Preseason No. 1 goes to Kansas
Sure, Kansas often grabs a spot in the upper half of the AP preseason college basketball poll, but the school hasn’t been No. 1 since a player named Wilt Chamberlain suited up for the Jayhawks in the 1950s.
Kansas stood atop the Associated Press’ Top 25 on Monday, the 13th straight season the Jayhawks have been ranked 11th or higher in the first poll.
The Jayhawks received 25 first-place votes and 1,697 points from the national media panel, edging Wake Forest, which had 22 first-place votes and 1,680 points.
The Demon Deacons were the first of three straight Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the poll, and six teams from the league were in the Top 25.
Wayne Simien leads four starters back for Kansas, which lost to Georgia Tech in the NCAA Tournament’s regional finals last season. The Jayhawks were ranked No. 1 for one week last season and they have been ranked No. 2 in five of the last 12 preseason polls.
“I hope we’re never going to be satisfied and our veterans understand they’ve got to go play. It’s nice, but it means nothing in the big scheme of things,” second-year Kansas coach Bill Self said.
As for Wake Forest, it has all five starters back from the team that lost to Saint Joseph’s in the round of 16.
“You see it, you look at it, and you shake your head, but you can’t waste one nanosecond to worry about it,” Demon Deacons coach Skip Prosser said, referring to the lofty ranking.
Georgia Tech and North Carolina were third and fourth in the balloting. Illinois, where Self coached before heading to Kansas, was fifth. Syracuse was sixth, followed by Oklahoma State, defending national champion Connecticut, Kentucky and Arizona.
The last five teams in the poll were Wisconsin, Washington, Florida, Memphis and Gonzaga.
GU gets new opponent
Gonzaga’s mens basketball team will face Lewis-Clark State in an exhibition game Sunday at 2 p.m. in the McCarthey Athletic Center.
The Bulldogs had originally planned a Blue-White game, but a the opportunity arose to play the Warriors and the change was made.
Vols on top to start
Tennessee is no longer chasing Connecticut. The Lady Vols are back on top.
Pat Summitt’s team took the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press’ preseason women’s basketball poll Monday, the 11th time it has started the season atop the rankings — and first since 1998.
The Lady Vols received 20 of 45 first-place votes from a national media panel to edge Texas, Southeastern Conference rival LSU and three-time defending NCAA champion UConn for No. 1.
A third SEC team, Georgia, was ranked fifth, followed by Duke, Stanford, Baylor and North Carolina. Ohio State and Notre Dame tied for 10th.