Kansas Men's Basketball No. 3 in Big 12 Preseason Poll
Oct. 8, 2008
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Despite losing five of its top-six leading scorers from the 2008 National Championship team, the Kansas Jayhawks earned three first-place votes en route to being voted tied for third in the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll, the conference office announced. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams.
It is the first time since 2005-06 (No. 3) that Kansas has not been the Big 12’s preseason No. 1, as the Jayhawks had been voted the favorite to win the conference title in each of the past two seasons.
KU received 103 points in the poll, equaling Baylor’s total. Oklahoma was voted preseason No. 1 with 109 points and three first-place votes, and Texas followed closely at No. 2 with 107 points and four first-place votes. Judging by the votes, the Big 12 appears to be top-heavy this season, as the top four vote-getters received 53 percent of the possible points. Kansas and Baylor were 24 points ahead of fifth-place Texas A&M.
The Jayhawks return eight letterwinners, but only two of them played more than 2.7 minutes. Junior Sherron Collins is expected to lead KU in 2008-09, as he averaged 9.3 points a year ago while playing a significant role on the championship team. The Jayhawks will also look to sophomore Cole Aldrich for leadership, who averaged 2.8 points and 3.0 rebounds in 2007-08. Seven newcomers from a highly-touted recruiting class are expected to contribute greatly for KU as well.
The Jayhawks open up their title defense on Nov. 16 with first-round action of the 2008 O’Reilly Auto Parts College Basketball Experience Classic in Lawrence, Kan., televised by ESPNU. The Jayhawks are one of the CBE’s four regional hosts along with Syracuse,Florida and Washington.
KU plays two exhibition games before the regular season, facing off against Washburn (Nov. 4) and Emporia State (Nov. 11) at Allen Fieldhouse.
2008-09 Big 12 Preseason Poll
Team (first-place votes) – Points
1. Oklahoma (3) – 109 points
2. Texas (4) – 107 points
3. Baylor (2) – 103 points
3. Kansas (3) – 103 points
5. Texas A&M – 79 points
6. Oklahoma State – 69 points
7. Missouri – 51 points
8. Kansas State – 50 points
9. Nebraska – 49 points
10. Texas Tech – 39 points
11. Iowa State – 20 points
12. Colorado – 13 points
Big 12 Preseason Poll History
Season — Preseason Selection (actual finish); Big 12 Champion (preseason selection)
2007-08 — Kansas (Tie-1st); Texas (2nd), Kansas (1st)
2006-07 — Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2005-06 — Texas (1st); Kansas (3rd), Texas (Tie – 1st)
2004-05 — Kansas (Tie – 1st), Oklahoma State (3rd); Kansas (Tie – 1st), Oklahoma (4th)
2003-04 — Missouri (Tie – 5th); Oklahoma State (5th)
2002-03 — Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2001-02 — Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2000-01 — Kansas (Tie – 2nd); Iowa State (4th)
1999-00 — Kansas (5th); Iowa State (6th)
1998-99 — Oklahoma State (Tie – 5th); Texas (5th)
1997-98 — Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
1996-97 — No coaches poll; Kansas
