Big 12 Conference coaches picked the Kansas men’s basketball team to finish first in the league this season in a poll released Friday morning.
Twelve coaches selected KU for the top spot. It is the 20th of 28 Big 12 seasons in which KU has been picked first or to tie for first.
This year, the No. 1 ranking reflects widespread confidence in a revamped KU squad despite a competitive Big 12, as the Jayhawks add center Hunter Dickinson — voted the preseason conference newcomer and player of the year — Thursday to returning starters KJ Adams Jr., Dajuan Harris Jr. (a first-team selection) and Kevin McCullar Jr. (an honorable mention).
Towson transfer Nick Timberlake, highly touted freshmen Johnny Furphy, Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell, returning forward Zack Clemence and Santa Clara transfer Parker Braun — the brother of former KU standout Christian Braun — round out the roster’s complement of scholarship players.
New to the league this year, and helping to grow its membership to 14 for a season, are BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF. Houston, which was a No. 1 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament and now features Baylor transfer and first-team selection L.J. Cryer, was picked second and received the remaining two first-place votes. (Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own teams.)
Further down, Cincinnati, with a rich history of its own, came in at No. 11. BYU placed 13th and UCF 14th.
KU edged out Texas by a game for the regular-season Big 12 championship last year but fell to the Longhorns in the Big 12 tournament, absent head coach Bill Self, who was dealing with health issues. Texas is now ranked No. 3 in its final year in the league before leaving for the Southeastern Conference.
Fellow departing member Oklahoma, which went just 5-13 in league play last season, comes in at No. 12.
The rest of the poll consists of Baylor (No. 4), TCU (No. 5), Kansas State (No. 6), Iowa State (No. 7), Texas Tech (No. 8), West Virginia (No. 9) and Oklahoma State (No. 10).
The poll precedes by several days the public debut of this year’s Big 12 teams at next week’s Big 12 Basketball Tipoff media events in Kansas City, Missouri, with a women’s basketball session on Tuesday and men’s basketball Wednesday.
KU travels to Illinois for a charity exhibition Oct. 29.
