ARLINGTON, Va. -- Arizona is No. 1 and defending national champion Maryland is 15th in the preseason USA Today/ESPN coaches poll released Thursday night.

The Wildcats, who were 24-10 last season and are paced by forward Luke Walton and guard Jason Gardner, received 770 points and 27 first-place votes in a panel of 31 Division I coaches.

Kansas is ranked second, with three first-place votes and 740 points. The Jayhawks lost forward Drew Gooden but are returning senior guard Kirk Hinrich and forward Nick Collison.

Rounding out the top five are Oklahoma, which received the remaining first-place vote, Pittsburgh and Texas.

Perennial power Duke lost three players to the NBA -- Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer -- but is ranked sixth. Behind the Blue Devils in the bottom half of the top 10 are Florida, Alabama, Oregon and Michigan State.

Xavier is 11th, followed by UCLA, Mississippi State and Connecticut.

Defending champion Maryland is 15th after losing Juan Dixon, Chris Wilcox and Lonny Baxter to the NBA.

Georgia is 16th and followed by SEC rival Kentucky, Missouri, Marquette and Cincinnati, whose coach, Bob Huggins, is recovering from a recent heart attack.

Indiana, which lost to Maryland in the NCAA title game and Jared Jeffries to the Washington Wizards, is 21st.

Rounding out the poll is Gonzaga, Western Kentucky, Minnesota and Illinois.