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RALEIGH, N.C. – Kansas coach Bill sees great holes when he looks after his three starters, including All-American Devonte 'Graham.
The voters in the AP Top 25 poll see something different: a roster restocked so well that Jayhawks will start the season as the nation's top team.
Kansas checked in at no. 1 in the preseason poll released Monday, all the time. The Jayhawks topped the ballot for 37 of 65 voters, nearly twice that of No. 2 Kentucky.
First-place votes in parentheses
1. Kansas (37)
2. Kentucky (19)
3. Gonzaga (1)
4. Duke (4)
5. Virginia (2)
6. Tennessee (1)
7. Nevada
8. North Carolina
9. Villanova (1)
10. Michigan St.
11. Auburn
12. Kansas St.
13. West Virginia
14. Oregon
15. Virginia Tech
16. Syracuse
17. Florida St.
18. Mississippi St.
19. Michigan
20. TCU
21. UCLA
22. Clemson
23. LSU
24. Purdue
25. Washington
"Obviously we lost a lot last year's team with Devonte", Svi (Mykhailiuk) and Malik (Newman), so I'm a little surprised that the writers put us there this preseason, "Self told the AP." It's definitely a spot we welcome and certainly know the goal.
"With the young players, we know it's going to be close to where we're going, but I do like this team and I think we have a chance to be very good."
The Jayhawks return veteran starters junior 7-footer Udoka Azubuike and senior Lagerald Vick from a team that reaches its first Final Four since 2012. They're also adding transfer help from Memphis twins Dedric and KJ Lawson as California's Charlie Moore – all double-digit scorers on their previous teams.
And yet, the previous two times the Jayhawks started at No. 1 did not end well. The 2004-05 squad lost to Bucknell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. And the 2009-10 team won the top spot for Northern Ireland in the second round.
The ranking comes from the program finds itself recruits to certain schools. Silvio De Sousa, Silvio De Sousa is a self-employed person, but it is unclear if de Sousa's status will be affected.
Voters established a clear top tier: Kansas, Kentucky, No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 4 Duke. Those four teams appeared in some combination at the half of the ballots (32 of 65).
John Calipari's latest group of touted recruits helped the Wildcats earn 19 first-place votes for the team.
Gonzaga's ranking is the highest in a preseason AP poll, but the Zags have reached No. 1 during the regular season. As for Duke, the Blue Devils had started No. 1 in each of the past two preseason AP polls.
The points gap between the Jayhawks and the Blue Devils (129 points) Duke and fellow ACC program Virginia (166 points) at No. 5.
Speaking of Tony Bennett's Cavaliers, one of the biggest things to watch the world respond to. The Cavaliers ended up unanimous AP No. 1-ranked team and No. 1 overall NCAA tournament seed, yet somehow became the first 1-seed to lose a No. 16 against UMBC. Bennett said all the right things about learning from that moment.
Virginia has its highest preseason AP ranking since Ralph Sampson's final team opened at No. 1 in 1982-83 with Kyle Guy (14.1 points), Ty Jerome (10.6 points) and his best NBA prospect in sophomore De'Andre Hunter all returning.
Nevada is starting the year with the highest ranked AP poll ranking at No. 7 after last year's NCAA Sweet 16 run, with Martin twins, Caleb and Cody, back along with Jordan Caroline.
Reigning national champion Villanova checks in at No. 9 despite losing Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Final Four most outstanding player Donte DiVincenzo.
The Wildcats still have Eric Paschall and Phil Booth back while adding Albany Joe Cremo. Jay Wright has developed two national championships in three seasons – and for the Wildcats' dominating romp through the postseason.
The Duke, Virginia, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 15 Virginia Tech (its highest spot since the 1995-96 season), No. 16 Syracuse, No. 17 Florida State and No. 22 Clemson.
Kentucky, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 11 Auburn (the program's most recent ranking since 2000), No. 18 Mississippi State and No. 23 LSU.
The Big 12 had four (Kansas, No. 12 Kansas State, No. 13 West Virginia and No. 20 TCU), while the Big Ten and Pac-12, Michigan State and No. 14 , respectively.
Lurking just outside the poll, Loyola (Chicago), last year's Final Four surprise, just missed breaking in at three points behind No. 25 Washington. Markus Howard back, while Archie Miller's second year at Indiana has the Hoosiers looming as well.
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