Kansas enters the 2026-27 season with plenty of buzz around Tyran Stokes, but not enough to crack CBS Sports’ latest preseason top 25.
Gary Parrish’s newest rankings leave the Jayhawks completely off the board, a notable sign of where the program stands heading into another year of transition. KU was the preseason No. 1 team in back-to-back seasons in 2023-24 and 2024-25, but the shine has faded after a stretch that has not matched Kansas’ usual standard.
Since winning the national title in 2022, the Jayhawks have not reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. They also have not done much to quiet concerns about how they’ve adjusted to the transfer portal era and the challenges of keeping a roster together from year to year.
Parrish’s list includes a bonus team, making it effectively a top 26, and Kansas still does not appear anywhere on it. That leaves open the possibility that Bill Self’s team could open the season without a preseason ranking at all.
The Big 12 does not get much love in this version of the rankings, either. Only four league teams made the cut: Arizona at No.
6, Iowa State at No. 14, Houston at No. 15 and BYU at No.
Kansas’ roster does feature several pieces beyond Stokes, including Toledo transfer Leroy Blyden Jr., Utah transfer Keanu Dawes and 5-star freshman point guard Taylen Kinney. The Jayhawks are also still chasing another portal addition while the NCAA works through eligibility issues involving Class of 2022 student-athletes.
Of course, these preseason lists are just that - preseason lists. They can change if Kansas lands another transfer, and they won’t decide anything once the games begin. But for now, the message is clear: there are holes on this roster, and the outside world is not sold.
And given how things have gone the last few seasons, the Jayhawks have a simple path forward. They’ll have to earn back the respect themselves.
In Other News...
Former Kansas QB Prospect Just Changed How Fans View That Exit
Miami (Ohio) has settled its quarterback competition for next season, and the choice brings a familiar name back into the spotlight for Kansas fans. Former Jayhawks prospect David McComb has been named the RedHawks starter for 2026, giving him a fresh opportunity after transferring out of Lawrence and settling into a new program with a clear path to playing time.
McComb, a redshirt freshman who arrived at Kansas with plenty of recruiting buzz, won the job over returning sophomore Thomas Gotkowski and is set to make his collegiate debut when Miami opens against Pittsburgh. For Kansas followers, it is another reminder of how quickly a quarterback storyline can change, and McCombs next step will now be measured not by what might have happened in Lawrence, but by how he handles the first real test of his career. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Still Has One Big Lineup Puzzle Around Tyran Stokes
Kansas is headed into the 2026-27 season with the kind of roster turnover that usually keeps Bill Self busy well into the summer, but the biggest reason for optimism is also the biggest reason the rotation is still far from settled. Tyran Stokes is expected to anchor the next wave, and around him the Jayhawks will lean on a mix of transfers and holdovers while the staff sorts through a group that still has some moving parts.
Even with pieces starting to come into focus, the backcourt picture is not clean yet. Melvin Council Jr. and Mihailo Muiki remain ineligible, the team is still pursuing more transfer help, and the point guard job has not been clearly claimed. Up front, Paul Mbiya appears to have the edge at center over Christian Reeves, whose offseason surgery leaves his status uncertain, so Kansas may not know its true starting five for a while longer. [Read more 🡒]
Bill Self Has Kansas Fans One Big Reason To Push Back
CBS Sports analyst Gary Parrish left Kansas out of his preseason Top 25+1 for the 2026-27 season, a reminder that the Jayhawks are no longer being viewed through the same automatic-contender lens they carried for so long under Bill Self. It is the kind of omission that stands out for a program with Kansas history, even with the backdrop of recent March frustration and some uneven roster-building in the portal era.
Bill Self still has one obvious counterpoint for anyone ready to write the Jayhawks off: the incoming freshman class looks promising, and there is at least a path back toward national relevance if those pieces come together quickly. Kansas fans have every reason to push back on a preseason snub like this, even if the recent record says the skepticism is not coming out of nowhere. [Read more 🡒]