The two-time defending national champion, Ohio State, will open up the 2018 season as the #1 men’s team in the nation. Last season, the ended with the #1 ranking followed by BYU then Long Beach State, who flip-flopped in the opening rankings of 2018.
Rounding out the top-five are UCLA and Hawaii who ended 2017 season at #6 and #4, respectively.
Dropping out of the top-five ranking from the end of 2017 is UC Irvine, as they lost a number of their top players to graduation this season. Also falling back in the rankings are Pepperdine as they sat at #8 concluding last season but fell back to #10 in the preseason poll. USC, Ball State and Grand Canyon all moved back in the opening rankings. The Trojans fall from #11 to #12 while Ball State slides back to #14 from #12 and Grand Canyon to #15 from #13.
Loyola-Chicago jumped up one position from the end of season ranking to #13. They are returning some strong players this season, including Jeff Jendryk who was a main fixture on the Team USA court this summer. CSUN made a jump to #11 after finishing in the #15 spot.
The next men’s rankings will be released on January 8.
| Rank | School (First-Place Votes) | Total Points Adjusted | 2017 Record | 2017 Final Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State (19) | 361 | 32-2 | 1 |
| 2 | Long Beach State (4) | 345 | 27-4 | 3 |
| 3 | BYU (1) | 326 | 26-5 | 2 |
| 4 | UCLA (1) | 297 | 17-10 | 6 |
| 5 | Hawai’i | 274 | 27-6 | 4 |
| 6 | Lewis | 248 | 23-7 | 7 |
| 7 | UC Irvine | 204 | 20-7 | 5 |
| 8 | Stanford | 194 | 13-13 | 9 |
| 9 | Penn State | 172 | 21-11 | 10 |
| 10 | Pepperdine | 163 | 10-12 | 8 |
| 11 | CSUN | 99 | 12-15 | 15 |
| 12 | Southern California | 89 | 14-14 | 11 |
| 13 | Loyola-Chicago | 76 | 16-12 | 14 |
| 14 | Ball State | 68 | 19-10 | 12 |
| 15 | Grand Canyon | 55 | 19-11 | 13 |
Others receiving votes and listed on two or more ballots: Princeton 13; UC Santa Barbara 7; George Mason 5; UC San Diego 2
Two teams mentioned on only one ballot for a total of two combined points.
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