No. 1 Kansas Leads Five Big 12 Teams In Top 10 Of AP’s Preseason Poll

For the second consecutive year, Kansas is the No. 1 team in the Associated Press’s men’s basketball preseason poll, which was released Monday. Still, despite a talented roster, the Jayhawks have a loaded schedule that should challenge them but also prepare them well for the NCAA tournament.

Besides Kansas, four other Big 12 teams are in the top eight of the AP poll: No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 Arizona. The Jayhawks play Houston and Iowa State twice apiece, visit Baylor on Feb. 1 and host Arizona on March 8 in the regular season finale.

KU’s non-conference schedule features some tough games, too. The Jayhawks host No. 9 North Carolina on Nov. 8, face No. 7 Duke in Las Vegas on Nov. 26 and play at No. 15 Creighton on Dec. 4.

“The goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season, and though we welcome this, it is not the end goal,” Kansas coach Bill Self said in a press release.

A year ago, Kansas was No. 1 in the preseason AP poll, accumulating 46 of the 63 first-place votes. The Jayhawks started 12-1, only losing to Marquette in the Maui Invitational and defeating Kentucky, Tennessee and Connecticut, which went on to win its second consecutive NCAA title. But they were inconsistent during Big 12 play, finishing 10-8 and tied for fifth in a league they typically dominate: KU won or shared the Big 12 regular season title 19 times in 22 years from 2001-02 to 2022-23.

During the postseason, KU wasn’t any better, losing in the first round of the Big 12 tournament to Cincinnati by 20 points and in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Gonzaga by 21 points. Kevin McCullar Jr., KU’s leading scorer, missed both of those games with an injury.

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This year, the Jayhawks are without McCullar Jr. and Johnny Furphy, both second round picks in June’s NBA draft. But they return three starters in center Hunter Dickinson (17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game last season), forward KJ Adams (12.6 points and 4.6 rebounds) and guard Dajuan Harris (8.5 points and 6.5 assists).

Dickinson, a second team All-American last year, is the preseason Big 12 player of the year, while Harris is a preseason second team All Big 12 pick. Both players are in their fifth year of college. Adams, who is in his fourth year, was the Big 12’s most improved player last season.

KU also added a few talented transfer guards in AJ Storr (University of Wisconsin), Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State), Rylan Griffen (Alabama) and Shakeel Moore (Mississippi State). Storr averaged 16.8 points per game last season, while Mayo was the Summit League’s player of the year after averaging 18.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Griffen was a starter who averaged 11.2 points per game on a Crimson Tide team that advanced to the Final Four, while Moore averaged 7.9 points per game last season.

The Jayhawks also have an elite freshman in 6-foot-9 forward Flory Bidunga, who was No. 16 in the 247Sports Composite rankings for high school seniors in the Class of 2024. Bidunga is a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo who played his final three seasons of high school basketball in Kokomo, Indiana.

While Kansas received 30 first place votes in the AP preseason poll, four other teams received No. 1 votes: No. 2 Alabama (14), No. 3 UConn (11), No. 4 Houston (4) and No. 6 Gonzaga (1). UConn is looking to become the first team to win three consecutive national titles since UCLA won seven in a row from 1967 to 1973. Kansas won the NCAA tournament in 2022, while Alabama, Houston, Gonzaga and No. 5 Iowa State have never won a national title.