The Duke Blue Devils will open the season as the consensus No. 1 team in the country.
Already atop the preseason coaches' poll, Duke also took the top spot in the Associated Press Top 25 released Monday.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski's Duke squad features a great combination of returning stars and highly touted incoming freshmen. One of those newcomers, Jayson Tatum, injured his foot in a practice before NBA scouts earlier this month, but he was only diagnosed with a sprain.
MORE: Top basketball program since 2000
Duke will have to maneuver through a deep and talented ACC, but stiff competition is nothing new to Krzyzewski and certainly not something he shies away from.
Kentucky starts the season ranked second after receiving a little over 100 fewer points than Duke. Led by yet another talented class of freshmen, the Wildcats will have to grow and mature together to lead a charge in March.
Kansas, last year's champs Villanova and Oregon round out the top five.
Here is the full Top 25, with first-place votes in parentheses:
1. Duke (58) 1,612
2. Kentucky (2) 1,479
3. Kansas 1,476
4. Villanova (4) 1,465
5. Oregon (1) 1,343
6. North Carolina 1,314
7. Xavier 1,167
8. Virginia 1,149
9. Wisconsin 1,135
10. Arizona 1,004
11. Indiana 917
12. Michigan State 903
13. Louisville 755
14. Gonzaga 699
15. Purdue 672
16. UCLA 540
17. Saint Mary's 512
18. Connecticut 504
19. Syracuse 464
20. West Virginia 360
21. Texas 250
22. Creighton 231
23. Rhode Island 199
24. Iowa State 168
25. Maryland 144