR
3 Villanova 35-5 700 1 NR
4 Kentucky 27-9 695 2 NR
5 Oregon 31-7 620 1 NR
6 North Carolina 33-7 614 0 NR
7 Virginia 29-8 596 0 NR
8 Xavier 28-6 552 0 NR
9 Michigan St 29-6 544 0 NR
10 Wisconsin 22-13 487 0 NR
11 Arizona 25-9 468 0 NR
12 Indiana 27-8 435 0 NR
13 Gonzaga 28-8 371 0 NR
14 Louisville 23-8 367 0 NR
15 Purdue 26-9 324 0 NR
16 Connecticut 25-11 239 0 NR
17 Syracuse 23-14 224 0 NR
18 West Virginia 26-9 204 0 NR
19 St. Mary's 29-6 203 0 NR
20 UCLA 15-17 185 0 NR
21 Maryland 27-9 153 0 NR
22 Texas 20-13 124 0 NR
23 Creighton 20-15 113 0 NR
24 Rhode Island 17-15 85 0 NR
25 Cincinnati 22-11 75 0 NR
Others Receiving Votes

Florida State 65; Iowa State 56; California 43; Miami (Fla.) 35; Dayton 34; Oklahoma 33; Seton Hall 24; Texas A&M 22; Notre Dame 18; San Diego State 17; Virginia Tech 16; Wichita State 15; Southern California 14; Butler 14; Ohio State 12; Florida 11; Clemson 11; Colorado 11; Michigan 10; Pittsburgh 7; Georgia 6; Virginia Commonwealth 6; Yale 6; Chattanooga 5; Washington 4; Nevada 3; Kansas State 3; Arkansas 2; Davidson 2; Valparaiso 2; Southern Methodist 1; Utah 1.