The defending national champion Huskies begin the 2014-15 season as the 15th-ranked team, according to the USA Today coaches preseason poll. Earlier this week, NBCSports.com's CollegeBasketballTalk.com had UConn 20th, of course none of this will matter in a month when the season starts in earnest, but it gives us something to talk about in the meantime.
Kentucky is ranked No. 1 in the USA Today poll, followed by Arizona, Duke, Wisconsin and Kansas. The Huskies are the highest-rated AAC team followed by SMU at No. 22. Memphis was the only other AAC school to receive votes.
Earlier this week, UConn coach Kevin Ollie sounded unconcerned about his team playing well despite the loss of emotional leader Shabazz Napier, who now plays for the Miami Heat.
"We're going to have good chemistry," Ollie said. "That's what we work on first and foremost. Have good chemistry, and everything falls into place behind that. We want to build them from the neck up, and then we'll take care of the neck down. The first thing we've got to build is mental toughness. They've got to have mental toughness, because that's what it takes to become a champion.
"We want to win championships every day. Everyone wants to think about the end goal. But I want to win championships every day and if we can do that, we'll be where we need to be at the end of the season. I have an obsession with getting better, and hopefully they have the same obsession that I do."
