Duke No. 1 Again in Preseason AP Poll

Duke is the overwhelming No. 1 in the preseason Associated Press poll.

Stop us when you've heard this one before.

The Blue Devils received 55 first place votes among the 65 votes cast, easily capturing the poll's top spot. It is the third recent one-sided poll debut for the Blue Devils, who capture the coaches' poll by an overwhelming margin and received all but one first-place vote to win the ACC, in preseason league voting.

Michigan State, which advanced to its sixth Final Four since 1999 a season ago, captured eight No.1 votes and finished second. Kansas State, which lost int he Elite Eight, finished third and received two first-place votes. The Wildcats matched their highest ranking in the poll since 1962.

Ohio State and Pittsburgh round out the top five, followed by Villanova, Kansas, North Carolina, Florida and Syracuse.

More Coverage: View Full Top 25 Rankings

Kentucky, which is still awaiting word on the eligibility of freshman star Enes Kanter, is ranked 11th, thanks to a celebrated recruiting class which will help fill the void left by the five Wildcats selected in June's NBA draft.

Gonzaga, Illinois, purdue, Missouri, Baylor, Butler, Washington, Memphis and Georgetown rounded out the top 20.

Virginia Tech, Temple, Tennessee, Brigham Young and San Diego State are the final five teams.

The Blue Devils begin the season at No. 1 for the seventh time in program history, matching rival North Carolina for second-place behind UCLA's eight preseason No. 1 rankings. It is the first time Duke has held the No. 1 ranking in the AP poll since a one-week run in late January of 2009. The Blue Devils finished third in last year's final AP poll, which is released the week before the NCAA tournament starts.

The last time Duke started the season was No. 1 was the 2005-2006 season.