College basketball coaches have spoken, and they disagree with the AP Top 25 voters about who should be No. 1 entering the 2020-21 college basketball season. Baylor is ranked No. 1 in the first Coaches Poll released Thursday after Gonzaga took to the top spot in the AP Top 25 poll released earlier in the week.
The Bears took 12 of 32 first-place votes with Gonzaga coming in at No. 2 with 10 first-place votes in the coaches poll. Villanova was not far behind with eight first-place votes with Virginia and Kansas rounding out the top five.
Kansas' inclusion as a top-five team also differed from the AP Top 25, where the Jayhawks came in at No. 6. But the disagreement at the top is the headliner from the release of the coaches poll.
Gonzaga took 28 of 66 first-place votes in the AP poll while Baylor earned just 24. Villanova received 11 first-place votes from the AP voters. Voters in both polls should get a firm read on who really should be No. 1 in a couple of weeks when both Gonzaga and Baylor begin the season with marquee games. Gonzaga is scheduled to play Kansas on Nov. 26 and Auburn on Nov. 27 to open its season. Gonzaga is scheduled to play Arizona State on Nov. 25 and Villanova or Boston College on Nov. 26.
But if there is still a split in the polls by early December, it will surely be settled on Dec. 5 when Baylor and Gonzaga are scheduled to square off against each other in Indianapolis in a game broadcast by CBS.
Coaches poll
The top 25 teams in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, last season's record, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote.
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baylor | 0-0 | 764 | NR |
| 2 | Gonzaga | 0-0 | 762 | NR |
| 3 | Villanova | 0-0 | 755 | NR |
| 4 | Virginia | 0-0 | 666 | NR |
| 5 | Kansas | 0-0 | 612 | NR |
| 6 | Iowa | 0-0 | 587 | NR |
| 7 | Wisconsin | 0-0 | 579 | NR |
| 8 | Duke | 0-0 | 555 | NR |
| 9 | Kentucky | 0-0 | 541 | NR |
| 10 | Illinois | 0-0 | 523 | NR |
| 11 | Creighton | 0-0 | 458 | NR |
| 12 | Michigan State | 0-0 | 437 | NR |
| 13 | Texas Tech | 0-0 | 420 | NR |
| 14 | Tennessee | 0-0 | 383 | NR |
| 15 | West Virginia | 0-0 | 347 | NR |
| 16 | North Carolina | 0-0 | 266 | NR |
| 17 | Arizona State | 0-0 | 240 | NR |
| 18 | Houston | 0-0 | 203 | NR |
| 18 | Florida State | 0-0 | 203 | NR |
| 20 | Oregon | 0-0 | 193 | NR |
| 21 | UCLA | 0-0 | 145 | NR |
| 22 | Texas | 0-0 | 137 | NR |
| 23 | Rutgers | 0-0 | 104 | NR |
| 24 | Ohio State | 0-0 | 102 | NR |
| 25 | Alabama | 0-0 | 62 | NR |
