In the first ESPN/USA Today Men’s Basketball Coaches poll released this morning it was announced that two schools participating in this year’s Stadium Shootout are ranked in the Top 15. The Louisville Cardinals received a #3 ranking and the Arizona State Sun Devils were chosen as #15.
North Carolina received all 31 first-place votes as the unanimous No. 1 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll, which was released Thursday.
The #3 ranking is the highest the Cardinals have been ranked in the preseason during the Rick Pitino era. Louisville, chosen to finish second in the extremely competitive Big East Conference, returns five major contributors from a team that won 27 games a season ago. The most notable returners are 2008-09 preseason All-Big East selections Terrance Williams and Earl Clark.
The Cardinals will be taking on the Golden Gophers of Minnesota in a game that will pair two championship coaches and former colleagues against one another for the first time since Coach Tubby Smith left Kentucky for Minnesota in 2007.
Arizona State received only its second ever ranking in the preseason coaches’ poll, with the other being 1991-92. The Sun Devils were also picked to finish second in the Pac-10 conference, ranking just behind reigning champion UCLA. The Bruins received 37 of the 38 total first place votes, with ASU receiving the lone remaining vote. This is the highest placing for the Sun Devils since the media poll started in 1992-93. Their previous best was fourth in 1994-95 and 2002-03.
Taking on the Sun Devils will be the 2008 Mountain West Conference Regular Season Champion BYU Cougars. The Cougars, led by Mesa native Lee Cummard were among the others receiving votes in the preseason coaches’ poll.
The doubleheader is set for Saturday, December 20th with the first game tipping at noon.
The games will mark the first ever basketball event held at the renown University of Phoenix Stadium home of Super Bowl XLII. The event could set the attendance record for a basketball game in the State of Arizona and will likely be a major step in attracting the Men’s Final Four to the Grand Canyon State.
For updated information and all the details of this original event, go to the event’s official website: www.stadiumshootout.com.