Last night I shot joePA an email that told him to remind me to post the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll for college basketball this morning. His response: "I won't forget to remind you, but for some reason I don't think you'll forget to do it since Duke's number one." He knows me so well. The story of the first poll of the college basketball season, of course, is not about Duke, or even #2-ranked Michigan State. North Carolina, despite not even making the tournament last year (and, ahem, losing to Dayton in the finals of the NIT), nabs the #9 spot, thanks in no small part to the arrival of the nation's top-ranked freshman, Harrison Barnes. Eight more blue-chip teams that weren't ranked at the end of last season are in the preseason Top 25, including Florida, Illinois, Memphis, and Georgetown. Purdue's spot in the top 10, meanwhile, is raising some eyebrows. A month ago, a top-5 position was definitely in the cards, but the loss of star forward Robbie Hummel for the season on an ACL tear leads most to believe that they won't hold on to that #8 spot for too long. Check out the full rankings after the jump.

USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll

USA Today/ESPN Top 25 Preseason Coaches' Poll

Others receiving votes: San Diego State (25-9) 73; Brigham Young (30-6) 55; West Virginia (31-7) 49; Minnesota (21-14) 41; Florida State (22-10) 31; UNLV (25-9) 19; Wichita State (25-10) 13; UCLA (14-18) 12; Vanderbilt (24-9) 11; North Carolina State (20-16) 10; Georgia (14-17) 9; Richmond (26-9) 9; Xavier (26-9) 8; Mississippi State (24-12) 7; Utah State (27-8) 6; California (24-11) 5; Texas A&M (24-10) 5; Murray State (31-5) 4; New Mexico (30-5) 4; Louisville (20-13) 3; Arizona (16-15) 2; Dayton (25-12) 2; Marquette (22-12) 2; Maryland (24-9) 2; Saint Mary's (28-6) 2; Northwestern (20-14) 1.