Kansas, Tennessee Sit Atop the Polls

Kansas often grabs a spot in the upper half of the Associated Press preseason college basketball men’s poll, but the school hasn’t been No. 1 since Wilt Chamberlain suited up for the Jayhawks in the 1950s.

The Jayhawks stood atop the AP’s top 25 poll Monday, the 13th consecutive season in which Kansas has been ranked 11th or higher in the first poll.

On the other hand, Tennessee is No. 1 in the preseason women’s poll for the 11th time -- and first since 1998.

In the men’s poll, Kansas received 25 first-place votes and 1,697 points from a national media panel. Wake Forest had 22 first-place votes and 1,680 points. Georgia Tech and North Carolina were third and 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 were 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,” said Bill Self, Kansas’ second-year coach.

The Jayhawks hope they can 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.

In the women’s poll, Tennessee received 20 of 45 first-place votes and had 1,085 points.

Texas was next with 1,056 points, three more than Louisiana State. Three-time defending national champion Connecticut was fourth with 1,017 points.

Texas had seven first-place votes, LSU had 12 and Connecticut had six.

Tennessee returns starters Shanna Zolman, Loree Moore and Shyra Ely, plus four other veterans, from a 31-4 team that lost to Connecticut in the national championship game in April.