Badger basketball – Photo by David Stluka
The Wisconsin Badgers will open the college basketball season as the third ranked team in the country according to the Associated Press top 25 preseason college basketball poll.
Kentucky opens at number 1 and Arizona, which fell to the Badgers in the Elite 8 last season, starts the season in front of the Badgers, at number-2.
The number-3 ranking is the highest in the AP poll for the Badgers. Their previous best was No. 9 to start the 2006-07 season.
Duke, which comes to the Kohl Center on December 3, comes in at number-4. Kansas is ranked fifth.
Four other Big Ten teams are in the poll. Michigan State is 18th, Ohio State 20th, Nebraska at number-21 and Michigan at number-24.