Kansas, Alabama, UConn prime AP High 25 preseason males’s basketball ballot: Key takeaways

By Brendan Marks, Justin Williams and Mark Cooper

For the second consecutive season, Kansas will start the yr because the No. 1 crew in males’s faculty basketball. This time, the Jayhawks hope to remain there.

Kansas obtained 30 of 60 first-place votes to prime the preseason AP High 25 on Monday, placing it narrowly forward of No. 2 Alabama (14 first-place votes) and two-time defending champion Connecticut, which was ranked third. The Huskies obtained 11 first-place votes.

Houston (4 first-place votes) and Iowa State rounded out the highest 5. Gonzaga, which obtained one first-place vote, was sixth, adopted by Duke, Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona.

Kansas, which went 23-11 and misplaced within the second spherical of the NCAA Event final season, returns three starters — Hunter Dickinson, KJ Adams Jr. and Dajuan Harris Jr. — and added a litany of transfers, together with former Wisconsin guard AJ Storr, former Alabama guard Rylan Griffen and former South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo, the Summit League participant of the yr. It’s the thirteenth consecutive yr Invoice Self’s program has begun the season ranked within the prime 10, and the fifth time in KU historical past that it’ll open the season No. 1. The Jayhawks path solely North Carolina (10), Duke (9) and UCLA (eight) for essentially the most since preseason rankings started in 1962.

5 Huge 12 groups ranked within the prime 10. The SEC led all conferences with 9 groups within the High 25.

Others receiving votes: Illinois 92, St. John’s 91, Xavier 73, Texas Tech 58, Wake Forest 37, Kansas St 30, Michigan State 29, Ohio State 29, Michigan 19, BYU 14, Oregon 12, McNeese State 11, Miami 11, Boise St. 9, Saint Louis 9, Clemson 9, Windfall 9, Mississippi State 6, VCU 6, Wisconsin 5, Saint Mary’s 5, Louisville 4, UAB 4, Arkansas Little Rock 3, Grand Canyon 3, Arizona State 2, San Diego State 2, Princeton 2, Excessive Level 1, Maryland 1.

Why Kansas is No. 1

Quite a few groups have affordable arguments to be No. 1. Alabama — recent off its first Ultimate 4 look in program historical past — returns All-American guard Mark Sears and added the nation’s second-ranked highschool recruiting class. Houston has gained 30 video games or extra three years working, and whereas level guard Jamal Shead is off to the NBA, the return of forwards Joseph Tugler and Terrance Arceneaux ought to as soon as once more make the Cougars certainly one of America’s deepest groups. Then there’s Gonzaga, which returns 4 of 5 starters from final season’s Candy 16 squad, whereas additionally including a number of new contributors by way of the switch portal.

However finally, it’s exhausting to miss Kansas’ assortment of expertise, which is why the Jayhawks are a deserving preseason No. 1. Self not solely returns a trio of examined starters in Adams, Harris and Dickinson, however went heavy within the switch portal this spring, too, touchdown one of many nation’s prime switch courses. Griffen, the previous Alabama wing, shot 39.2 p.c from 3-point vary final season and shall be a welcome 3-and-D addition on the perimeter, particularly beside relative non-shooters in Adams and Harris. He was No. 7 in The Athletic’s switch portal rankings. Storr — who led Wisconsin in scoring final season — arrives as one other key perimeter piece, and may enable Self a degree of lineup versatility he hasn’t had the final two seasons. Then there’s Mayo, whose pull-up capturing shall be a boon for a crew that generally struggled to get a basket final yr.

Add in a pair of top-50 freshmen, and Self has one other lineup seemingly constructed to go the space. — Brendan Marks, employees author

UConn’s bid for a 3-peat begins at No. 3

Dan Hurley and Connecticut will try and do one thing that no males’s faculty basketball program has performed since John Wood’s UCLA dynasty: win three consecutive nationwide titles.

