Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 14, 1993 TAG: 9311140056
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Tar Heels received 61 of 65 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of writers and broadcasters Saturday for their fourth No. 1 ranking in the 13 preseason polls conducted.
Kentucky, which was listed No. 1 on three ballots, was second, followed by Arkansas and Duke, last year's preseason No. 1, giving the Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference the top four teams.
Michigan, the championship-game loser the past two years, was fifth, followed in the Top Ten by California, Louisville, Temple, Kansas and Minnesota.
Virginia was 16th.
No team ever has been a unanimous preseason No. 1, and the three first-place votes for Kentucky and one for Kansas kept the Tar Heels from doing it. They also were preseason No. 1 for 1981-82, the first season such a poll was taken, and again before 1983-84 and 1986-87.
Duke and Nevada-Las Vegas have taken the preseason honors twice each. UNLV in 1990-91 and Duke the next season are the only preseason No. 1s to hold the top spot through the final poll.
Three preseason No. 1s have gone on to win the national title: North Carolina in 1982, UNLV in 1990 and Duke in 1992.
"Seldom does a team finish No. 1 who starts there," North Carolina coach Dean Smith said. "We hope we can be one of a select few to accomplish such an unbelievable goal. The very fact that college basketball is such an unpredictable game and a champion is decided by a tournament, the polls lose the meaning they enjoy in football."
North Carolina has four starters back from last season's 34-4 team that gave Smith his second national title, and the Tar Heels have added another stellar recruiting class.
"Generally, anyone who is returning key people from the Final Four is selected at the top," Smith said. "If Arkansas had beaten us in the regional semifinals, they would have been preseason No. 1, in my opinion. As usual, it is obvious that the preseason poll means nothing in college basketball except that you are predicted to have a good team."
Kentucky, which lost to Michigan in the Final Four, lost Jamal Mashburn to the NBA but still figures to win its division in the SEC, as does Arkansas.
Kansas was the other team in the Final Four last season, and the Jayhawks still made the Top Ten despite losing four starters.
Oklahoma State led the Second Ten and was followed by Indiana, the No. 1 team in last season's final poll, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, Virginia, Illinois, Arizona, Cincinnati and Syracuse.
Purdue led the final five and was followed by Massachusetts, Vanderbilt, George Washington and Florida State.
All but two of the ranked teams - Louisville of the Metro and Cincinnati of the Great Midwest - come from seven conferences, with the ACC and Big Ten leading with five schools each.
In addition to North Carolina and Duke, the ACC had Georgia Tech, Virginia and Florida State ranked. The Big Ten had Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Purdue. Both leagues had four teams in last year's preseason poll, as did the Big Eight and Big East, which had two each this season.
by CNB