ARIZONA BASKETBALL

Arizona Wildcats ranked second in AP preseason poll

Oct 31, 2014, 3:37 PM | Updated: 3:41 pm

The Arizona Wildcats are exactly two weeks away from their 2014-15 season opener against Mount St. Mary’s at McKale Center in Tucson.

When Sean Miller’s team takes the court that night, they’ll be the second-ranked team in the country, according to the Associated Press.

The AP preseason college basketball Top 25 was released Friday and Arizona trails only the Kentucky Wildcats, who received 52 of a possible 65 first-place votes. Arizona received five first-place votes, while Wisconsin, who is third in the poll, got eight.

Duke and Kansas round out the top five with North Carolina, Florida, Louisville, Virginia and Texas comprising the rest of the top ten.

Arizona returns several key players from last year’s squad that advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament, including swingman Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, point guard T.J. McConnell, center Kaleb Tarczewski and forward Brandon Ashley. They also boast one of the top incoming freshman classes in the nation, highlighted by the arrival of McDonald’s All-American Stanley Johnson from Mater Dei High School in Orange County, Calif.

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