Kansas is No. 1 in the preseason men’s AP Top 25; Duke, Purdue next as 5 teams get first-place votes
FILE - Kansas head coach Bill Self reacts during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Texas, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Austin, Texas. The Jayhawks were the clear No. 1 pick in the AP Top 25 preseason men's basketball poll released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, earning 46 of 63 first-place votes to easily outdistance No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Purdue.
FILE - Kansas guard Kevin McCullar Jr., left, and Dajuan Harris Jr., right, celebrate after Kansas clinched a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship with a win over Texas Tech during an NCAA college basketball game in Lawrence, Kan., Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. The Jayhawks were the clear No. 1 pick in the AP Top 25 preseason men's basketball poll released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, earning 46 of 63 first-place votes to easily outdistance No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Purdue.
Kansas NCAA college basketball senior center Hunter Dickinson is announced during Late Night in the Phog inside Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan., Oct. 6, 2023. The Jayhawks were the clear No. 1 pick in the AP Top 25 preseason men's basketball poll released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, earning 46 of 63 first-place votes to easily outdistance No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Purdue. Kansas has three returning starters in McCullar, DaJuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams, along with top-50 recruit Elmarko Jackson and Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson, perhaps the biggest prize of this past summer's portal moves.
FILE - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer looks on during an NCAA college basketball game against North Carolina on Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Chapel Hill, N.C. Kansas is the preseason No. 1 in the AP men's college basketball poll, released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Duke picked up 11 first-place votes to land at No. 2 in Jon Scheyer's second season.
FILE - Purdue head coach Matt Painter watches during the second half of an NCAA semifinal basketball game against Ohio State at the Big Ten men's tournament, Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Chicago. Kansas is the preseason No. 1 in the AP men's college basketball poll, released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The Jayhawks received 46 of 63 first-place votes to outdistance second-place Duke and third-place Purdue.
FILE - Purdue center Zach Edey (15) gets a dunk in front of Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in West Lafayette, Ind., Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. Kansas is the preseason No. 1 in the AP men's college basketball poll, released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The Jayhawks received 46 of 63 first-place votes to outdistance second-place Duke and third-place Purdue.
FILE - Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo reacts to a call during overtime in an NCAA college basketball game against Iowa, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in Iowa City, Iowa. Michigan State was fourth in the AP preseason men's college basketball poll released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023.
FILE - Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley celebrates with the trophy after their win against San Diego State in the men's national championship college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Houston. Kansas is the preseason No. 1 in the AP men's college basketball poll, released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Defending national champion UConn was sixth.
FILE - Marquette head coach Shaka Smart reacts during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Seton Hall in Newark, N.J., Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023. Kansas is the preseason No. 1 in the AP men's college basketball poll, released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. Marquette is fifth with AP coach of the year Shaka Smart returning a loaded squad led by third-team All-American Tyler Kolek.
Hunter Dickinson steps onto the court Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, during the Late Night at the Phog event at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. The Jayhawks were the clear No. 1 pick in the AP Top 25 preseason men's basketball poll released Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, earning 46 of 63 first-place votes to easily outdistance No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Purdue. Kansas has three returning starters in McCullar, DaJuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams, along with top-50 recruit Elmarko Jackson and Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson, perhaps the biggest prize of this past summer's portal moves.
Bill Self likes to remind his team that the faces may change at Kansas but the expectations within his program never do.
Expectations outside the program? Turns out they are as high as possible this year.
The Jayhawks were the clear No. 1 pick in the AP Top 25 preseason men鈥檚 basketball poll released Monday, earning 46 of 63 first-place votes to easily outdistance No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Purdue. It鈥檚 the fourth time since Self鈥檚 arrival in Lawrence that his team will start the season on top but the first time since the 2018-19 season.
鈥淵ou know you鈥檒l have a target on your back playing at Kansas,鈥� said Kevin McCullar Jr., who decided to return for a second season with the Jayhawks and fifth in college hoops. 鈥淲e鈥檒l have that chip on our shoulder, you know, prove everybody wrong, and state why you should be the No. 1 team in the nation. You go out there and use that. You use that as fuel every day.鈥�
The Jayhawks had a disappointing follow-up to their 2022 national title last season, losing to Texas in the Big 12 championship and falling to Arkansas in the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Self missed both of those events after having a valve in his heart replaced, but the 60-year-old coach is back on the sideline and chasing a third national title in the 75th anniversary season of the AP poll.
He has three returning starters in McCullar, DaJuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams, along with top-50 recruit Elmarko Jackson and Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson, perhaps the biggest prize of this past summer鈥檚 portal moves.
鈥淲ith our returning starters and the players we鈥檝e added, I can see the writers putting us high in the rankings,鈥� Self said. 鈥淲e welcome being preseason No. 1, but the goal is to be playing to that rank when it counts the most, at the end of the season.鈥�
Duke picked up 11 first-place votes to land at No. 2 in Jon Scheyer鈥檚 second season, and Purdue got three first-place nods as they try to avenge a stunning end to last season. AP player of the year Zach Edey and the Boilermakers became the second men鈥檚 No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed when they lost to Fairleigh Dickinson in the NCAA Tournament.
Edey鈥檚 deadline-day decision to return to the Boilermakers, rather than turn pro, kept them a national title contender.
鈥淲e had a tough finish to the season losing in the first round. Hopefully that sits with us as a coaching staff and really as a program to make us better, so we can have more success in March,鈥� Purdue coach Matt Painter said. 鈥淏ut as you guys all know, it doesn鈥檛 start there. The process starts all over, and you can鈥檛 miss any steps.鈥�
Michigan State was fourth with one first-place vote, its highest ranking since December 2020, and Marquette rounded out the top five with AP coach of the year Shaka Smart returning a loaded squad led by third-team All-American Tyler Kolek.
That鈥檚 the highest ranking for the Golden Eagles since they were No. 3 in March 1978, when they were known as the Warriors.
Defending national champion UConn was sixth with two first-place votes after losing standouts Adam Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins. The Huskies were followed by Big 12 newcomer Houston, Creighton, Tennessee and Florida Atlantic, which returns just about everyone from the team that went 35-4 and made a surprising Final Four run last season.
鈥淲e have some guys that are ready to play, have been ready to play but under circumstances have had to take a back seat,鈥� said Owls coach Dusty May, whose team has jumped from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference.
鈥淲e鈥檒l be a little different,鈥� May said, 鈥渂ut we鈥檒l still be versatile and we鈥檒l play a lot of guys.鈥�
Gonzaga was No. 11 followed by Arizona, Miami, Arkansas and Texas A&M. Kentucky came in at No. 16 with national runner-up San Diego State next, while Texas, North Carolina and Baylor rounded out the top 20.
The final five were Southern California, Villanova, Saint Mary鈥檚, Alabama and Illinois.
CONFERENCE WATCH
The SEC led the way with five teams in the preseason poll, with Tennessee in the top 10. The Big 12 and Big East had four apiece with the latter landing three among the top eight in Marquette, UConn and Creighton. The ACC and Big Ten had three apiece.
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Wisconsin, Colorado and UCLA are the first three outside the Top 25; the Bruins were No. 7 in the final poll last season. Also on the outside were Xavier and Kansas State, both of whom were in the top 15 entering last year鈥檚 NCAA Tournament.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
The season begins for most teams Nov. 6 with some big-time matchups in the first couple of weeks. That includes the annual Champions Classic doubleheader, this time in Chicago, where No. 2 Duke will play fourth-ranked Michigan State and top-ranked Kansas will face No. 16 Kentucky.
AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball