MSU basketball: AP Poll has Spartans ranked No. 2

The preseason hype train keeps on chugging along with nine days until the Spartans tip off their regular season.

On Wednesday the AP Poll came out and had our Spartans ranked No. 2 behind Duke.

Arizona comes in at No. 3, Kansas sits at No. 4 and Kentucky rounds out the top five.

Minnesota is the next-highest Big Ten team at No. 15. Northwestern and Purdue also cracked the top 25 coming in at No. 19 and 20, respectively.

The USA Today Coaches Poll also has the Spartans as a top three team, sandwiched between first place Duke and third place Kansas. In the Coaches Poll, MSU received nine first place votes to Duke’s 20.

Of course, these rankings makes Nov. 14’s Champions Classic matchup between Duke and MSU a 1 vs. 2 game. The last time MSU played in the Champions Classic in Chicago was also a 1 vs. 2 game as the Spartans topped Kentucky.