Kansas Jayhawks begin season ranked in Top 5

The reigning national champions were tabbed as the #5 team in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll.

In just over six months since the Kansas Jayhawks defeated the North Carolina Tarheels to claim their 4th NCAA Tournament title (and 6th overall), a lot has changed for Bill Self's squad. Ochai Agbaji, David McCormack, Remy Martin, Christian Braun and Mitch Lightfoot all left the program for other opportunities. A talented freshman class came onto campus. Kevin McCullar, who played for the Texas Tech Red Raiders last season, joined the team.

But there is one major thing that always remains the same: the respect that Bill Self and his team get coming into the year.

The release of the AP Poll on Monday afternoon saw Kansas tabbed as the #5 team in the country, tying with the Baylor Bears. It marked the 11th straight season that the Jayhawks have begun the season ranked 7th or higher, and the 13th time in the last 14 seasons. That includes 10 times being ranked in the top 5 and 5 times being ranked in the Top 3.

Slotting in ahead of the Jayhawks are #1 North Carolina, #2 Gonzaga, #3 Houston and #4 Kentucky. 

Also joining Kansas from the Big 12 was #12 Texas, #14 TCU and #25 Texas Tech.

And once again, Self will test his team with one of the toughest schedules, with at least 11 and as many as 13 games against preseason Top 25 teams. In addition to the 8 games against fellow conference members, Kansas also plays #4 Kentucky in the Big 12-SEC Challenge, #7 Duke in the Champions Classic and #13 Indiana. Additionally, the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament field contains both #11 Tennessee and #24 Dayton. Depending on results in the earlier rounds, Kansas could see both of them throughout the tournament.

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