Villanova, the defending national champion, was ranked third in the USA Today preseason college basketball coaches poll released Thursday.
The Wildcats, who were 35-5 last season, picked up one first-place vote and 700 points from the panel of 32 coaches, finishing behind only No. 1 Duke (27 first-place votes) and No. 2 Kansas (1). Fourth-ranked Kentucky (2) and No. 5 Oregon received the remaining first-place votes.
North Carolina, the 2015-16 runner-up, was ranked sixth, followed by Virginia, Xavier, Michigan State, and Wisconsin.
Villanova's Kris Jenkins, who hit the winning 3-pointer in the NCAA championship game, was named as one of 20 players on the watch list for the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award.
Jenkins is the third Wildcat to earn the watch list for a positional award sponsored by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Josh Hart was named for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year honor and Jalen Brunson received mention for the Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year award.