The Huskies returned a number of key items final season from Hurley’s first title crew in 2022-23, however that’s not the case this yr. 4 of 5 starters are gone, and the lone holdover — redshirt junior wing Alex Karaban, who handed on doubtlessly turning into a first-round NBA Draft option to return to school — should assume a a lot bigger function. Nonetheless: Hurley’s crew has greater than earned the good thing about the doubt, which is why UConn opens the yr within the prime three.

Moreover Karaban, UConn has three different rotational gamers again this season — guards Hassan Diarra and Solomon Ball, plus middle Samson Johnson — who will compete for main enjoying time. But when the Huskies are moderately going to compete for a 3rd straight title, Hurley will want outsized contributions from Saint Mary’s switch Aidan Mahaney and five-star freshman Liam McNeeley, arguably his prime two additions this offseason. We’ll know loads about UConn, and its relative possibilities of three-peating, by the point convention play begins; the Huskies are a part of a stacked Maui Invitational subject that includes 4 of the nation’s prime 11 groups after which play Texas, Baylor, and Gonzaga all in a row in mid-December. — Marks

Huge 12 dominates the highest 10

There’s quite a lot of Huge 12 taste on the prime of the ballot. The convention has three of the highest 5 and half of the highest 10 with Kansas, Houston, Iowa State, Baylor and Arizona. The sixth and closing Huge 12 crew within the High 25 is Cincinnati at No. 20. It’s the Bearcats’ first look within the AP ballot because the finish of the 2018-19 season, Mick Cronin’s final as head coach of this system.

The brand new-look, 16-team league options 9 applications that made the NCAA Event final season, seven of that are returning members, and has been the top-rated convention 4 of the previous six years, in accordance with KenPom metrics. Kansas is the Huge 12’s most up-to-date nationwide champion from the 2021-22 season. — Justin Williams, employees author

A stacked SEC

9 of the 16 SEC members seem within the preseason ballot, led by Alabama at No. 2. The Crimson Tide are the one SEC faculty within the prime 10, adopted by Auburn at No. 11. League newcomer Texas clocks in at No. 19. Arkansas, beneath new head coach John Calipari, opens at No. 16, whereas his former faculty Kentucky and head coach Mark Pope are No. 23. — Williams

No love for mid-majors

There are zero mid-major or conventional non-power applications within the High 25, with Gonzaga the one ranked crew from exterior the game’s 5 main conferences. The closest is McNeese State, which obtained 11 votes, adopted by Boise State and Saint Louis with 9 votes every. McNeese is coming off a 30-4 season beneath head coach Will Wade through which it set this system’s single-season wins report and claimed the Southland Convention common season and match championships. The Cowboys have by no means appeared within the High 25 rankings. — Williams

CJ Moore’s poll

The Athletic’s CJ Moore is a voter within the AP High 25 this season.

Right here’s how his poll in contrast:

1. Alabama (precise: No. 2)
2. Gonzaga (precise: No. 6)
3. Houston (precise: No. 4)
4. Kansas (precise: No. 1)
5. Iowa State (precise: No. 5)
6. Duke (precise: No. 7)
7. UConn (precise: No. 3)
8. Tennessee (precise: No. 12)
9. Baylor (precise: No. 8)
10. Arizona (precise: No. 10)
11. Auburn (precise: No. 11)
12. Texas A&M (precise: No. 12)
13. North Carolina (precise: No. 9)
14. Purdue (precise: No. 14)
15. Marquette (precise: No. 18)
16. Florida (precise: No. 21)
17. Texas Tech (precise: NR)
18. Michigan (precise: NR)
19. Indiana (precise: No. 17)
20. Illinois (precise: NR)
21. Cincinnati (precise: No. 20)
22. Xavier (precise: NR)
23. Kentucky (precise: No. 23)
24. St. John’s (precise: NR)
25. UCLA (precise: 22)

(Picture: Chris Gardner / Getty Pictures)