Kansas was picked first in the AP Top 25 preseason men’s basketball poll Monday, getting the No. 1 nod on half of the 60 ballots to start the season ahead of Alabama and two-time defending national champion UConn.
Kansas scooped up 30 first-place votes from the AP panel. The Crimson Tide, led by All-American 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 teams at UCLA to win three straight titles, received 11 first-place votes and is third.
Houston earned four first-place votes and is fourth ahead of Iowa State, which returns its top four scorers from a team that was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Gonzaga received one first-place vote and is the sixth.
Duke, led by consensus No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, is seventh ahead of Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona in the top 10.
The Jayhawks were preseason No. 1 a year ago, too, 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 ultimately was routed by Cincinnati in the conference tournament and Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Kansas coach Bill Self retooled in the offseason, landing one of the nation's top transfer classes. A.J. Storr of Wisconsin, South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo and Rylan Griffen from Alabama are part of a versatile bunch joining Dickinson and fellow seniors Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams Jr. — both part of their 2022 national title squad — to form a deeper and more talented team.
“We welcome being No. 1, 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 No. 1 at the end of the season, and though we welcome this, it is not the end 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 way with nine in the Top 25.
No. 11 Auburn, Tennessee and Texas A&M start off the second 10, followed by Purdue and Creighton. John Calipari has Arkansas at No. 16 with Indiana, Marquette, Texas and Cincinnati — making its first poll appearance since 2019 — 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.
Florida, UCLA, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Rutgers round out the preseason Top 25. Kentucky is in the preseason poll for a record 57th time. The Tar Heels appear for the 55th time.
Illinois is tops among others receiving votes after reaching the Elite Eight. Rick Pitino has St. John's on the doorstep along with Xavier, Texas Tech and Wake Forest. The first regular-season poll is due out Nov. 11.
Four schools that have never appeared in the Top 25 received preseason votes, led by McNeese State, which went back to the NCAA Tournament last season. Little Rock, Grand Canyon and High Point also received votes.
Kentucky men's NCAA college basketball head coach Mark Pope speaks at the team's media day at the Craft Center on campus in Lexington, Tuesday, Oct. 8. (AP Photo James Crisp)
