KANSAS

Where ESPN Placed Kansas Basketball in Its Final Preseason Rankings

Find out where Kansas landed in ESPN's latest preseason rankings ahead of the 2025-26 college basketball campaign.
Joshua Schulman|
Jan 28, 2025; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks fans show support prior to a game between the Kansas Jayhawks and UCF Knights at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images
Jan 28, 2025; Lawrence, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks fans show support prior to a game between the Kansas Jayhawks and UCF Knights at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

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Kansas Jayhawks

The college basketball season is just weeks away from tipping off, and analysts are beginning to finalize their preseason rankings for the upcoming campaign.

ESPN insider Jeff Borzello came out with his final top 25 before the year begins, and the Kansas Jayhawks were placed toward the bottom of the rankings. In fact, Bill Self's group hardly made the top 25.

ESPN's Top 25 Preseason College Basketball Rankings

1. Purdue
2. Florida
3. Houston
4. UConn
5. St. John's
6. Louisville
7. BYU
8. Michigan
9. Kentucky
10. Duke
11. Texas Tech
12. Arkansas
13. Arizona
14. UCLA
15. Iowa State
16. Illinois
17. Auburn
18. Tennessee
19. Alabama
20. Gonzaga
21. Wisconsin
22. Kansas
23. Creighton
24. NC State
25. North Carolina

It is an underwhelming ranking for the Jayhawks, who still have high expectations this season despite a pair of consecutive early exits in March Madness.

Borzello clearly needs to see more from this new-look KU squad before buying in.

"After disappointing as the nation's preseason No. 1 team in back-to-back seasons, Kansas won't find itself anywhere near the top of the polls entering this campaign," Borzello wrote. "The Jayhawks haven't made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2022, with Bill Self having his two worst Big 12 campaigns in each of the past two seasons."

"But potential No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson brings plenty of optimism -- he's a truly exceptional offensive player," he continued. "Flory Bidunga anchors the interior, and Self has a slew of options on the wing. Keep an eye on reclassified recruit Kohl Rosario."

Borzello also projected KU's starting five to be: Darryn Peterson, Melvin Council Jr., and Jayden Dawson in the backcourt, with forward Tre White and big man Flory Bidunga in the frontcourt.

The addition of Peterson alone puts Kansas among the best teams in the Big 12 again. He is the projected No. 1 pick in next year's NBA Draft and arguably the best guard prospect of the decade.

Several other Big 12 schools ranked ahead of Self and Co. in Borzellos' rankings, including Houston (No. 3), BYU (No. 7), Texas Tech (No. 11), Arizona (No. 13), and Iowa State (No. 15).

Putting the Jayhawks outside the top five of the conference is certainly controversial, as they still dominated the league for a long time, regardless of the past few down years for the program.

A lot of pressure will be put on Peterson and Bidunga to guide KU back to the top of the Big 12, but they undoubtedly have the talent and firepower to do so if this team gels quickly.

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Joshua Schulman
JOSHUA SCHULMAN

A longtime Kansas basketball and football fan, Josh is at The College of New Jersey majoring in Communications and minoring in Journalism. Josh has over 1,000 published articles on KU athletics on FanSided's Through the Phog, with additional work at Pro Football Network and Last Word on Sports. In his free time, Josh often broadcasts TCNJ football games on WTSR 91.3FM.

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