🏀 Kansas Picked Second in the Big 12 Preseason Coaches’ Poll
IRVING, Texas – Kansas has been voted second by the league’s head coaches in the 2022-23 Big 12 men’s basketball preseason poll, the conference announced Thursday.
Kansas’ second-place finish in the poll marks just the sixth time the Jayhawks were not the coaches’ top selection in the 27-year history of the conference. At season’s end, KU has outright or tied the conference regular-season championship 20 times, including an NCAA-record 14 consecutive from 2005-18. A coaches’ preseason poll was not conducted in the Big 12’s first season of 1996-97.
For the 2022-23 poll, the Jayhawks collected four first-place votes and finished with a total of 73 points. Baylor received five first-place nods and is the preseason favorite with 77 points. Texas, with one first-place vote, was third with 64 points, while TCU was fourth with 58 points. Oklahoma State and Texas Tech tied for fifth with 42 points, followed No. 7 Oklahoma (32), No. 8 Iowa State (30), No. 9 West Virginia (20) and No. 10 Kansas State (12). Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team.
Head coaches and student-athletes from each team will appear at the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tipoff in Kansas City on Wednesday, October 19. Interviews from the event will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ from 8:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CT.
Kansas returns two starters – Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris Jr. – and seven letterwinners from last season’s 34-6 season, in which it won its sixth national title and fourth in the NCAA history. Wilson was named a unanimous Preseason All-Big 12 selection on Wednesday, while redshirt-senior Kevin McCullar, a transfer from Texas Tech, was an honorable mention honoree by the conference.
Last season, KU tied Baylor for first place in the Big 12 regular season with a 14-4 record. It was KU’s NCAA-record 63rd conference regular-season title and 20th in the 26-year history of the Big 12. The Jayhawks then won the Big 12 Tournament, advanced to its NCAA-record 32nd-consecutive NCAA Tournament, a streak that started in 1990, and its 16th Final Four. The Jayhawks won their last 11 games of the season en route to the NCAA title.
2022-23 BIG 12 PRESEASON POLL
Team (First-place votes) – Points
1-Baylor (5) – 77
2-KANSAS (4) – 73
3-Texas (1) – 64
4-TCU – 58
5-Oklahoma State – 42
5-Texas Tech – 42
7-Oklahoma – 32
8-Iowa State – 30
9-West Virginia – 20
10-Kansas State – 12
Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. Points awarded: 9 for 1st, 8 for 2nd, 7 for 3rd, etc.
Big 12 Preseason Poll History
Season – Preseason Selection (actual finish); Big 12 Champion (preseason)
2021-22 – Kansas (T1st); Kansas (1st), Baylor (3rd)
2020-21 – Baylor (1st); Baylor (1st)
2019-20 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2018-19 – Kansas (3rd); Kansas State (2nd), Texas Tech (7th)
2017-18 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2016-17 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2015-16 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2014-15 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2013-14 – Kansas (1st), Oklahoma State (8th); Kansas (1st)
2012-13 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st), Kansas State (5th)
2011-12 – Kansas (1st), Texas A&M (9th); Kansas (1st)
2010-11 – Kansas State (T3rd); Kansas (2nd)
2009-10 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2008-09 – Oklahoma (2nd); Kansas (3rd)
2007-08 – Kansas (T1st); Kansas (1st), Texas (2nd)
2006-07 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2005-06 – Texas (T1st); Kansas (3rd), Texas (1st)
2004-05 – Kansas (T1st), Oklahoma State (3rd); Kansas (T1st), Oklahoma (4th)
2003-04 – Missouri (T5th); Oklahoma State (5th)
2002-03 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2001-02 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
2000-01 – Kansas (T2nd); Iowa State (4th)
1999-00 – Kansas (5th); Iowa State (6th)
1998-99 – Oklahoma State (T5th); Texas (5th)
1997-98 – Kansas (1st); Kansas (1st)
1996-97 – No coaches poll; Kansas
