USC’s men’s basketball team is ranked #18 in the nation in the season’s first AP poll, which was released Friday. The top ten selections are identical to those in the preseason coaches poll, which was released last week, and which also had the Trojans at #18. The Pac-10 had six teams in the top 25 (two more than any other conference), including UCLA (#2), Washington State (#10), Oregon (#12), Arizona (#17), and Stanford (#23). North Carolina is ranked first.

North Carolina starts season as top team for sixth time (ESPN)
Preseason college basketball rankings (Yahoo!)

Some additional USC basketball coverage:

2007-08 USC Basketball Preview (CollegeHoops.net)
Taj Gibson among those battling injuries (Daily Trojan)