The USA Today/ESPN preseason basketball coaches poll was released today, and as expected, the Michigan State Spartans are near the top of the rankings:
↵1. Duke (29 first-place votes)
2. Michigan State (2)
3. Kansas State
4. Pittsburgh
5. Ohio State
6. Villanova
7. Kansas
8. Purdue
9. North Carolina
10. Kentucky
11. Florida
12. Gonzaga
13. Syracuse
14. Baylor
15. Missouri
16t. Illinois
16t. Washington
18. Butler
19. Memphis
20. Tennessee
21. Georgetown
22. Temple
23. Virginia Tech
24. Wisconsin
25. Texas
The Spartans are 35 points back of the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils. Duke has 29 first-place votes, with the other two in the poll going to Michigan State.
↵In total, there are five Big Ten teams in the top 25, three of which -- MSU (No. 2), Ohio State (No. 5) and Purdue (No. 8) -- are in the top 10. The other two Big Ten teams in the poll are Illinois, which is tied for 16th in the rankings, and Wisconsin, which is 24th. Minnesota and Northwestern are in the "Others receiving votes" category.
↵UPDATE: Michigan State is also second in the preseason AP Poll.