Kansas opened the preseason in the AP Top 25, but not nearly as high as some around the program expected.
The Jayhawks landed at No. 17 when the Associated Press released its preseason poll for the 2026-27 college basketball season on Monday. That puts KU among five Big 12 teams in the rankings, alongside Arizona at No.
5, Houston at No. 10, Iowa State at No.
18, Texas Tech at No. 19 and BYU at No. 25.
TCU also picked up votes.
The placement stands out because of the roster Bill Self has put together over the last few weeks. With Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White back in the fold, Kansas had already been viewed by many as a legitimate national title contender.
Still, the AP voters weren’t nearly as bullish as some of the other major projection models. KenPom has Kansas at No. 8 in its preseason rankings, while EvanMiya.com slots the Jayhawks at No.
- Both are widely respected in college basketball circles and paint a much stronger picture of KU than the AP poll, which is voted on by sportswriters and broadcasters nationwide.
The timing matters too. The poll came out before Kansas added Purdue transfer Trey Kaufman-Renn, so the Jayhawks’ eventual roster looks even stronger than the one voters evaluated. Even before that move, though, the No. 17 spot felt modest compared to the talent already in place.
Some voters may have been cautious about the long-term eligibility of Council and White. Others may have been weighing the lack of proven national star power beyond freshman Tyran Stokes, who was recently named a Preseason First Team All-American and Preseason Freshman of the Year.
Whatever the reasoning, it is tough to look at the group Self has assembled and come away thinking there are 16 teams clearly better than Kansas.
The Jayhawks will get an early chance to test that perception in a pair of marquee exhibition games at Allen Fieldhouse. Kansas faces Louisville on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT on ESPNU, then welcomes Duke on Sunday, Oct. 25 at noon CT on ESPN.
In Other News...
Kansas Faces A Costly Lance Leipold Question It Can't Ignore
Since Lance Leipold arrived in 2021, Kansas football has at least looked like a program with direction again. He delivered back-to-back bowl trips, snapped several losing streaks and gave the Jayhawks the kind of stability they had not found through five head coaches since 2010. Even so, the broader picture has remained uneven, with the team still searching for a way to turn brief progress into a more consistent winning run.
The problem for Kansas is that the question around Leipold is not just about football. Stadium construction costs and contract buyouts make any coaching decision more complicated, and that financial reality hangs over every discussion about the future. For a program that has already spent years trying to find the right fit, the margin for another expensive misstep is awfully thin. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Just Added A Purdue Veteran Bill Self Can Actually Use
Trey Kaufman-Renn is bringing a rare blend of experience to Lawrence after five seasons at Purdue, and the timing could not be better for a Kansas roster that can use more proven production up front. A court ruling has granted him an additional year of college eligibility while his case against the NCAA continues, giving Bill Self another veteran forward with a rsum built in the Big Ten and on the NCAA Tournament stage.
For Kansas, the appeal is obvious: Kaufman-Renn arrives with the kind of scoring touch and rebounding presence that can help stabilize a frontcourt and ease some pressure on the rotation. His path to campus is still tied to an unresolved legal fight, but the Jayhawks have added a player who has already logged meaningful high-level minutes and should be able to contribute right away. [Read more 🡒]
Bill Self Is Pushing Kansas Deeper Into A Risky New Reality
The first exhibition in Allen Fieldhouse came with a visible change underfoot, as new Monster Energy logos appeared on the Kansas court and offered another reminder of how quickly the mens basketball program is adapting to a shifting college sports landscape. Just before the season opener, the Jayhawks also added former Purdue forward and Minnesota Timberwolves draft pick Trey Kaufman-Renn, giving Bill Self another veteran piece as Kansas continues to piece together a roster built in part through unusual and highly specific circumstances.
What stands out now is how much of that roster exists under court-ordered eligibility, with Trey Kaufman-Renn joining Tre White and Melvin Council Jr. in that category. Each case carries its own legal wrinkle, and together they underscore how Kansas is operating in a reality that would have seemed hard to imagine even a few seasons ago. The talent is there, but so is the uncertainty, and the Jayhawks are finding themselves deeper into that mix as the season begins. [Read more 🡒]