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CLEM MURRAY / Staff
Coach Jay Wright and 'Nova reached theFinal Four last season.
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Villanova is fifth in preseason poll
Kansas, with all five starters back, was voted No. 1 by a big margin. Michigan State was No. 2.
For the second time in its storied basketball history, Kansas is No. 1 in the Associated Press' preseason top 25.
The Jayhawks were a runaway choice yesterday, receiving 55 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel to easily outdistance Michigan State, which was No. 1 on five ballots.
Villanova, which reached the Final Four last season, was ranked fifth in the AP poll and sixth in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.
There was little suspense as to which team would top both preseason polls. Kansas has all five starters and the top nine scorers, including sophomore twin brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris, who starred at Prep Charter, back from last season's team that went 27-8 and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament. The Jayhawks also feature a recruiting class considered among the nation's best.
Kansas received great news when guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich, last season's leading scorers, decided to return to school rather than test the NBA draft. Then brothers Xavier and C.J. Henry decided to enroll in Lawrence, making the Jayhawks the early national favorite, as well as the choice to win a sixth straight Big Twelve title.
C.J. Henry is a former Phillies farmhand at single-A Lakewood. The shortstop, a former No.1 pick by the Yankees, was acquired in the Bobby Abreu-Cory Lidle trade with the Yankees in 2006. He struggled mightily before deciding to quit baseball and concentrate on basketball, where his brother Xavier was a top national recruit.
Michigan State has seven of the top nine scorers back from the team that lost to North Carolina in the national championship game.
Texas, Kentucky, and Villanova rounded out the top five, while North Carolina, a unanimous preseason No. 1 last season, was sixth. Kentucky received three first-place votes, and Texas and North Carolina got one each. Purdue, West Virginia, Duke, and Tennessee completed the top 10.
Butler was 11th in the poll, followed by Connecticut, California, Washington, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Louisville, and Georgetown. The last five ranked teams were Dayton, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Clemson, and Minnesota.
Kentucky, under new coach John Calipari and with a loaded freshman class; Georgetown; and Georgia Tech were the only teams in the preseason poll not to play in the NCAA tournament last season.
Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Tennessee lead the 13 teams in the preseason poll who were not ranked in the final poll of last season. Louisville and North Carolina were Nos. 1 and 2 in that final poll. In addition to those two, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest, Duke, and Connecticut all were ranked No. 1 at some point in the season.
The Big Ten has six teams in the preseason poll, one more than the Big East. The Atlantic Coast Conference had four, and the Big Twelve and Southeastern Conference three each.
