Kansas, Alabama, UConn top AP Top 25 preseason basketball poll

Kansas was voted No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll on Monday, getting the nod on half of a national media panel’s 60 ballots to start the season ahead of Alabama and two-time defending champion UConn.

Kansas received 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, trying to become the first school since John Wooden’s teams at UCLA to win three straight titles, received 11 first-place votes. places votes and is third.

Houston earned four first-place votes and is fourth, just ahead of Iowa State, which returns its top four scorers from a team that was the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Gonzaga received one first-place finish and is ranked sixth.

Duke, led by consensus No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, is ranked No. 7, ahead of Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona to round out the top 10.

The Jayhawks were also the preseason No. 1 seed a year ago, but the season didn’t go 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 retooled this offseason and landed one of the nation’s top transfer classes with AJ Storr (Wisconsin), guard Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State) and Rylan Griffen (Alabama) joining Dickinson and fellow seniors Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams added Jr. – both part of the Jayhawks’ 2022 national title squad – to form a deeper and more talented team.

“We’re happy to be No. 1, especially with our returning players like Hunter, Dajuan and KJ, and then you add in the players we brought in,” Self said. “The goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season, and while we welcome this, it is not the end goal.”

The new 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 overall with nine ranked 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 the four additions made it 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 — for the first time 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 back from a Final Four team. We have five freshmen. We have a lot of guys with experience outside of those three starters,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “We’re excited about it. 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 in the preseason poll for the first time since 1978. “We always had high expectations, and now in an 18-team league, you know, people say, ‘How good are you guys? There’s 18 teams. They’re great coaches.’ I don’t know where we are. If you came to our practice yesterday, you would say, ‘Oh boy.’ And if you came a few days early, you might think, ‘Hey, they’ll be pretty good.'”

Outside looking in

Among other things, Illinois ranks at the top when it comes to receiving votes after reaching the Elite Eight. Rick Pitino has St. John’s on his doorstep, along with Xavier, Texas Tech and Wake Forest. The first poll for the regular season will be released on November 11.

Trying to write history

Four schools that have 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.

Stats 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) since the preseason rankings debuted in 1962. … Houston has the longest active Top 25 streak at 86 weeks. The Jayhawks are second at 65. … Iowa State has the best preseason rankings in school history. Texas A&M did the best. …Kentucky is ranked in the preseason poll for the 57th time. The Tar Heels are making their 55th appearance.