Men's basketball ranked 14th in AP Preseason Poll

Penny Hardaway's second Memphis team is ranked 14th in the AP Preseason Poll.

Photo by: Matthew A. Smith

Oct 21, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Tigers in the preseason top 25 rankings for the first time since 2013

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- The nation's top-ranked recruiting class is creating some national respect for the University of Memphis men's basketball team.

The Tigers were listed No. 14 in the Associated Press Preseason Top 25 Poll released Monday, their first preseason ranking since opening the 2013 season at No. 11. It is the team's first AP ranking since March 2014.

Michigan State, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke and Louisville are ranked 1 through 5. Oregon, a Tigers' opponent Nov. 12 in Portland in the Phil Knight Invitational, is ranked 15th.

Other preseason rankings to date have the Tigers in the top 15, too. CBS Sports' Top 25 and 1 Preseason College Basketball Rankings lists Memphis No. 7; The Sports News has the Tigers 8th and the March Madness' Power 36 poll ranks the Tigers 12th.

Memphis, under second-year coach Penny Hardaway, recruited the nation's top class according to 247Sports, which listed 7-foot-1 center James Wiseman as the nation's No. 1 recruit and forward Precious Achiuwa as the No. 9 prospect.

The Tigers open Thursday at 7 p.m. at FedExForum with an exhibition game against Christian Brothers University. They'll play LeMoyne Owen in another 7 p.m. exhibition Oct. 28 and open the regular season Nov. 5 at FedExForum against South Carolina State.