Kansas slotted No. 5 in preseason Associated Press poll

October 31, 2013 Rock Chalk Blog

The Kansas Jayhawks enter the 2013-14 season ranked at No. 5 in the preseason Associated Press Poll released Thursday. Kansas was already picked No. 6 in the preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll released on October 17th.

This marks the 85th straight week Kansas has been ranked. This ranks second to Duke’s 117 straight weeks. The ranking is the seventh time in the Bill Self era that the Jayhawks enter the season slotted seventh or higher, including three of the last four years: No. 1 in 2009-10 , No. 7 in 2010-11 and No. 7 in 2012-13. The No. 5 AP ranking marks the 16^th time since the 1992-93 season that Kansas will enter the season seventh or higher.

Kansas is one of three Big 12 teams ranked. Oklahoma State, the team picked by coaches to split the preseason Big 12 poll, is ranked eighth while Baylor comes in at No. 25.

Last season, Kansas was ranked seventh in this poll and finished third with a 31-6 record after losing to Michigan in the NCAA tournament.

Kansas’ biggest test comes on November 12th when the Jayhawks face off against No. 4 Duke in the Champions Classic. Also playing in the Champions Classic are No. 1 Kentucky and No. 2 Michigan State. This is the earliest matchup between preseason No. 1 and No. 2 since Indiana vs. UCLA in St. Louis on November 29, 1975.

There are five opponents on Kansas’ schedule ranked and three are receiving votes. These teams include:

Duke (No. 4)
Oklahoma State (No. 8)
Florida (No. 10)
New Mexico (No. 23)
Baylor (No. 25)
Colorado (receiving votes)
Georgetown (receiving votes)
Villanova (receiving votes)

Here are the rankings:

RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Kentucky (27)	0-0	1,546
2	Michigan State (22)	0-0	1,543
3	Louisville (14)	0-0	1,501
4	Duke (2)	0-0	1,435
5	Kansas	0-0	1,357
6	Arizona	0-0	1,311
7	Michigan	0-0	1,120
8	Oklahoma State	0-0	1,093
8	Syracuse	0-0	1,093
10	Florida	0-0	1,048
11	Ohio State	0-0	1,036
12	North Carolina	0-0	954
13	Memphis	0-0	741
14	Virginia Commonwealth	0-0	680
15	Gonzaga	0-0	538
16	Wichita State	0-0	512
17	Marquette	0-0	510
18	Connecticut	0-0	448
19	Oregon	0-0	408
20	Wisconsin	0-0	338
21	Notre Dame	0-0	332
22	UCLA	0-0	244
23	New Mexico	0-0	213
24	Virginia	0-0	189
25	Baylor	0-0	180

Others receiving votes: Tennessee 176, Creighton 145, Indiana 111, Iowa 83, Colorado 83, Harvard 46, Boise State 22, Villanova 14, Arizona State 11, Georgetown 11, UNLV 8, Washington 8, Stanford 6, LSU 6, Pittsburgh 6, Boston College 5, La Salle 4, Saint Louis 3, St. John’s 3, Missouri 3, Cincinnati 1