University of Kansas

KU ranked in top five of Associated Press preseason poll

Kansas coach Bill Self.
Kansas coach Bill Self. rsugg@kcstar.com

The Kansas men’s basketball team is ranked fourth in the Associated Press preseason college basketball poll, trailing Duke, Michigan State and Arizona.

KU picked up one first-place from the 65 ballots in the poll, which was released Wednesday. For reference, the Jayhawks were selected third in the USA Today coaches poll announced on Oct. 19.

Kentucky was fifth, followed by Villanova and Wichita State.

Missouri is unranked but also is sixth in the “receiving votes” column, picking up 19 total points.

The Blue Devils received 33 of 65 first-place votes in the poll, while the Spartans got 13 first-place votes, and the Wildcats received 18.

Duke is No. 1 in the AP preseason poll for the second straight season and ninth time, matching rival North Carolina for most all-time.

No. 19 Northwestern is ranked in the preseason poll for the first time.

Record

Pts

Prv

1. Duke (33)

28-9

1,572

7

2. Michigan State (13)

20-15

1,520

NR

3. Arizona (18)

32-5

1,506

4

4. Kansas (1)

31-5

1,439

3

5. Kentucky

32-6

1,340

6

6. Villanova

32-4

1,284

1

7. Wichita State

31-5

1,270

19

8. Florida

27-9

1,100

20

9. North Carolina

33-7

1,047

5

10. Southern California

26-10

995

NR

11. West Virginia

28-9

840

13

12. Cincinnati

30-6

837

18

13. Miami

21-12

836

NR

14. Notre Dame

26-10

814

14

15. Minnesota

24-10

642

NR

16. Louisville

25-9

570

10

17. Xavier

24-14

544

NR

18. Gonzaga

37-2

500

2

19. Northwestern

24-12

473

NR

20. Purdue

27-8

362

15

21. UCLA

31-5

340

8

22. Saint Mary’s (Calif.)

29-5

333

22

23. Seton Hall

21-12

274

NR

24. Baylor

27-8

163

12

25. Texas A&M

16-15

130

NR

Others receiving votes: Alabama 86, Virginia 57, Rhode Island 49, TCU 46, Providence 34, Missouri 19, Virginia Tech 16, Wisconsin 14, Butler 13, Texas 10, Maryland 7, Oklahoma 7, Nevada 7, Michigan 6, Dayton 5, Middle Tennessee 4, Ball State 4, SMU 3, Oakland 2, Oregon 2, South Carolina 1, Harvard 1, Central Florida 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

Jesse Newell: 816-234-4759, @jessenewell

This story was originally published November 1, 2017 at 11:47 AM with the headline "KU ranked in top five of Associated Press preseason poll."

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