Men's Hoops Ranked No. 24 by Blue Ribbon

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – With the start of the hoops season less than a month away, anticipation for the University of Miami basketball season is mounting for the Canes’ second year under head coach Jim Larranaga. This week Blue Ribbon Yearbook ranked UM No. 24 in its preseason Top 25 poll. 
This season Miami will host three Top 10 teams at the BankUnited Center: No. 7 Michigan State (Nov. 28), No. 6 Duke (Jan. 23) and No. 9 North Carolina (Feb. 9). The Canes will face the following ranked teams on the road: No. 9 North Carolina (Jan. 10), No. 4 NC State (Feb. 2), No. 6 Duke (March 2), and possibly No. 16 Arizona in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu (Dec. 23). 
In 2012-13, Larranaga and his staff will begin their second year at the helm in Coral Gables. Having posted a 20-13 record and an appearance in the NIT (second round) in his first campaign, Larranaga was the first Canes coach to open his UM career with 20 wins. Miami finished the season tied for fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference, a program-best, and registered Miami’s first winning record in the ACC (9-7).
Miami returns nine scholarship players from the 2011-12 roster. Those nine players accounted for 80 percent of the Canes scoring, and 86 percent of rebounds, 82 percent of assists, 91 percent of blocks, 83 percent of steals, 81 percent of field goals made and 72 percent of three pointers made.
The 2012-13 Miami basketball team boasts six seniors, four juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen.
Individual game tickets for non-conference matchups go on sale Nov. 1 and single game tickets for ACC matchups will be on sale in mid-December. To order your tickets, call 305-284-2263. 
BLUE RIBBON YEARBOOK – PRESEASON TOP 251 Indiana 2 Louisville 3 Kentucky 4 NC State 5 Michigan 6 Duke 7 Michigan State 8 Florida 9 North Carolina 10 Creighton 11 Saint Louis 12 UCLA 13 Kansas 14 Syracuse 15 UNLV 16 Arizona 17 Ohio State 18 Memphis 19 Baylor 20 Gonzaga 21 Notre Dame 22 Tennessee 23 Wisconsin 24 Miami 25 Texas