Men's Basketball Earns No. 17 Ranking In AP Preseason Poll

CINCINNATI - The Xavier men's basketball team is ranked No. 17 in the preseason Associated Press Poll, which was released today. Xavier, 24-14 overall last season, is coming off an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight run. The Musketeers were ranked No. 18 in the 2016-17 final postseason USA Today Sports coaches poll but were unranked in the final AP Poll, which is conducted prior to postseason play.

Xavier was ranked No. 7 in the 2016-17 preseason poll and remained in the top 25 until mid-February when injuries to Edmond Sumner and Trevon Bluiett contributed to a losing streak. XU bounced back in the postseason in a big way, making it to at least the NCAA Sweet 16 for a sixth time in 10 years.

Xavier has made the 2017-18 preseason national rankings for numerous media outlets, including No. 15 by NBC Sports, No. 17 in the USA Today Sports coaches poll and Athlon Sports preseason magazine, No. 21 by Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and No. 22 by CBS Sports.

Head coach Chris Mack welcomes back the senior duo of 6-6 All-America candidate Bluiett and 6-5 J.P. Macura, who were both named to the five-member 2017 All-West Regional Team and both earned preseason All-BIG EAST honors. The third senior is 6-10 Sean O'Mara, one of the heroes of last season's Elite Eight run off the bench. The two other returning starters from the NCAA run in addition to Bluiett and Macura are 6-4 sophomore point guard Quentin Goodin and 6-9 sophomore post man Tyrique Jones.

Xavier hosts Thomas More College on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Cintas Center, XU's lone public exhibition game of the season.

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Men's Basketball Earns No. 17 Ranking In AP Preseason Poll

Players Mentioned

Trevon Bluiett

Quentin Goodin

Tyrique Jones

J.P. Macura

Sean O'Mara

Edmond Sumner

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Xavier University Athletics