For the fourth time in program history — with all four coming under current head coach Bill Self — the Kansas men’s basketball team will enter the upcoming season as the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
The Jayhawks landed atop the Associated Press preseason poll with 1,548 points and 46 of the 63 first-place votes.
No. 2 Duke (11), No. 3 Purdue (3), No. 4 Michigan State (1) and No. 6 and defending national champion UConn (2) received the remaining 17 first-place votes.
Marquette, which did not receive a first-place vote, landed in the No. 5 spot to round out the Top 5 and Big 12 newcomer Houston, Creighton, Tennessee and Florida Atlantic rounded out the preseason Top 10.
The Jayhawks were most recently voted as the preseason No. 1 team in the AP poll during the 2018-19 season. Prior to that, Self’s squads also earned the distinction during the 2004-05 season and the 2009-10 season.
With three starters returning from last season’s No. 1-seeded squad in the NCAA Tournament — KJ Adams, Dajuan Harris Jr. and Kevin McCullar Jr. — along with a handful of impact newcomers — most notably, big man Hunter Dickinson — the Jayhawks have been called one of the top national title contenders by countless media outlets throughout the offseason.
“With our returning starters and the players we’ve added, I can see the writers putting us high in the rankings,” KU head coach Bill Self said in a news release after the poll came out. “We 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.”
Kansas now has been ranked in the AP Top 10 in each of the last 39 polls dating back to Oct. 18, 2021, the preseason poll of the 2021-22 season, which is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I. New Big 12 foe Houston is second at 19. In addition, the No. 1 ranking marks the 26th time since the 1992-93 season that Kansas will enter the season ranked No. 7 or higher in the preseason AP poll.
KU is the highest of four Big 12 Conference programs that are ranked in the poll, with Houston at No. 7, Texas and No. 18 and Baylor at No. 20. TCU and Kansas State also received votes but did not crack the Top 25.
Kansas could play 10 games against teams ranked in the preseason Associated Press Top 25. KU will play against No. 6 UConn, No. 7 Houston, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 18 Texas and No. 20 Baylor (twice). KU could also play No. 3 Purdue, No. 5 Marquette, and No. 11 Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational, Nov. 20-22, in Honolulu.
It’s also worth noting that KU’s exhibition game for Maui fire relief, slated for Oct. 29 in Champaign, Illinois, will come against the 25th-ranked Illini.
Here’s a look at the complete AP preseason poll. Next up, we’ll wait to see if the KU women are ranked when the women’s poll is released.
- Kansas – 1,548 (46)
- Duke – 1,466 (11)
- Purdue – 1,436 (3)
- Michigan State – 1,346 (1)
- Marquette – 1,283
- UConn – 1,243 (2)
- Houston – 1,117
- Creighton – 1,099
- Tennessee – 1,032
- Florida Atlantic – 1,011
- Gonzaga – 830
- Arizona – 776
- Miami (Fla.) – 750
- Arkansas – 685
- Texas A&M – 597
- Kentucky – 530
- San Diego State – 529
- Texas – 493
- North Carolina – 474
- Baylor – 431
- USC – 427
- Villanova – 395
- Saint Mary’s – 335
- Alabama – 163
- Illinois – 104
Also receiving votes: Wisconsin 53, Colorado, 49, UCLA 47, St. John’s 47, Maryland 34, Virginia 27, Auburn 27, TCU, 24, Mississippi State 20, Kansas State 13, Xavier 8, Memphis 7, Missouri 6, Boise State 4, Indiana 3, Florida 2, Charleston 2, New Mexico 1, Drake 1.
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