#8 Men's Basketball Earns Best Preseason AP Ranking Ever
10/16/2023 11:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Creighton opens the regular-season on Nov. 7 vs. Florida A&M
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton men's basketball team is ranked eighth in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll, its highest preseason AP ranking ever. That's one spot better than the previous best, done last year, when the Bluejays started the season ranked ninth.
Monday's announcement marks just the sixth time in program history the writers have voted CU to the top-25 in the preseason, joining 2006-07 (No. 19), 2012-13 (No. 16) and 2016-17 (No. 22), 2020-21 (No. 11) and 2022-23 (No. 9). All five of those teams would end up in the NCAA Tournament, with the last two making the Sweet 16 and last year's club reaching the Elite Eight. It's also the 23rd time in program history that Creighton has been in the top-10 at any point, with all but one of those weeks happening under head coach Greg McDermott. Creighton's best ranking in program history is seventh, done five times (Jan. 16, 2017, March 10, 2020, March 18, 2020, Jan. 7, 2021 and Nov. 28, 2022).
Including today's ranking, Creighton has now been ranked 123 times in program history, with 95 of those under the direction of McDermott. Creighton is 152-63 all-time as a ranked team, including a 118-51 mark under McDermott. Creighton has now been ranked at least one week in 10 of McDermott's 14 seasons on The Hilltop after doing it just five different seasons in program history before his 2010 arrival.
Creighton is one of four BIG EAST Conference schools in the poll, joining No. 5 Marquette, No. 6 Connecticut and No. 22 Villanova. Kansas is atop the poll, just ahead of Duke, Purdue and Michigan State.
The Bluejays are scheduled to open the 2023-24 season on Nov. 3 with an exhibition game vs. Wayne State before tipping off the regular-season on Nov. 7 vs. Florida A&M. Among the opponents on Creighton's schedule who made the preseason top-25 are No. 5 Marquette, No. 6 Connecticut, No. 22 Villanova and No. 24 Alabama. Both St. John's and Xavier were listed among those teams also receiving votes.
Associated Press Top 25
Oct. 16, 2023 (Preseason Poll)
Rk   School   W-L    PTS
1Â Â Â Kansas (46)Â Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 1548
2Â Â Â Duke (11)Â Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 1466
3Â Â Â Purdue (3)Â Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 1436
4Â Â Â Michigan State (1)Â Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 1346
5   Marquette   0-0   1283
6Â Â Â Connecticut (2)Â Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 1243
7   Houston   0-0   1117
8   Creighton   0-0   1099
9   Tennessee   0-0   1032
10   Florida Atlantic   0-0   1011
11   Gonzaga   0-0   830
12   Arizona   0-0   776
13Â Â Â Miami (Fla.)Â Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 750
14   Arkansas   0-0   685
15Â Â Â Texas A&MÂ Â Â 0-0Â Â Â 597
16   Kentucky   0-0   530
17   San Diego State   0-0   529
18   Texas   0-0   493
19   North Carolina   0-0   474
20   Baylor   0-0   431
21   Southern California   0-0   427
22   Villanova   0-0   395
23   Saint Mary's   0-0   335
24   Alabama   0-0   163
25   Illinois   0-0   104
Others receiving votes:Â Wisconsin 53, Colorado 49, UCLA 47, St. John's 47, Maryland 34, Virginia 27, Auburn 27, TCU 24, Mississippi St. 20, Kansas St 13, Xavier 8, Memphis 7, Missouri 6, Boise St. 4, Indiana 3, Florida 2, Coll of Charleston 2, New Mexico 1, Drake 1.
