Spartans Ranked 15th In The Associated Press Poll
11/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 6, 2001
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State men's basketball team is ranked No. 15 in the nation according to The Associated Press' men's preseason college basketball poll released on Monday evening. Duke grabbed the top spot in the poll, collecting 61 of the 72 first-place votes.
With a No. 15 ranking, MSU has been ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 for 63 straight weeks, including 56 straight in the top 15. It does, however, break a string of 27 straight weeks in the Top 10.
Six of Michigan State's opponents are ranked in the preseason poll. No. 3 Illinois captured two first place votes and trails only Duke and No. 2 Maryland. MSU's road schedule will include contests at No. 6 Florida and neutral site contests in the home state of No. 11 Virginia and No. 13 Stanford. Big Ten foes Iowa (No. 9) and Indiana (No. 22) round out the ranked opponents. Arizona and Purdue each received votes but did not make the top 25. In addition, No. 20 Southern California, No. 21 Syracuse and No. 25 Oklahoma are all possible Preseason NIT opponents.
MSU opened the 2000-01 season with a No. 3 ranking and did not drop from the top five all season, finishing the season ranked third. In December, Michigan State grabbed the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll for the first time since 1979.
The Spartans finished the 2000-01 season with a 28-5 record, winning a fourth-straight Big Ten Championship and making a third-straight trip to the Final Four. This year's regular season gets under way with a Nov. 12 meeting vs. Detroit in the Preseason NIT at the Breslin Center.
