Kansas was picked first in the AP Top 25 preseason men’s basketball poll Monday, getting the No. 1 nod on half of the 60 ballots from a national media panel to start the season ahead of Alabama and two-time defending national champion UConn.
Kansas scooped up 30 first-place votes from the AP panel. The Crimson Tide, led by All-American guard Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson, earned 14 first-place votes and UConn, which is trying to become the first school since John Wooden’s teams at UCLA to win three straight titles, received 11 first-place votes and is third.
Duke, led by consensus No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, is seventh ahead of Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona in the top 10.
Top 25
Rank Team
1 Kansas
2 Alabama
3 UConn
4 Houston
5 Iowa State
6 Gonzaga
7 Duke
8 Baylor
9 North Carolina
10 Arizona
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