North Carolina the first unanimous preseason No. 1

NEW YORK -- North Carolina is the first unanimous Number 1 since the AP preseason basketball poll began ahead of the 1981-82 season.

The Tar Heels return the top six scorers from a team that had a school-record 36 wins and reached the Final Four last season. They include national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough.

North Carolina, which finished on top of the final poll last season, is the preseason Number 1 for a second straight year, joining UNLV in 1989-90 and 1990-91 as the only schools to do that. It also marks North Carolina's record sixth time atop the preseason rankings, breaking a tie with Duke.

Connecticut, which returns four starters, is ranked second this preseason, followed by Louisville, UCLA and Pittsburgh.

Michigan State, Texas, Duke, Notre Dame and Gonzaga round out the top ten.
Purdue is 11th followed by Oklahoma, Memphis, Tennessee, Arizona State, Marquette, Miami, Southern California, Florida and Davidson.

The last five teams are Wake Forest, Georgetown, Villanova, Kansas and Wisconsin.

Kentucky is not ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 1990-91, and the longest current streak now belongs to Duke, which has been in every one since 1996-97.