INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Kansas is No. 1 and two-time defending national champion UConn is No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll released Monday.
The Jayhawks received 30 of the 60 first-place ballots, while No. 2 Alabama collected 14 and the Huskies received 11. No. 4 Houston received four first-place votes, with the other going to No. 6 Gonzaga. Iowa State is No. 5.
Kansas was the preseason No. 1 team last season, too, but the Jayhawks were derailed by injuries and finished 23-11 with a second-round loss in the NCAA Tournament.
Head coach Bill Self padded the Kansas roster through the transfer portal, adding A.J. Storr (Wisconsin), Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State) and Rylan Griffen (Alabama) to a roster led by All-American big man Hunter Dickinson and seniors Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams.
“We welcome being No. 1, especially with our returning players like Hunter, Dajuan and KJ, and then you add the players we brought in,” Self said. “The goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season, and though we welcome this, it is not the end goal.”
The Crimson Tide lost to UConn in the Final Four last season and are led by All-American guard Mark Sears.
The Huskies are attempting to become the first program to win three straight titles since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty won seven in a row from 1967-73.
The Big 12 has five teams in the top 10, while the Southeastern Conference leads the way with nine schools in the Top 25.
The rest of the Top 25 preseason poll:
11. Auburn
12. Tennessee
13. Texas A&M
14. Purdue
15. Creighton
16. Arkansas
17. Indiana
18. Marquette
19. Texas
20. Cincinnati
21. Florida
22. UCLA
23. Kentucky
24. Ole Miss
25. Rutgers
–Field Level Media