Y. 24th in first AP hoops poll

The national media is giving BYU basketball a little more love than the media around the Mountain West Conference. The MWC media picked San Diego State to win the conference this season, with BYU picked to finish second. In the first AP Top 25 poll just released, however, the Cougars are ranked 24th and SDSU 25th. The poll shows the national media is giving the MWC a little more respect than the coaches, who didn’t have one MWC in their Top 25 poll. Eventually, I think two or three MWC teams will be ranked.

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ preseason 2010-11 college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final 2009-10 record, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and 2009-10 final ranking:

Record Pts Pvs

1. Duke (55) 35-5 1,613 3

2. Michigan St. (8) 28-9 1,558 13

3. Kansas St. (2) 29-8 1,414 7

4. Ohio St. 29-8 1,368 5

5. Pittsburgh 25-9 1,310 18

6. Villanova 25-8 1,198 9

7. Kansas 33-3 1,172 1

8. North Carolina 20-17 1,034 —

9. Florida 21-13 997 —

10. Syracuse 30-5 920 4

11. Kentucky 35-3 917 2

12. Gonzaga 27-7 889 22

13. Illinois 21-15 773 —

14. Purdue 29-6 771 10

15. Missouri 23-11 700 —

16. Baylor 28-8 625 19

17. Butler 33-5 607 11

18. Washington 26-10 572 —

19. Memphis 24-10 551 —

20. Georgetown 23-11 363 14

21. Virginia Tech 25-9 288 —

22. Temple 29-6 265 12

23. Tennessee 28-9 252 15

24. BYU 30-6 198 17

25. San Diego St. 25-9 158 —

Others receiving votes: Wisconsin 126, Texas 107, Georgia 67, West Virginia 65, Minnesota 55, Florida St. 28, Wichita St. 28, UNLV 21, Richmond 17, Murray St. 15, Vanderbilt 14, N.C. State 10, Arizona 8, Connecticut 8, Colorado 7, Mississippi St. 7, UCLA 5, Miami 4, Ohio 4, Utah St. 4, Xavier 4, Dayton 3, Old Dominion 2, Georgia Tech 1, New Mexico 1, Wofford 1.