UCLA men’s basketball ranked 20th in USA Today Coaches Poll

UCLA is the lone team in the USA Today coaches’ preseason poll that finished last season with a losing record.

There are a couple of entries at nine games over .500. Texas was just five games above the mark and Rhode Island is the closest at 17-15.

Expectations for the upcoming season became a little more real as the Bruins earned a No. 20 preseason ranking in the first major poll released ahead of the 2016-17 season. UCLA obviously isn’t the only team on the list with a top-five recruiting class, but Lonzo Ball, T.J. Leaf and Ike Anigbogu are expected to elevate their program more than any other freshmen in the country.

2016-17 USA TODAY COACHES’ PRESEASON POLL
1. Duke (27)
2. Kansas (1)
3. Villanova (1)
4. Kentucky (2)
5. Oregon (1)
6. North Carolina
7. Virginia
8. Xavier
9. Michigan State
10. Wisconsin
11. Arizona
12. Indiana
13. Gonzaga
14. Louisville
15. Purdue
16. Connecticut
17. Syracuse
18. West Virginia
19. St. Mary’s
20. UCLA
21. Maryland
22. Texas
23. Creighton
24. Rhode Island
25. Cincinnati