Men’s Basketball Lands No. 11 Preseason Ranking in Coaches Poll
OMAHA, Neb. — The Creighton University men’s basketball team has earned the No. 11 spot in the preseason USA Today Coaches poll, released on Thursday afternoon. It’s the highest preseason ranking in the coaches poll in program history.
The Bluejays are one of two BIG EAST Conference teams represented, joining No. 3 Villanova. Creighton’s Dec. 8 opponent, Kansas, is ranked fifth, and potential Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic foe West Virginia comes in 15th. Other confirmed or potential teams that dot the Bluejay schedule and are receiving votes include Seton Hall, Memphis, UConn, Providence and Saint Mary’s.
Baylor earned the top spot in the poll, earning 12-of-32 first-place votes to edge out Gonzaga by two points. The rest of the top-10 consisted of Villanova, Virginia, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Duke, Kentucky and Illinois. Creighton earned 458 points in the poll to rank 11th, and 65 points behind Illinois for the final spot in the top-10.
This year’s preseason hype is CU’s fourth preseason ranking from the coaches in the last 15 seasons, joining the 2016-17 team (No. 23), the 2012-13 team (No. 15) and the 2006-07 team (No. 23). A Creighton club starring Paul Silas was also ranked 19th in the prior to the 1962-63 campaign.
This is the 122nd time in program history that Creighton has been ranked in the Coaches poll, and 80th week under the direction of Greg McDermott. The Bluejays finished last season ninth in the year-end rankings. Creighton is 150-55 all-time when ranked in the Coaches poll, including a 99-35 mark under McDermott. Of Creighton’s 15 different teams to be ranked in the Coaches poll, seven have been mentored by McDermott.
A spot in the top 25 of the preseason poll is no guarantee of success. Eleven teams ranked in the preseason last year were not in the rankings at year’s end (No. 6 Florida, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 12 Texas Tech, No. 15 Memphis, No. 17 Arizona, No. 19 Utah State, No. 20 Saint Mary’s, No. 21 Xavier, No. 22 Purdue, No. 24 LSU and No. 25 Tennessee).
Creighton was also 11th in the preseason poll released on Tuesday by the Associated Press.
Creighton is scheduled to open the 2020-21 season on Nov. 25 at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic with a game against South Dakota State in Sioux Falls, S.D. Earlier in the day on Thursday Creighton announced that its Dec. 1 home opener vs. Nebraska-Omaha would take place at 4 p.m. Central and air on FS1.
| Rank | School (record) | Points | Last season’s final ranking | First-place votes |
| 1 | Baylor (26-4) | 764 | 4 | 12 |
| 2 | Gonzaga (31-2) | 762 | 2 | 10 |
| 3 | Villanova (24-7) | 755 | 9 | 8 |
| 4 | Virginia (23-7) | 666 | 17 | 0 |
| 5 | Kansas (28-3) | 612 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Iowa (20-11) | 587 | 25 | 1 |
| 7 | Wisconsin (21-10) | 579 | 19 | 0 |
| 8 | Duke (25-6) | 555 | 8 | 1 |
| 9 | Kentucky (25-6) | 541 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | Illinois (21-10) | 523 | 22 | 0 |
| 11 | Creighton (24-7) | 458 | 9 | 0 |
| 12 | Michigan State (22-9) | 437 | 12 | 0 |
| 13 | Texas Tech (18-13) | 420 | NR | 0 |
| 14 | Tennessee (17-14) | 383 | NR | 0 |
| 15 | West Virginia (21-10) | 347 | 24 | 0 |
| 16 | North Carolina (14-19) | 266 | NR | 0 |
| 17 | Arizona State (20-11) | 240 | NR | 0 |
| 18 | Houston (23-8) | 203 | 23 | 0 |
| 18 | Florida State (26-5) | 203 | 5 | 0 |
| 20 | Oregon (24-7) | 193 | 14 | 0 |
| 21 | UCLA (19-12) | 145 | NR | 0 |
| 22 | Texas (19-12) | 137 | NR | 0 |
| 23 | Rutgers (20-11) | 104 | NR | 0 |
| 24 | Ohio State (21-10) | 102 | 18 | 0 |
| 25 | Alabama (16-15) | 62 | NR | 0 |
Others receiving votes: Louisville (24-7) 55; Florida (19-12) 52; Michigan (19-12) 38; LSU (21-10) 27; San Diego State (30-2) 23; Dayton (29-2) 23; Richmond (24-7) 21; Maryland (24-7) 15; Indiana (20-12) 14; Seton Hall (21-9) 12; Memphis (21-10) 12; Connecticut (19-12) 11; Stanford (20-12) 10; Oklahoma State (18-14) 9; Northern Iowa (25-6) 8; Brigham Young (24-8) 8; Syracuse (18-14) 4; Providence (19-12) 4; Purdue (16-15) 3; Arkansas (20-12) 2; Western Kentucky (20-10) 1; Stephen F. Austin (28-3) 1; Saint Mary’s (26-8) 1; Loyola-Chicago (21-11) 1; Georgia Tech (17-14) 1.
