Kansas, Bama, UConn top preseason hoops poll
Oct 14, 2024, 12:19 PM ET Kansas was picked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason men’s basketball survey Monday, getting the nod on half of the 60 ballots from a national media panel to begin the season ahead of Alabama and two-time protecting nationwide champ UConn.Kansas scooped up 30 first-place votes from the AP panel. The Crimson Tide, led by All-America guard Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson, made 14 first-place votes, and UConn, which is trying to end up being the very first school given that John Wooden’s teams at UCLA to win three straight titles, got 11 first-place votes and is third.Editor’s Picks 1 Associated Houston made 4 first-place votes and is 4th, simply ahead of Iowa State, which returns
its top four scorers from a team that was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Gonzaga received one first-place vote and remains in sixth.Duke, led by consensus No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, is No. 7, ahead of Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona to complete the leading 10. The Jayhawks were preseason No. 1 a year back, too, however the season barely went as planned. They were dragged down by injuries and had a hard time in Big 12 play, and a team led by All-American center Hunter Dickinson eventually was routed by Cincinnati in the conference tournament and by Gonzaga in the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament.Kansas coach Bill Self retooled in the offseason, landing among the country’s top transfer classes with AJ Storr(Wisconsin ), guard Zeke Mayo(South Dakota State)and Rylan Griffen (Alabama)joining Dickinson and fellow elders Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ
Adams Jr.– both part of the Jayhawks’2022 national title team– to form a much deeper and more skilled group. “We welcome being No. 1, particularly with our returning players like Hunter, Dajuan and KJ, and after that you include the players we brought in, “Self said. “The goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season, and though we invite this, it is not completion objective.
“Team Pts.1. Kansas(30)1,449 2. Alabama(14)1,428 3. UConn (11) 1,345 4. Houston (4) 1,343 5. Iowa State 1,177 6. Gonzaga (1 )1,157 7. Duke 1,154 8. Baylor 1,109 9. North Carolina 1,037 10. Arizona 905 11. Auburn 901 12. Tennessee 775 13. Texas
| A&M 737 14. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Purdue 678 15. Creighton 631 16. Arkansas 625 17. Indiana 492 18. | Marquette 484 19. Texas 332 20. | Cincinnati |
| 271 21. Florida 249 | 22. UCLA 210 | |
| 23. Kentucky 191 24. | Ole Miss 132 | |
| 25. Rutgers 102 The new-look Big 12, which lost Oklahoma and Texas but | welcomed Arizona | |
| , Arizona State, Utah and Colorado, has three of the top five and 5 of the top | ||
| 10 in the preseason | AP survey. The SEC | |
| leads the way total with | ||
| 9 ranked groups.”To have three Big 12 groups in the leading 5 and five in the leading 10 | ||
| just shows how competitive this | ||
| league will be, | “Self said. “Every year we speak about the Huge 12 being | the hardest conference in the nation |
| , and with the four additions it became even more powerful. “No. 11 Auburn, Tennessee | ||
| and Texas A&M start the 2nd 10 | ||
| , followed by | Purdue and Creighton. John | Calipari |
| has Arkansas | at No. 16, | |
| with Indiana, | Marquette, Texas and Cincinnati– making its very first |
poll appearance given that 2019– also in the leading 20. The Boilermakers are attempting to win a 3rd straight Big Ten title after the departure of AP player of the year Zach Edey. “We have 3 starters back from a Last Four team. We have five freshmen. We have a great deal of guys with experience beyond those 3 beginners,” Purdue coach Matt Painter stated.”We’re excited about it. We’re excited about this group.”Florida, UCLA, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Rutgers complete the preseason
Top 25.”I’m thrilled about the expectations,”said Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell, whose team is ranked in the preseason poll for the very first time since 1978. “We constantly had high expectations, and now in a league with 18 groups, you know, people are saying,’How excellent are you? There’s 18 teams
. They’re fantastic coaches.’I do not know where we sit. If you pertained to our practice the other day, you would state,’ Oh, kid.’ And if you came a couple of
days earlier, you might think,’Hey, they’re going to be pretty good. ‘” Outside searching in Illinois is tops to name a few getting votes after reaching the Elite 8. Rick Pitino has St. John’s on the doorstep in addition to Xavier, Texas Tech and Wake Forest.
The very first regular-season poll is due out Nov. 11. Trying to make history 4 schools
that have actually never appeared in the Top 25 received preseason votes, led by the McNeese Cowboys, who went back to the NCAA tournament last season. Little Rock, Grand Canyon and Peak also received votes.Stats and streaks Kansas is ranked No. 1 in the preseason survey for the fifth time, trailing just North Carolina(10), Duke( 9)and UCLA( 8) for the most because the preseason rankings debuted in 1962. … Houston has the longest active Leading 25 streak at 86 weeks. The Jayhawks are second at 65. … Iowa State has its finest preseason ranking in school history. Texas A&M matched its best. … Kentucky is in the preseason poll for a record 57th time. The Tar Heels stand for the 55th time.