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Stan Becton | NCAA.com | October 16, 2023

Kansas, Duke and Purdue lead preseason AP Top 25 poll

Men's college basketball rankings: Kansas, Duke top offseason Power 36

The AP Top 25 preseason men's college basketball rankings were released Monday with Kansas leading all teams headed into the 2023-24 season.

Here is the AP Top 25, along with some initial reactions and takeaways from the rankings:

RANK

SCHOOL

POINTS

1 Kansas(46) 1548
2 Duke (11) 1466
3 Purdue (3) 1436
4 Michigan State (1) 1346
5 Marquette 1283
6 Connecticut (2) 1243
7 Houston 1117
8 Creighton 1099
9 Tennessee 1032
10 Florida Atlantic 1011
11 Gonzaga 830
12 Arizona 776
13 Miami (FL) 750
14 Arkansas 685
15 Texas A&M 597
16 Kentucky 530
17 San Diego State 529
18 Texas 493
19 North Carolina 474
20 Baylor 431
21 Southern Cal 427
22 Villanova 395
23 Saint Mary's 335
24 Alabama 163
25 Illinois 104

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Kansas is No. 1

kansas

Kansas takes the top spot in the preseason poll after a disappointing second-round exit last year. The Jayhawks are the preseason No. 1 for the fourth time, tying Kentucky for the fourth-most appearances atop the preseason poll all-time.

Kansas picked up one of the biggest transfers this offseason in former Michigan center Hunter Dickson. He'll fellow newcomer in freshman Johnny Furphy. Those two, plus returning talent like Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Dajuan Harris have expectations high in Lawrence.

National Player of the Year candidates lead the top of the poll

purdue

Zach Edey is the reigning National Player of the Year, and he's a large part of the reason No. 3 Purdue opens the season near the top of the poll. Edey is the second straight award winner to return to school in as many years, following Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe last year.

Elsewhere, No. 2 Duke has a player of the year candidate of its own in Kyle Filipowski, one of the best power forwards in the country. With Filipowski in the frontcourt and Tyrese Proctor and Jeremy Roach in the backcourt, the Blue Devils look poised for a classic tournament run.

KATZ TOP-10 RANKINGS: Playmakers| Scoring guards | Small forwards | Power forwards | Centers | Defenders

Final Four teams scattered throughout the poll

uconn

No team seeded higher than No. 4 made the Final Four last year, but last year's teams are showing high in the preseason AP poll. Defending national champion UConn is the highest-ranked Final Four team at No. 6, with center Donovan Clingan expected to replace the impact of Final Four Most Outstanding Player Adama Sanogo.

No. 10 Florida Atlantic still has NCAA tournament star Johnell Davis on the roster and has its highest ranking ever, while fellow South Florida Final Four team No. 13 Miami returns Nijel Pack. The lowest-ranked Final Four team from last year is No. 17 San Diego State as it only returns two starters in Lamont Butler and Darrion Trammell.

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Conference breakdown

The SEC leads all conferences with five teams ranked in the preseason AP Poll. Here's a breakdown of the preseason AP poll by conference:

No. of Teams Ranked Conference
5 SEC
4 Big East, Big Ten
3 ACC, Big 12, Big Ten
2 Pac-12, West Coast
1 America, Mountain West

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