College basketball rankings: Kansas earns No. 1 spot in preseason Coaches Poll with Purdue over Duke at No. 2

The Jayhawks are the No. 1 team in both major preseason polls released Monday

By Cameron Salerno

Oct 16, 2023 at 4:05 pm ET • 1 min read

USATSI

After a stunning exit in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Purdue will start the season ranked No. 2 in the Coaches Poll. Released Monday, the poll features Kansas as the No. 1 team with a 23-5 edge over the Boilermakers in first-place votes. No. 3 Duke and No. 5 Uconn also received first-place votes from the 32 participating Division l head coaches.

Purdue returns all five starters, including reigning national player of the year Zach Edey from a team that finished 29-6 overall and 15-5 in Big Ten play last season. Edey is joined by Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, Ethan Morton and Mason Gillis in the starting lineup. Purdue by virtue of a loss to Fairleigh Dickinson, became the second No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history to lose in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to a No. 16 seed.

The Jayhawks, who also ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll released on the same day, returns three starters in Dajuan Harris Jr., Kevin McCullar Jr. and KJ Adams Jr. Kansas added the top-ranked transfer in former Michigan center Hunter Dickinson and he should be a contender to dethrone Edey for national player of the year. The Jayhawks season ended early with a loss to Arkansas in the second round as coach Bill Self missed the entire NCAA Tournament due to a heart issue.

Reigning national champion UConn, starts the season ranked No. 5 behind Kansas, Purdue, Duke and Michigan State. The Huskies play Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas on Dec. 5.