Jayhawks start the season ranked No. 1 in America
LAWRENCE (KSNT) - The expectations can't get much higher for KU men's basketball ahead of the 2023-24 season.
The Jayhawks are ranked No. 1 in the country in college basketball's 2023-24 Preseason AP Poll, which was announced on Monday.
“With our returning starters and the players’ we’ve added, I can see the writers putting us high in the rankings,” KU head coach Bill Self said in a statement from KU Athletics. “We welcome being preseason No. 1, but the goal is to be playing to that rank when it counts the most, at the end of the season.”
It's the fourth time in poll history that Kansas has checked in at the top entering the season. All four of those times have been under head coach Bill Self. KU received 46 of 65 first place votes. Duke (11), Purdue (3) and Michigan State (1) were the other teams receiving first place votes.
Kansas was previously ranked No. 1 in the Preseason AP Poll entering the 2004-05, 2009-10 and 2018-19 seasons.
With the No. 1 ranking, Kansas has now been ranked in each of the last 39 AP Top 10 polls dating back to Oct. 18, 2021, which is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I. It's the 12th-consecutive year that KU has entered the season ranked seventh or higher.
Kansas was tied for fifth in the AP poll entering the 2022-23 season. Other Big 12 teams in the preseason top 25 included Houston (No. 7), Texas (No. 18) and Baylor (No. 20).
Kansas State received 13 votes in this year's preseason poll, unofficially checking in at No. 35.