Jayhawks ranked No. 3 in preseason Associated Press poll

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas men’s basketball team is ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press (AP) Preseason Poll, the AP released Monday. The AP ranking marks the highest preseason rank for the Jayhawks since entering the 2009-10 season No. 1.
 
This is the fourth-straight season KU has been ranked No. 5 or higher by the AP. KU was No. 4 last season in the AP preseason poll and No. 5 in 2014-15 and 2013-14. It is also the seventh time in the last eight seasons that the Jayhawks have entered the season No. 7 or higher by the AP.

Under 14th-year head coach Bill Self, this is the 11th time that Kansas enters the season ranked seventh or higher in the Associated Press preseason poll and historically, the No. 3 ranking marks the 19th time since the 1992-93 season that Kansas will enter the season seventh or higher.

Last season, KU entered the year No. 4 nationally in the Associated Press poll and ended at No. 1. The AP’s final poll is released prior to the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks were ranked in the top 10 every week during the 2015-16 season.
 
Kansas has been ranked in each of the last 141 polls dating back to the 2008-09 season which is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I.

Kansas will play nine regular-season games against teams ranked in the AP preseason poll: No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Kentucky, No. 11 Indiana, No. 20 West Virginia (twice), No. 21. Texas (twice) and No. 24 Iowa State (twice).

Kansas enters the 2016-17 season No. 2 in the preseason USA Today Coaches’ poll which was released Oct. 20.

Kansas opens its exhibition play when it hosts Washburn Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. (Central) in Allen Fieldhouse. The game can be seen on the Jayhawk Television Network or ESPN3 outside the state of Kansas.

2016-17 Associated Press Preseason Poll (Oct. 31, 2016)

Rank – School (first place votes) – points
1 – Duke (58) – 1,612
2 – Kentucky (2) – 1,479
3 – KANSAS – 1,476
4 – Villanova (4) – 1,465
5 – Oregon (1) – 1,343
6 – North Carolina – 1,314
7 – Xavier – 1,167
8 – Virginia – 1,149
9 – Wisconsin – 1,135
10 – Arizona – 1,004
11 – Indiana – 917
12 – Michigan State – 903
13 – Louisville – 755
14 – Gonzaga – 699
15 – Purdue – 672
16 – UCLA – 540
17 – Saint Mary’s – 512
18 – Connecticut – 504
19 – Syracuse – 464
20 – West Virginia – 360
21 – Texas – 250
22 – Creighton – 231
23 – Rhode Island – 199
24 – Iowa State – 168
25 – Maryland – 144

Others receiving votes: Cincinnati 110, Dayton 98, Florida State 88, California 74, San Diego State 48, Miami 35, NC State 29, Butler 21, Wichita St 21, Ohio State 18, Virginia Tech 18, Florida 18, Texas A&M 14, Mississippi State 14, Oklahoma 11, Colorado 10, Michigan 8, Monmouth 7, Notre Dame 6, Washington 5, Seton Hall 5, Princeton 2, Ohio 1, Vanderbilt 1, Harvard 1

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