Syracuse (AP/WSYR-TV) - For the second time in its storied basketball history, Kansas is No. 1 in The Associated Press' preseason Top 25. Syracuse was voted #25 in the same poll.
The Jayhawks were a runaway choice Thursday, receiving 55 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel to easily outdistance Michigan State, which was No. 1 on five ballots.
There was little suspense as to which team would top the preseason poll. Kansas has all five starters and the top nine scorers back from last season's team that went 27-8 and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament. The Jayhawks also feature a recruiting class considered among the nation's best.
"I'm not surprised," said Bill Self, who was also the coach the other time Kansas was the preseason No. 1 in 2004-05. "But I know this - we aren't practicing like a team that's preseason No. 1 in the country. It has been a very few good days of practice but we do have good players. ... There's a lot of excitement surrounding these guys."
The Jayhawks received great news when guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich, last season's leading scorers, decided to return to school rather than test the NBA draft. Then brothers Xavier and C.J. Henry decided to enroll in Lawrence, making the Jayhawks the early national favorite as well as the choice to win a sixth straight Big 12 title.
"My goal for this team isn't to play to that ranking early in the season," Self said. "My goal is to play to that ranking when it counts the most. I hope it happens soon."
Michigan State has seven of the top nine scorers back from the team that lost to North Carolina in the national championship game.
Texas, Kentucky and Villanova rounded out the top five, while North Carolina, a unanimous preseason No. 1 last season, was sixth. Kentucky received three first-place votes and Texas and North Carolina got one each. Purdue, West Virginia, Duke and Tennessee completed the top 10.
While Kansas' showing this preseason many not have been as impressive as North Carolina's a year earlier when it became the first ever unanimous preseason pick, both had plenty of reasons to claim No. 1.
"There are some similarities, but that North Carolina team had been through a lot more experiences than our guys have," Self said. "The North Carolina team had been through Final Fours, had been to Elite Eights, had had some heartache, been through some tough times. I don't know that this group has been through tough times like they had. The fact we return nine guys and a good recruiting class is the reason people are so optimistic about us."
Butler was 11th in the poll followed by Connecticut, California, Washington, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Louisville and Georgetown. The last five ranked teams were Dayton, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Clemson and Minnesota.
Kentucky, under new coach John Calipari and with a loaded freshman class, Georgetown and Georgia Tech were the only teams in the preseason poll not to play in the NCAA tournament last season.
Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee lead the 13 teams in the preseason poll who were not ranked in the final poll of last season. Louisville and North Carolina were Nos. 1 and 2 in that final poll. In addition to those two, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Duke and Connecticut all were ranked No. 1 at some point in the season.
The Big Ten has six teams in the preseason poll, one more than the Big East. The Atlantic Coast Conference had four and the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference three each.
AP Poll
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' preseason 2009-10 college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, final 2008-09 records, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last year's final ranking:
Record Pts Fin
1. Kansas (55) 27-8 1,612 14
2. Michigan St. (5) 31-7 1,515 8
3. Texas (1) 23-12 1,397 -
4. Kentucky (3) 22-14 1,372 -
5. Villanova 30-8 1,347 11
6. North Carolina (1) 34-4 1,320 2
7. Purdue 27-10 1,284 17
8. West Virginia 23-12 1,115 -
9. Duke 30-7 1,064 6
10. Tennessee 21-13 897 -
11. Butler 26-6 864 22
12. Connecticut 31-5 844 5
13. California 22-11 800 -
14. Washington 26-9 776 15
15. Michigan 21-14 578 -
16. Ohio St. 22-11 465 -
17. Oklahoma 30-6 410 7
18. Mississippi St. 23-13 393 -
19. Louisville 31-6 335 1
20. Georgetown 16-15 326 -
21. Dayton 27-8 318 -
22. Georgia Tech 12-19 301 -
23. Illinois 24-10 282 -
24. Clemson 23-9 217 24
25. Minnesota 22-11 172 -
Others receiving votes: Maryland 171, Siena 112, Notre Dame 107, Florida St. 92, Vanderbilt 90, Syracuse 83, Oklahoma St. 65, UCLA 63, Florida 53, Wake Forest 50, Xavier 42, Gonzaga 37, South Carolina 28, Kansas St. 24, BYU 21, N. Iowa 16, Tulsa 16, Mississippi 15, Texas A&M 10, Missouri 8, Boston College 6, Pittsburgh 4, Utah St. 2, Va. Commonwealth 2, W. Kentucky 2, Holy Cross 1, Old Dominion 1.
USA Today / ESPN coaches poll
The top 25 teams in the USA Today-ESPN men's college basketball preseason poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2008-09 records, points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and final 2008-09 ranking:
Record Pts Pvs
1. Kansas (27) 27-8 770 10
2. Michigan State (3) 31-7 732 2
3. Texas 23-12 676 23
4. North Carolina (1) 34-4 653 1
5. Kentucky 22-14 635 -
6. Villanova 30-8 620 4
7. Purdue 27-10 586 14
8. Duke 30-7 528 11
9. West Virginia 23-12 501 -
10. Butler 26-6 408 25
11. Tennessee 21-13 406 -
12. California 22-11 370 -
13. Washington 26-9 364 16
14. Connecticut 31-5 361 3
15. Michigan 21-14 279 -
16. Oklahoma 30-6 244 7
17. Ohio State 22-11 241 -
18. Minnesota 22-11 151 -
19. Mississippi St. 23-13 149 -
20. Georgia Tech 12-19 136 -
21. Georgetown 16-15 134 -
22. Dayton 27-8 130 -
23. Louisville 31-6 123 5
24. Clemson 23-9 114 -
25. Syracuse 28-10 111 12
Others receiving votes: Maryland 100; Illinois 83; Siena 72; UCLA 59; Vanderbilt 38; Oklahoma State 29; Missouri 28; Xavier 25; Gonzaga 24; Notre Dame 22; Southern California 22; Pittsburgh 19; Tulsa 17; Brigham Young 16; Kansas State 16; Florida State 15; Florida 13; Wake Forest 13; San Diego State 8; Creighton 7; Boston College 4; Texas A&M 4; Cornell 3; Memphis 3; Mississippi 3; Southern Illinois 3; Utah State 3; UNLV 2; Northern Iowa 1; South Carolina 1.
