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SPORTS Thursday 2 November 2017

Duke is No. 1 in AP preseason poll for second straight year

By JOHN MARSHALL ami, Notre Dame, Minne- year’s final poll.
AP Basketball Writer sota, Louisville, Xavier, 2017 “It is an honor to be picked
Duke was in good position national runner-up Gonza- No. 1 in your sport,” Blue
to be ranked No. 1 in The ga and No. 19 Northwest- Devils coach Mike Krzyze-
Associated Press poll be- ern, which is ranked in the wski said. “At this time of the
fore landing Marvin Bagley preseason poll for the first year, it truly is a prediction,
III. Once the nation’s top time. so you haven’t earned No.
recruit decided to reclas- Purdue was No. 20, with 1 yet. More than likely, past
sify for this season, the Blue UCLA, Saint Mary’s, Seton teams that have played at
Devils became the voters’ Hall, Baylor and Texas A&M Duke have put this team
clear choice. filling the final five spots. in a position where peo-
Led by Bagley and senior North Carolina was ranked ple might say, ‘How is that
guard Grayson Allen, Duke No. 6 in the 2016 preseason team going to do?’ or ‘They
was the preseason No. poll before going on to have a lot of talent’ and all
1 for the second straight beat Gonzaga for its sixth of the sudden, you’re No. 1.
season a ninth time over- national title. Certainly, it’s an honor and
all, matching rival North Duke had three players we’ll look forward to trying
Carolina for most all-time. leave school early, but to achieve and earn that
The Blue Devils received 33 coach Mike Krzyzewski re- ranking at some time dur-
of 65 first-place votes from stocked the Blue Devils ing the season, hopefully This Oct. 25, 2017, file photo shows Duke head coach Mike
a national media panel in with another stellar recruit- at the end.”The Atlantic Krzyzewski answering a question during the Atlantic Coast Con-
the AP Top 25 released on ing class. The class is led by Coast Conference had the ference men’s NCAA college basketball media day in Char-
Wednesday. Bagley, an athletic 6-foot- most ranked teams with lotte, N.C. Associated Press
No. 2 Michigan State re- 11 forward was widely con- five, while the Big 12 and
ceived 13 first-place votes, sidered the No. 1 recruit of Big Ten had four each. The tant coaches from Arizona Adidas for committing to
No. 3 Arizona had 18 and the 2018 class before re- Big East and Pac-12 each and USC — along with Au- the Cardinals.
No. 4 Kansas got one. classifying.Duke, which lost had three. burn and Oklahoma State The first regular-season poll
Kentucky rounded out the to Final Four-bound South Kansas extended the na- — were arrested in a feder- will be Nov. 13. The sea-
top 5, followed by Villa- Carolina in the second tion’s longest consecutive al investigation into bribing son will have an early 1-2
nova, Wichita State and round of the 2017 NCAA poll streak with its 162nd players. Louisville will play matchup the next day,
Florida. Defending national Tournament, is ranked No. straight Top 25, a run that under interim coach David when Duke plays Michigan
champion North Carolina is 1 for the 129th time, five be- started on Feb. 3, 2009. Ari- Padgett after coach Rick State in Chicago in the
No. 9 and Southern Califor- hind all-time leader UCLA. zona is next with 98. Pitino was fired in the wake Champions Classic. No.
nia is 10th. The Blue Devils were first the Arizona, USC and Louisville of the scandal that alleged 4 Kansas plays No. 5 Ken-
West Virginia was No. 11, preseason No. 1 in 1978-79 enter the season clouded that a recruit was supposed tucky in the second half of
followed by Cincinnati, Mi- and finished seventh in last in uncertainty after assis- to receive payments from the doubleheader.q
Cordeiro, Guilati protege, running for USSF president

MIAMI (AP) — Carlos Cor- cized since the U.S. failed ernance, national team chief executive officer and should report to the CEO
deiro is running for U.S. Soc- to qualify for next year’s structure and leadership, recommend all coach or a new general manager
cer Federation president World Cup, ending a streak improving soccer’s acces- hirings. He said coaches for soccer position.q
after being brought into the of seven straight appear- sibility to everyone,” he
governing body by current ances. wrote.
USSF President Sunil Gulati. Retired U.S. forward Eric He said he would launch
The 61-year-old Cordeiro, Wynalda has taken a leave “Mission 26/27” to elevate
a retired Goldman Sachs from Fox Sports to run. Bos- the men’s national team to
executive, became an in- ton lawyer Steve Gans and a higher level by the 2026
dependent director of the Paul LaPointe, Northeast World Cup and the wom-
USSF board in 2006/2007, Conference manager of en’s national team by the
served as treasurer starting the United Premier Soccer 2027 tournament. The U.S.,
in 2008 and was elected League, also are running. Mexico and Canada are
to a four-year term as vice Retired U.S. forward Land- bidding to host the 2026
president in 2016. He has on Donovan is said to be tournament, and Morocco
been viewed as a prote- considering a run. also has said it wants to
ge and potential succes- Cordeiro released a letter host. Cordeiro wants the
sor to Gulati, who has not Wednesday announcing 2027 women’s tournament
said whether he will seek a his candidacy. to be held in the U.S.
fourth four-year term at the “We need a comprehen- Cordeiro would establish a
election in February. sive and fearless review technical committee that
Gulati has been criti- of all major issues: gov- would report to the USSF