With one starter graduating and another returning from a season lost to injury, Washington University is the overwhelming choice as the No. 1 team in the preseason men's basketball D3hoops.com Top 25.

Yes, Troy Ruths is gone, as is Danny O'Boyle off the Bears' bench, but Sean Wallis returns at the point guard position after helping lead his team to the Final Four in 2007. The other three teams from last year's Final Four -- Amherst, Hope and Ursinus -- lose four, four and two starters respectively. Ursinus returns two double-digit scores but loses All-American Nick Shattuck, who was injured and struggled in the Final Four, and center Michael Shema.

&&b-boxr&&Augustana, which returns four starters from last year's NCAA Tournament team (bounced in a second-round game by Wash U), enters the season at No. 2. Wash U and Augustana meet at Augustana on Nov. 22, when both teams will still be holding their preseason No. 1-No. 2 positions.

Wheaton (Ill.), which returns all five starters from a team that reached the Elite Eight, enters the season in the No. 3 spot in the poll, while UW-Whitewater (four starters) and St. Thomas (five starters) round out the top five.

Whitewater, which went 24-4 before bowing out at home in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, got one of the two No. 1 votes not claimed by Wash U. No. 7 UW-Platteville, with five returning starters led by 6-10 center Jeff Skemp, received the other.

The full D3hoops.com Top 25. The women's preseason poll will be released next week.