Kansas No. 1 in AP preseason basketball Top 25; OU No. 17

By JIM O'CONNELL, AP Basketball Writer Comments 1
Published: October 29, 2009

Kansas is the runaway choice for No. 1 in The Associated Press' preseason college basketball poll.

The Jayhawks return all five starters and welcome one of the country's top recruiting classes. They are coming off a 27-8 season that ended in the third round of the NCAA tournament.

Kansas received 55 first-place votes Thursday from the 65-member national media panel to easily outdistance Michigan State, which was No. 1 on five ballots. The Spartans return seven of their top nine scorers from last season's national runner-up squad.

Texas, Kentucky and Villanova round out the top five. North Carolina, a unanimous preseason No. 1 last season that won the national title, was sixth. Purdue, West Virginia, Duke and Tennessee complete the top 10.

Oklahoma came in at No. 17 while Oklahoma State was among the crowd of teams receiving votes.

AP Preseason Basketball Poll

Team (First-place votes), '08-09 record, points

1. Kansas (55), 27-8, 1,612

2. Michigan St. (5), 31-7, 1,515

3. Texas (1), 23-12, 1,397

4. Kentucky (3), 22-14, 1,372

5. Villanova, 30-8, 1,347

6. North Carolina (1), 34-4, 1,320

7. Purdue, 27-10, 1,284

8. West Virginia, 23-12, 1,115

9. Duke, 30-7, 1,064

10. Tennessee, 21-13, 897

11. Butler, 26-6, 864

12. Connecticut, 31-5, 844

13. California, 22-11, 800

14. Washington, 26-9, 776

15. Michigan, 21-14, 578

16. Ohio St., 22-11, 465

17. Oklahoma, 30-6, 410

18. Mississippi St., 23-13, 393

19. Louisville, 31-6, 335

20. Georgetown, 16-15, 326

21. Dayton, 27-8, 318

22. Georgia Tech, 12-19, 301

23. Illinois, 24-10, 282

24. Clemson, 23-9, 217

25. Minnesota, 22-11, 172

Others receiving votes: Maryland 171, Siena 112, Notre Dame 107, Florida St. 92, Vanderbilt 90, Syracuse 83, Oklahoma St. 65, UCLA 63, Florida 53, Wake Forest 50, Xavier 42, Gonzaga 37, South Carolina 28, Kansas St. 24, BYU 21, N. Iowa 16, Tulsa 16, Mississippi 15, Texas A&M 10, Missouri 8, Boston College 6, Pittsburgh 4, Utah St. 2, Va. Commonwealth 2, W. Kentucky 2, Holy Cross 1, Old Dominion 1.