Kansas was voted No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason men's basketball top 25 poll Monday, getting the nod on half of the 60 ballots from a national media panel to start the season ahead of Alabama and two-time defending national champion UConn.
Kansas earned 30 first-place votes from the AP panel. The Crimson Tide, led by All-America guard Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson, earned 14 first-place votes, and UConn, which is trying to become the first school since John Wooden's UCLA teams to win three straight titles, received 11 first. He places votes and is third.
Houston earned four first-place votes and is fourth, just ahead of Iowa State, which features its top four scorers from a team that was the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Gonzaga received a first-place vote and is in sixth place.
Duke, led by consensus No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, is No. 7, ahead of Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona to round out the top 10.
The Jayhawks were also the preseason number one a year ago, but the season hardly went as planned. They were dragged down by injuries and struggled in Big 12 play, and a team led by All-American center Hunter Dickinson was ultimately defeated by Cincinnati in the conference tournament and by Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Kansas coach Bill Self reorganized in the offseason, landing one of the best transfer classes in the country with AJ Storr (Wisconsin), guard Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State) and Rylan Griffen (Alabama) joining to Dickinson and fellow seniors Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams. Jr., both part of the Jayhawks' 2022 national title team, to form a deeper and more talented team.
“We welcome being number one, especially with our returning players like Hunter, Dajuan and KJ, and then you add the players we brought in,” Self said. “The goal is to be number one at the end of the season and, although we celebrate it, it is not the ultimate goal.”
The new-look Big 12, which lost Oklahoma and Texas but welcomed Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado, has three of the top five and five of the top 10 in the preseason AP poll. The SEC leads the overall standings with nine qualified teams.
“Having three Big 12 teams in the top five and five in the top 10 shows how competitive this league will be,” Self said. “Every year we talk about the Big 12 being the toughest conference in the country, and with the four additions it got even stronger.”
No. 11 Auburn, Tennessee and Texas A&M start the second 10, followed by Purdue and Creighton. John Calipari has Arkansas at No. 16, with Indiana, Marquette, Texas and Cincinnati, which is making its first appearance in the poll since 2019, also in the top 20.
The Boilermakers are trying to win a third straight Big Ten title after the departure of AP Player of the Year Zach Edey.
“We have three starters from a Final Four team. We have five freshmen. We have a lot of experienced guys in addition to those three starters,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “We're excited about this. We're excited about this group.”
Florida, UCLA, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Rutgers round out the preseason Top 25.
“I'm excited about the expectations,” said Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell, whose team is ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 1978. “We always had high expectations, and now in a league with 18 teams, you know, People say, 'How good are you? There's 18 teams.' you might think, 'Hey, they're going to be pretty good.'”
outside looking in
Illinois ranks first among others in receiving votes after reaching the Elite Eight. Rick Pitino has St. John's right around the corner along with Xavier, Texas Tech and Wake Forest. The first poll of the regular season will be conducted on November 11.
Trying to make history
Four schools that never appeared in the Top 25 received preseason votes, led by the McNeese Cowboys, who returned to the NCAA tournament last season. Little Rock, Grand Canyon and High Point also received votes.
Statistics and streaks
Kansas is ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll for the fifth time, trailing only North Carolina (10), Duke (9) and UCLA (8) for the most since preseason rankings debuted in 1962. …Houston has the longest active Top 25 streak at 86 weeks. The Jayhawks are second with 65. …Iowa State has its best preseason ranking in school history. Texas A&M did the best it could. …Kentucky is in the preseason poll for a record 57th time. The Tar Heels appear for the 55th time.
