By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The University of Cincinnati Bearcats are back in the Top 25. UC was ranked No. 18 Monday in the first Associated Press college basketball poll of the season. The Bearcats, coming off a 17-12 season, have restocked with five newcomers, including point guard Nick Williams and center Robert Whaley, both junior college transfers.

"We probably at times in practice have played like a Top 10 team," said UC coach Bob Huggins. "But we haven't transferred that level of play into a game situation yet, obviously."

Connecticut was ranked No. 1, receiving 67-of-72 first-place votes from the media panel. The Huskies were followed by Duke - with three first-place votes - Michigan State, Arizona and Missouri.

Kentucky was ranked No. 11. Xavier, 26-6 last year, was unranked. XU finished No. 10 in last season's final poll and was the highest ranked team in last season's final poll not to be in the preseason Top 25.

UC began last season ranked No. 23 and rose to No. 21. The Bearcats fell out of the rankings after losing to Dayton on Nov. 30 and never returned.

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Associated Press contributed

Top 25 preseason poll

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's preseason college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2002-03 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last season's final ranking:

	Record	Pts	Pv
1. Connecticut (67)	23-10	1,793	23
2. Duke (3)	26-7	1,667	7
3. Michigan St. (1)	22-13	1,607	-
4. Arizona	28-4	1,476	2
5. Missouri	22-11	1,436	24
6. Kansas (1)	30-8	1,396	6
7. Syracuse	30-5	1,311	13
8. Florida	25-8	1,219	10
9. North Carolina	19-16	1,139	-
10. Gonzaga	24-9	1,125	-
11. Kentucky	32-4	1,092	1
12. Texas	26-7	1,083	5
13. Illinois	25-7	941	11
14. Oklahoma	27-7	822	3
15. Wisconsin	24-8	715	21
16. Louisville	25-7	623	14
17. Saint Joseph's	23-7	579	-
18. Cincinnati	17-12	578	-
19. Stanford	24-9	555	18
20. Wake Forest	25-6	458	8
21. Notre Dame	24-10	429	22
22. Pittsburgh	28-5	382	4
23. Marquette	27-6	155	9
24. N.C. State	18-13	120	-
25. Oklahoma St.	22-10	93	-

Others receiving votes: Maryland 77, California 71, Oregon 70, Xavier 68, Ohio St. 46, Utah 39, LSU 33, Auburn 32, BYU 25, Colorado 16, Arizona St. 13, Providence 13, Purdue 13, Memphis 12, UCLA 12, Mississippi St. 9, Southern Cal 8, Michigan 7, Temple 7, Butler 6, Indiana 6, Manhattan 5, Georgia 3, Ill.-Chicago 3, N. Illinois 3, Nevada 3, Wichita St. 3, Dayton 1, Seton Hall 1, Vermont 1.