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Bearcats Just Out of AP Preseason Poll

Time to prove some folks wrong.

NCAA Basketball: Southern Methodist at Cincinnati Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Associated Press released its preseason poll yesterday and there seems to be a mistake. Despite being tagged as the preseason favorites to win the American Athletic Conference by the league’s coaches and earning the No. 25 spot on the USA Today Coaches Preseason Poll, the Cincinnati Bearcats were not included in the AP poll.

It was by the slimmest of margins that they were left out, as the Bearcats received 110 votes, which was good enough for No. 26. Fellow AAC team/rival UConn was ranked No. 18 in the preseason poll.

UC has gone to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last six seasons but has not been a fixture in the AP poll. It spent six weeks in it last year, rising as high as No. 17, but was left out entirely during a 23-win campaign across the 2014-15 season. The year before that, the Bearcats came in at No. 15 in the final AP poll, marking the first time since 2005 they ended the year ranked.

Although the Bearcats were left out in this preseason ranking, it doesn’t really mean all that much. There is still a ton of returning (Troy Caupain, Gary Clark, Jacob Evans) and new (Kyle Washington, Jarron Cumberland) talent on this roster, which will be fighting for positioning throughout the season.

Here’s the full poll for your perusal. Feel free to sound off on why UC should be in over [insert your chosen team here].

RK TEAM RECORD PTS
1 Duke (58) 0-0 1,612
2 Kentucky (2) 0-0 1,479
3 Kansas 0-0 1,476
4 Villanova (4) 0-0 1,465
5 Oregon (1) 0-0 1,343
6 North Carolina 0-0 1,314
7 Xavier 0-0 1,167
8 Virginia 0-0 1,149
9 Wisconsin 0-0 1,135
10 Arizona 0-0 1,004
11 Indiana 0-0 917
12 Michigan State 0-0 903
13 Louisville 0-0 755
14 Gonzaga 0-0 699
15 Purdue 0-0 672
16 UCLA 0-0 540
17 Saint Mary's 0-0 512
18 Connecticut 0-0 504
19 Syracuse 0-0 464
20 West Virginia 0-0 360
21 Texas 0-0 250
22 Creighton 0-0 231
23 Rhode Island 0-0 199
24 Iowa State 0-0 168
25 Maryland 0-0 144
Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 110, Dayton 98, Florida State 88, California 74, San Diego State 48, Miami 35, NC State 29, Butler 21, Wichita St 21, Ohio State 18, Virginia Tech 18, Florida 18, Texas A&M 14, Mississippi State 14, Oklahoma 11, Colorado 10, Michigan 8, Monmouth 7, Notre Dame 6, Washington 5, Seton Hall 5, Princeton 2, Ohio 1, Vanderbilt 1, Harvard 1