Clemson ranked No. 22 in men's preseason poll

The Associated Press

Clemson is ranked No. 22 in The Associated Press top 25 men's basketball preseason poll released on Monday.

Clemson is one of seven Atlantic Coast Conference teams who are ranked..

The last Clemson was ranked in the preseason top 25 was in the 2009-10 season when Clemson was ranked No. 24 in both the AP and USA Today Coaches poll. This season marks the fourth time in program history the Tigers will start a season nationally ranked in a major poll.

The Tigers finished the 2017-18 season ranked No. 20 in the AP and No. 15 in the coaches poll. It now marks the first time since the end of the 2008-09 season and beginning of the 2009-10 season that the Tigers will end a season and begin a season ranked in the AP Top 25.

Clemson is coming off of just its fourth Sweet 16 appearance in program history after a banner season. The program tied a school record for wins in a season with 25 and set a new mark for ACC wins with 11.

Kansas checked in at No. 1, earning the top spot to start a season for the third time in program history, all under Self. The Jayhawks topped the ballot for 37 of 65 voters, nearly double that of No. 2 Kentucky.

Voters established a clear top tier: Kansas, Kentucky, No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 4 Duke. Those four teams appeared in some combination at the top of nearly half the ballots (32 of 65).

John Calipari's latest group of touted recruits helped the Wildcats earn 19 first-place votes to open as a top-5 team for the eighth straight season.

Gonzaga's ranking is the program's highest in a preseason AP poll, though the Zags have reached No. 1 during the regular season before. As for Duke, the Blue Devils had started No. 1 in each of the past two preseason AP polls.

The points gap between the Jayhawks and the Blue Devils (129 points) at fourth was slimmer than between Duke and fellow Atlantic Coast Conference program Virginia (166 points) at No. 5.

The other ACC teams along with Duke, Virginia and Clemson are No. 8 North Carolina, No. 15 Virginia Tech, No. 16 Syracuse and No. 17 Florida State.

The Southeastern Conference was next up with five teams: Kentucky, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 11 Auburn, No. 18 Mississippi State and No. 23 LSU.