By Brendan Marks, Justin Williams and Mark Cooper
For the second consecutive season, Kansas will begin the year as the No. 1 team in men’s college basketball. This time, the Jayhawks hope to stay there.
Kansas received 30 of 60 first-place votes to top the preseason AP Top 25 on Monday, putting it narrowly ahead of No. 2 Alabama (14 first-place votes) and two-time defending champion Connecticut, which was ranked third. The Huskies, who strive to become the first back-to-back-to-back champions since John Wooden’s UCLA teams, received 11 first-place votes.
Houston (four first-place votes) and Iowa State rounded out the top five. Gonzaga, which received one first-place vote, was sixth, followed by Duke, Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona.
Kansas, which went 23-11 and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, returns three starters — Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams Jr. and Dajuan Harris Jr. — and added a litany of transfers, including former Wisconsin guard AJ Storr, former Alabama guard Rylan Griffen and former South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo, the Summit League player of the year. It’s the 13th consecutive year Bill Self’s program has begun the season ranked in the top 10, and the fifth time in KU history that it will open the season No. 1. The Jayhawks trail only North Carolina (10), Duke (nine) and UCLA (eight) for the most since preseason rankings began in 1962.
Five Big 12 teams ranked in the top 10. The SEC led all conferences with nine teams in the Top 25.
| RANK | TEAM | CONFERENCE |
|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 Kansas |
Big 12
|
|
2
|
 Alabama |
SEC
|
|
3
|
 UConn |
Big East
|
|
4
|
 Houston |
Big 12
|
|
5
|
 Iowa State |
Big 12
|
|
6
|
 Gonzaga |
West Coast
|
|
7
|
 Duke |
ACC
|
|
8
|
 Baylor |
Big 12
|
|
9
|
 North Carolina |
ACC
|
|
10
|
 Arizona |
Big 12
|
|
11
|
 Auburn |
SEC
|
|
12
|
 Tennessee |
SEC
|
|
13
|
 Texas A&M |
SEC
|
|
14
|
 Purdue |
Big Ten
|
|
15
|
 Creighton |
Big East
|
|
16
|
 Arkansas |
SEC
|
|
17
|
 Indiana |
Big Ten
|
|
18
|
 Marquette |
Big East
|
|
19
|
 Texas |
SEC
|
|
20
|
 Cincinnati |
Big 12
|
|
21
|
 Florida |
SEC
|
|
22
|
 UCLA |
Big Ten
|
|
23
|
 Kentucky |
SEC
|
|
24
|
 Ole Miss |
SEC
|
|
25
|
 Rutgers |
Big Ten
|
Others receiving votes: Illinois 92, St. John’s 91, Xavier 73, Texas Tech 58, Wake Forest 37, Kansas St 30, Michigan St. 29, Ohio St. 29, Michigan 19, BYU 14, Oregon 12, McNeese St. 11, Miami 11, Boise St. 9, Saint Louis 9, Clemson 9, Providence 9, Mississippi St. 6, VCU 6, Wisconsin 5, Saint Mary’s 5, Louisville 4, UAB 4, Ark Little Rock 3, Grand Canyon 3, Arizona St 2, San Diego St. 2, Princeton 2, High Point 1, Maryland 1.
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Chris Gardner / Getty Images)
