Every year the AP releases its college basketball preseason Top 25 rankings, and every year fanbases from around the country overreact. The 2023-24 season is sure to be no different.
Though the preseason rankings can be a good barometer of how the college basketball season will unfold, the North Carolina Tar Heels found out the hard way that being No. 1 in the preseason doesn't mean a thing once March rolls around.
Last year, UNC was ranked No. 1 and didn't even make the NCAA Tournament. In fact, of the 25 teams ranked to begin last season, only San Diego State (19) made it to the Final Four. Let's first look at the full preseason AP Top 25.
College basketball rankings: Kansas No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25
- Kansas Jayhawks
- Duke Blue Devils
- Purdue Boilermakers
- Michigan State Spartans
- Marquette Golden Eagles
- UConn Huskies
- Houston Cougars
- Creighton Bluejays
- Tennessee Volunteers
- Florida Atlantic Owls
- Gonzaga Bulldogs
- Arizona Wildcats
- Miami Hurricanes
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Texas A&M Aggies
- Kentucky Wildcats
- San Diego State Aztecs
- Texas Longhorns
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Baylor Bears
- USC Trojans
- Villanova Wildcats
- Saint Mary's Gaels
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Illinois Fighting Illini
But let's look at some of the winners and losers in the early-going, shall we?
Winner: Kansas Jayhawks
Let's start at the top. The Kansas Jayhawks occupy the No.1 spot in the AP Top 25 college basketball rankings. And, why not? The Jayhawks were one of the best teams in the country a year ago and added coveted forward Hunter Dickinson via the transfer portal.
Dickinson led the way for the Michigan Wolverines in 2022-23, but wasn't yet ready to make the jump to the NBA. The 7-foot-1, 260-pound Dickinson is going to be a load down low for the Jayhawks opponents, and his big body will no doubt help the KU come off screens for wide-open jumpers.
The hope, of course, is that head coach Bill Self is 100 percent following a health scare last spring. By all accounts, Self is ready for the rigors that come with coaching the best team (on paper) in college basketball this season.
The Big12 has a newcomer this season in Houston. The Cougars are ranked among the Top 10 in the AP poll as well, so Kansas will have some company from within the conference. Texas and Baylor are ranked in the Top 25 as well, but Kansas has to feel pretty good about sitting at No. 1 to begin the season.
Loser: UCLA Bruins
UCLA is not ranked among the AP Top 25, and that's a little odd. While the Bruins lost a lot of talent last season, Mick Cronin was on fire during his recruiting campaign and has brought in a ton of talented players for the 2023-24 season.
And yet, UCLA is on the outside looking in. The Bruins are sure to be led by Lazar Stefanovic this season and the team also has potential first-round draft picks in Berke Buyuktencel and Aday Mara. So the talent is there.
UCLA is also sure to hound you on defense. The Bruins return one of the top defenders in the Pac-12 in center Adem Bona. With Bona and the aforementioned Mara, the Bruins have one of the most impressive frontcourts in the country.
The questions come when you talk about spacing and roster fit. It'll be coach Cronin's job to meld all these young, talented players into a cohesive unit. It's rare, especially in today's day and age of college basketball with sixth-year seniors on the court, where a freshman-laden team like UCLA finds the ultimate success.
John Calipari did it at Kentucky and Coach K did it at Duke. Will Mick Cronin be able to pull a rabbit out of his hat at UCLA? Time will tell, but for now, the Bruins aren't even ranked in the AP Top 25.
Winner: Florida Atlantic Owls
Is this real life? Are the Florida Atlantic Owls really ranked among the Top 25 teams in all of college basketball? Not just the Top 25. FAU is ranked No. 10 in the college basketball preseason poll, and the Owls are looking to shock the world in 2023-24.
Now, to be clear, FAU isn't sneaking up on anybody this season. After making a miraculous run to the Final Four in 2023, head coach Dustin May will have his hands full after Florida Atlantic now joins the American Athletic Conference this season.
Many pundits throughout college basketball are making comparisons between this year's FAU squad and Wichita State's 2013-14 team. The Shockers, led by head coach Gregg Marshall, entered the NCAA Tournament ranked No. 2 in the country after going 34-0 during the regular season.
I don't know that the Owls are going undefeated in the regular season, especially after making the jump to the AAC. But perhaps that bump in competition will actually bode well for FAU and help to be more battle-tested once the tourney begins.
FAU deserves this ranking after returning so many players from last year's Final Four team. The difference this season is expectations have changed. The Owls got the recognition they deserved, now let's see if they can match the preseason hype.
Loser: Kentucky Wildcats
Kentucky comes into the 2023-24 college basketball season ranked 16th. Among SEC schools, that's fourth-best behind Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas A&M.
The shine has come off of head coach John Calipari. Long thought to be the torch-bearer of college basketball, Coach Cal has lost his luster. That's not to say that he's not a good coach, but the Cats have endured too many postseason failures in recent memory to be among the elites in college basketball.
Now let's not overreact and claim that Coach Cal's on the hot seat. Heck, even with locals in Lexington getting restless, Calipari's seat isn't even lukewarm. UK's head coach was able to secure the top recruiting in college basketball this season, so Coach Call still has the chops when it comes to securing top talent.
Unfortunately, one of UK's top recruits will be out to begin the season. It's not yet known if or when Aaron Bradshaw will return to the court, but without Bradshaw and Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky's frontcourt looks a bit thin.
The Wildcats do return Austin Reeves, plus potential lottery picks in D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards. Kentucky's schedule is very soft to begin the season, so there's every reason to believe the Cats can leapfrog some teams and break into the Top 10.
After several years of being the hunted, John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats have become the hunters. Perhaps that's a role that will fit this year's UK team quite nicely.
