ST. LOUIS -- The Associated Press released its preseason Top 25 college basketball poll on Thursday afternoon and Saint Louis University received just three votes.
Besides the schools that landed in the Top 25, which starts with Kentucky ends with Baylor, seventeen schools received more votes than the Billiken's three, which means they are tied for 43rd with Missouri.
"That's a lot of stuff about nothing," SLU coach Jim Crews said following his team's 94-38 exhibition victory against Division III Fontbonne on Thursday at Chaifetz Arena. "It has no effect on who wins and loses. It just doesn't. It just doesn't."
Crews is absolutely right.
But it does show that the Billikens aren't getting much respect nationally following their breakthrough 2012-13 campaign where they went 28-7, won the Atlantic 10 Conference's regular season and tournament championships, advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and finished 13th in the final AP Top 25 poll.
Now SLU, which is ranked 36th in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, is one of seven schools to drop out of the Associated Press rankings -- joining Indiana, Miami (FL), Georgetown, Kansas State, Pittsburgh and Creighton.
The Billikens apparently didn't notice on Thursday.
They also don't care.
"We're not worried about that," junior power forward Grandy Glaze said. "That's just noise. We're going to play the right basketball and play our game. We're not worried about rankings and all that because at the end of the day come March that's when it's really important. So it doesn't really matter."
After back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances and a school-record 28 wins a year ago, you'd think the voters would have learned not to sleep on SLU.
Crews is back as the Billikens' head coach after holding the interim title for the duration of the 2012-13 season after taking over for Rick Majerus.
The veteran coach returns four starters from last season, led by versatile senior Dwayne Evans. The 6-foot-6, 230-pound small forward was a first-team all-Atlantic 10 selection a year ago after leading SLU in scoring (14 points per game) and rebounding (7.7). He racked up game-highs of 14 points and six rebounds against Fontbonne on Thursday.
While SLU graduated starting guard Kwamain Mitchell and sixth-man forward Cody Ellis, who were the second- and third-leading scorers, along with reserve forward Cory Remekun, it returns four of their top six scorers with Evans, senior guards Mike McCall Jr. and Jordan Jett and senior forward Rob Loe.
McCall averaged 9.3 points per game a year ago and knocked down 47 3-pointers, which ranked second on the team. Jett averaged 9 points per contest and is one of the best defenders in the Atlantic 10. Loe, a 6-11 forward from New Zealand, has improved every season since arriving on campus.
Glaze, who started 20 games last season, said Thursday he dropped 25 pounds in the offseason with a focus on his conditioning and eating habits. He averaged just 3.1 points and 2.6 rebounds in 12 minutes per game as a sophomore but appears poised for a breakout season.
John Manning, a 6-11 junior center, and sophomore point guard Austin McBroom, a transfer from Central Michigan who sat out last season, add depth and figure to be fixtures in the Billikens regular rotation.
There's still plenty of talent at Saint Louis University, which was picked second, behind VCU, in the Atlantic 10 Conference's preseason poll in early October.
The Billikens will get a chance to prove that with non-conference games against Wisconsin, Wichita State and Vanderbilt over the next two months before beginning conference play in January. Wisconsin was No. 20 in the AP preseason poll. Wichita State is 16th.
Some of the faces have changed, but SLU's goals remain the same. The Billikens are aiming for another Atlantic 10 championship and want to go further in the NCAA Tournament.
They're not going to be paying attention to the national rankings, but if they do everything they set out to do, they'll finally get the attention they deserve.
You can follow Nate Latsch on Twitter at @natelatsch or email him at natelatsch@gmail.com.
