Kansas clear No. 1 in AP preseason hoops poll
Oct 16, 2023, 12:26 PM ET Bill Self likes to remind his group that the faces might change at Kansas however the expectations within his program never ever do.Expectations outside
the program? Ends up they are as high as possible this year.The Jayhawks were the clear No. 1 choice in the AP Top 25 preseason men’s basketball survey released Monday, earning 46 of 63 first-place votes to quickly outdistance No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Purdue. It’s the third time considering that Self’s arrival in Lawrence in 2003 that his team will start the season on top but the very first time considering that the 2018-19 season.1. Kansas( 46) 2. Duke(11 )3. Purdue (3)4. Michigan State(1 )5. Marquette 6. UConn( 2)7.
| Houston 8. Creighton 9. Tennessee 10. FAU | ||||
| 11. Gonzaga 12. | ||||
| Arizona 13. Miami 14. Arkansas | ||||
| 15. Texas A&M | ||||
| 16. Kentucky 17. San | ||||
| Diego State | ||||
| 18. Texas 19. | ||||
| North Carolina 20. Baylor | ||||
| 21. USC | ||||
| 22. Villanova 23. | ||||
| Saint Mary’s | ||||
| 24. Alabama 25. | ||||
| Illinois”You | ||||
| know you’ll have a target on | ||||
| your back playing at | ||||
| Kansas, “stated Kevin | ||||
| McCullar Jr., who decided to return for a 2nd | ||||
| season with | ||||
| the Jayhawks | ||||
| and fifth in college | ||||
| hoops.”We’ll have that | ||||
| chip on our shoulder, you | ||||
| understand, prove everyone incorrect, and state why you must be the No. 1 group in the country. You head out there and use that. You use that as fuel every day.” The Jayhawks had a disappointing follow-up to their 2022 nationwide title last season, losing to Texas in the Big 12 championship and being up to Arkansas in the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament. Self, 60, missed out on both of those events after having a valve in
his heart changed, but the coach is back on the sideline and chasing after a 3rd national title in the 75th anniversary season of the AP poll.He has three returning beginners in McCullar, Dajuan Harris Jr. and K.J. Adams, along with top-50 hire Elmarko Jackson and Michigan move Hunter Dickinson, maybe the most significant reward of this previous summer’s portal relocations.”I think that this summer definitely put us most likely ahead given that we have numerous new faces, although our core’s still the same …, “stated Self, whose team played during a preseason trip of the Caribbean.”The chemistry is definitely one that, I don’t know that we lead schedule, however they certainly appear to like to play off each other. “Duke picked up 11 first-place votes to land at No. 2 in Jon Scheyer’s 2nd season, and Purdue got 3 first-place nods as it tries to avenge a spectacular end to last season. AP player of the year Zach Edey and the Boilermakers became the 2nd guys’s No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament when they lost to Fairleigh Dickinson.Editor’s Picks Edey’s deadline-day decision to go back to the Boilermakers, rather than turn pro, kept them a nationwide title contender.”We had a tough finish to the season losing in the very first round. Ideally that
sits with us as a coaching personnel and truly as a program to make us much better, so we can have more success in March,”Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “However as you guys all know, it doesn’t begin there. The process begins all over, and you can’t miss any steps.” Michigan State was 4th with one first-place vote, its highest ranking because December 2020, and Marquette completed the top five with AP Coach of the Year Shaka Smart returning a loaded team led by third-team All-American Tyler Kolek.That’s the greatest ranking for the Golden Eagles because they were No. 3 in March 1978, when they were known as the Warriors. Kansas +1000 Michigan State +1200 Kentucky +1200 | ||||
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Duke +1400 Purdue +1600 |
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Arizona +1800 UConn +2000 Odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook.For total chances, click on this link Defending nationwide champion UConn was |
sixth |
with 2 first-place votes | ||
| after losing standouts Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins. The Huskies were followed by Big 12 newcomer Houston, |
Creighton, Tennessee and Florida Atlantic, which returns almost everyone from the team that went 35-4 and made an unexpected Last 4 run last season.” We have some guys that are prepared to play, have actually been ready to play however under situations have needed to take a back seat,”said Owls coach Dusty May, whose group has actually leapt from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference.”We’ll be a little various, “Might said,”however we’ll still be flexible, and we’ll play a great deal of guys.” Gonzaga was No. 11, followed by Arizona, Miami(Florida), Arkansas and Texas A&M. Kentucky can be found in at No. 16, with nationwide runner-up San Diego State next, and Texas, North Carolina and Baylor rounded out the leading 20.
The final five were Southern California, Villanova, Saint Mary’s, Alabama and Illinois.Conference enjoy The SEC led the way with 5 groups in the preseason poll, with Tennessee in the top 10. The Huge 12 and Big East had 4 apiece, with the latter landing 3 amongst the top 8 in Marquette, UConn and Creighton
. The ACC and Big Ten had
three apiece.Outside searching in Wisconsin, Colorado and UCLA are the very first 3 outside the Top 25; the Bruins were No. 7 in the last poll last season. Also on the outside were Xavier and Kansas State, both of whom were in the leading 15 going into in 2015’s NCAA tournament.Mark your calendar The season begins
for a lot of teams Nov. 6
, with some big-time matches in the very first number of weeks. That consists of the yearly Champions Traditional doubleheader, this time in Chicago, where No. 2 Duke will play fourth-ranked Michigan State and top-ranked Kansas will face No. 16 Kentucky.