The 2011 preseason USA Today coaches poll was released today and the Baylor Bears come in ranked No. 12 and are the highest rated Big 12 team, however the coaches within the Big 12 predicted Baylor to finish third in the league.. The other two ranked are the Kansas Jayhawks who are at No. 11 and the Texas A&M Aggies are also ranked at No. 19.
As of now the only ranked teams that Baylor is facing come from within conference play, however they do face the BYU Cougars, MIssissippi St. Bulldogs and the Saint Mary Gaels who all are receiving votes in the preseason.
At the top of the poll is the North Carolina Tar Heels who earned 30 of the 31 first-place votes with the Kentucky Wildcats earning the other first-place vote.
Here is the complete poll:
Team (first-place votes)
North Carolina (30)
Kentucky (1)
Ohio State
Connecticut
Syracuse
Duke
Vanderbilt
Louisville
Memphis
Florida
Pittsburgh
Baylor
Kansas
Wisconsin
Xavier
Arizona
Alabama
Michigan
Texas A&M
UCLA
Marquette
Cincinnati
Gonzaga
California
Missouri
Others receiving votes
Florida State (23-11) 108; Texas (28-8) 107; Michigan State (19-15) 73; Temple (26-8) 59; Washington (24-11) 29; Butler (28-10) 25; New Mexico (22-13) 22; Creighton (23-16) 19; Villanova (21-12) 18; Purdue (26-8) 17; UNLV (24-9) 16; West Virginia (21-12) 13; George Mason (27-7) 12; Mississippi State (17-14) 11; St. John's (21-12) 11; Saint Mary's (25-9) 5; Virginia (16-15) 5; Virginia Commonwealth (28-12) 4; Drexel (21-10) 2; Kansas State (23-11) 2; Long Beach State (22-12) 2; Brigham Young (32-5) 1; Notre Dame (27-7) 1.