College Basketball
Notebook: Kansas men take top spot in AP poll

By The Associated Press

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

Kansas often grabs a spot in the upper half of the AP preseason men's poll, but the school hasn't been No. 1 since a player named Wilt Chamberlain suited up for the Jayhawks in the 1950s.

Kansas stood atop The Associated Press' Top 25 yesterday, the 13th straight season the Jayhawks have been ranked 11th or higher in the first poll. The Jayhawks received 25 first-place votes and 1,697 points from the national media panel, edging Wake Forest, which had 22 first-place votes and 1,680 points.

Washington was 22nd in the poll. No. 10 Arizona is the lone Pac-10 team ranked above the Huskies.

Gonzaga, ranked as high as No. 3 last season, was 25th.

Wake Forest was the first of three consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference teams in the poll, and six ACC teams were in the Top 25. Georgia Tech is third in the poll, and North Carolina is fourth.

Wayne Simien leads four starters back for Kansas, which lost to Georgia Tech in the NCAA tournament's regional finals last season. The Jayhawks were ranked No. 1 for one week last season and they have been ranked No. 2 in five of the last 12 preseason polls.

"I hope we're never going to be satisfied and our veterans understand they've got to go play. It's nice, but it means nothing in the big scheme of things," second-year Kansas coach Bill Self said.

The Jayhawks want to do better than the last time they were No. 1 in the preseason: In 1956-57, Chamberlain led them to the national-championship game, a triple-overtime loss to North Carolina.

As for Wake Forest, it has all five starters back from the team that lost to Saint Joseph's in the round of 16.

Stanford, No. 1 in the final poll last season (before the tournament), lost coach Mike Montgomery and All-American Josh Childress to the NBA. The Cardinal missed the preseason Top 25 by one place.
 
Tennessee leads women's poll

Tennessee took the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press' preseason women's poll, the 11th time it has started the season atop the rankings — and first since 1998.

The Vols received 20 of 45 first-place votes from a national media panel to edge Texas, Southeastern Conference rival Louisiana State and Connecticut for the top spot.

"I was a little surprised, based on the players we lost and the fact that only three of our freshmen are healthy right now," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said.

Note

• Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame women's coach, got a two-year contract extension, through the 2010-11 season. She has a 384-149 record at the school.

AP Top 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press men's preseason college-basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, 2003-04 records and total poll points:
# Team	Record	Pts
1. Kansas (25)	24-9	1,697
2. Wake Forest (22)	21-10	1,680
3. Georgia Tech (10)	28-10	1,567
4. N. Carolina (10)	19-11	1,558
5. Illinois (2)	26-7	1,457
6. Syracuse	23-8	1,452
7. Oklahoma St. (2)	31-4	1,342
8. Connecticut	33-6	1,281
9. Kentucky (1)	27-5	1,177
10. Arizona	20-10	1,061
11. Duke	31-6	981
12. Mississippi St.	26-4	913
13. Michigan St.	18-12	910
14. Louisville	20-10	876
15. Maryland	20-12	765
16. Texas	25-8	671
17. Pittsburgh	31-5	596
18. Alabama	20-13	510
19. N.C. State	21-10	490
20. Notre Dame	19-13	429
21. Wisconsin	25-7	378
22. Washington	19-12	355
23. Florida	20-11	337
24. Memphis	22-8	283
25. Gonzaga	28-3	215