Kansas Lead AP Top 25 Men's College Basketball Preseason Poll
Kansas Lead AP Top 25 Men's College Basketball Preseason Poll
By Keith Mado October 15, 2024 13:11
The latest Associated Press Top 25 preseason men's basketball poll is out, and the Jayhawks are the No. 1 team in back-to-back seasons. Meanwhile, Alabama received its highest preseason AP poll ranking in the program's history at No. 2, while reigning national champs UConn settled for No. 3.
Bill Self's Jayhawks earned 30 of a possible 60 first-place votes to clinch the top spot for a second consecutive season. They significantly jumped 18 spots from where they finished last campaign after reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament in March.
Despite their lackluster season due to injuries, Self revamped his squad, entering the 2024-25 campaign with the additions of AJ Storr (Wisconsin), guard Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State), and Rylan Griffen (Alabama).
On the other hand, Nate Oats' Crimson Tide are coming off a historic season, which saw the program reach the Final Four and solidify themselves as a basketball powerhouse. With the program's emergence, the excitement around the team is palpable. Alabama fans remain optimistic about their chances of making another deep run in March, especially after Oats said that this team has "the best roster we've had since we've been here."
Oats and the rest of his coaching staff have a healthy mix of young and experienced players on their roster, but they will lean on their First-Team All-SEC point guard, Mark Sears, to lead them toward their first-ever national title.
Meanwhile, the back-to-back national champions, UConn, are yet again outside the top two, but that hasn't stopped the Huskies from dominating the college basketball scene. Landing at No. 3 in the AP preseason poll, Uconn will head into the 2024-25 season keen to make history as the only team to win three consecutive national titles since John Wooden's UCLA teams of the late 1960s/early 1970s.
A true underdog story, the Huskies entered the 2022–23 season unranked and went on to win the national title. Entering the 2023-24 campaign, Uconn was ranked No. 6. Then, they proceeded to have a historic season, finishing their campaign with a 37-3 record and a national title to boot.
Now at No. 3 in the preseason poll the highest preseason ranking in their history head coach Dan Hurley exclaims, "I don't understand how we don't just start the season there. Not that it matters, because you've got to do it. But we dominated for the national championship, lost all the players, and were even better (last season). We dominate even more, and we lose all the players. I think we should've been voted first."
Preseason AP Top 25 Poll (Released October 14, 2024)
- Kansas
- Alabama
- UConn
- Houston
- Iowa State
- Gonzaga
- Duke
- Baylor
- North Carolina
- Arizona
- Auburn
- Tennessee
- Texas A&M
- Purdue
- Creighton
- Arkansas
- Indiana
- Marquette
- Texas
- Cincinnati
- Florida
- UCLA
- Kentucky
- Ole Miss
- Rutgers
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