Men’s basketball season is just around the corner, and one of the early indications that it’s coming is the preseason AP Top 25 poll, which was released on Monday.

North Carolina opened as the No. 1 team as the Tar Heels have 4 starters back from the team that lost to Kansas in New Orleans in the national title game. The Tar Heels earned 47 of 62 first-place votes from a national media panel to easily outdistance Gonzaga, the top preseason team the past two years. The Bulldogs received 12 first-place votes while No. 3 Houston had one and fourth-ranked Kentucky the other 2.

Arkansas is ranked No. 10, Tennessee No. 11, Auburn is No. 15 and Alabama is No. 20 to round out the SEC teams in the mix.

Texas A&M was the first SEC team outside the poll.

The Big 12 and SEC lead the way with 5 ranked teams. The Big Ten, Pac 12 and ACC have 3 apiece and the Big East has 2. The West Coast, Atlantic 10, Mountain West and American Athletic conferences each have 1 team in the poll.

AP Top 25
1. North Carolina
2. Gonzaga
3. Houston
4. Kentucky
T5. Baylor
T5. Kansas
7. Duke
8. UCLA
9. Creighton
10. Arkansas
11. Tennessee
12. Texas
13. Indiana
14. TCU
15. Auburn
16. Villanova
17. Arizona
18. Virginia
19. San Diego State
20. Alabama
21. Oregon
22. Michigan
23. Illinois
24. Dayton
25. Texas Tech