Kansas takes top spot in AP Top 25 men’s basketball preseason poll over Alabama and defending champs UConn

With the men’s college basketball season approaching, the Associated Press released the preseason Top 25 poll on Monday. Kansas once again is at No. 1, with Alabama in second and UConn, the defending NCAA champions, in third.

Kansas received 30 first-place votes to take the top spot, while Alabama received 14 and UConn received 11. Houston, which is in the No. 4 spot, received four first-place votes, while No. 6 Gonzaga received one.

Rounding out the rest of the Top 10 is Iowa State in fifth, Duke — led by top freshman recruit Cooper Flagg — at No. 7, and Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona in eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively.

Kansas, which topped the preseason poll last year as well, struggled throughout the season and eventually lost to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA tournament. This season — in addition to senior Jayhawks stars Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams Jr. — Kansas coach Bill Self added several key transfers, with A.J. Storr (Wisconsin), Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State) and Rylan Griffen (Alabama) joining the squad.

“We welcome being No. 1, especially with our returning players like Hunter, Dajuan and KJ, and then you add the players we brought in,” Self said, per the Associated Press. “The goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season, and though we welcome this, it is not the end goal.”

The Big 12 conference has some of the highest-ranked teams in the poll, holding three of the top five and five of the top 10 spots. The SEC has the most in the Top 25 overall, with nine teams in total.

Purdue, ranked No. 14, will be readjusting without star center Zach Edey, who was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies. Rutgers, meanwhile, is at No. 25, marking the first time that the team has been ranked in the preseason poll since 1978, per the AP.

AP Top 25

The full AP preseason Top 25 poll from October 14, 2024

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