KU men jump to 3rd in latest AP poll; Kansas women up a spot to No. 21

By Matt Tait Jan 2, 2023

Kansas forward K.J. Adams Jr. (24) celebrates after an and-one bucket against Oklahoma State during the second half on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022 at Allen Fieldhouse.

A loss by Connecticut last week paved the way for the Kansas men’s basketball to jump a spot to No. 3 in the latest Associated Press poll.

The Jayhawks survived a scare of their own last week, holding off Oklahoma State by two in a thrilling game at Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas has not lost since falling to Tennessee in the finals of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in November, and the Jayhawks enter the week at 12-1 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play.

This week’s AP Top 25 features five Big 12 teams, with Iowa State jumping back in at No. 25 to join KU, Texas (6th), TCU (17th) and Baylor (19th).

KU’s schedule features 13 games against current Top 25 opponents, with Kansas already having faced No. 8 Tennessee, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 15 Indiana, No. 16 Duke and No. 20 Missouri, and still waiting to take on Texas, TCU, Baylor and Iowa State in Big 12 Conference home-and-home battles.

Missouri is new to this week’s poll, with the Tigers sitting at 12-1 overall following wins over Illinois and Kentucky. Both the Illini and the Wildcats fell out of this week’s poll, and Mizzou’s only loss to date is to the nation’s third-ranked team.

Purdue remained on top in the No. 1 spot, earning 60 of the 61 first-place votes this week. Houston jumped a spot to No. 2 and UConn fell to fourth. The Huskies still got one first-place vote.

It’s not just the AP poll where KU is moving up. According to BetOnline.ag, the Jayhawks also have improved their odds to win the 2023 national title.

KU was listed at 22/1 on Dec. 1 but has jumped to 16/1 as of Jan. 1.

That number marks the fourth-best in college basketball according to the online book, trailing Houston (8/1), UConn (11/1) and Arizona (14/1).

The Kansas women also won their Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State — last Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma — to move to 11-1 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play.

Brandon Schneider’s squad is now ranked 21st and in the poll for the fourth consecutive week.

The KU men will play at Texas Tech on Tuesday night – 8 p.m. on ESPN2 – and the KU women will host the Red Raiders on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.