A potential No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup looms in college basketball’s first month following the release of the USA Today preseason coaches poll on Thursday.
The Kansas men’s basketball team is ranked second, behind only Duke, which received 27 of 32 first-place votes. The teams will play in the Champions Classic on Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
KU, which received a single first-place vote, was followed by Villanova, Kentucky and Oregon. The Jayhawks’ first opponent, Indiana, is ranked 12th.
West Virginia (18th) and Texas (22nd) were the other Big 12 teams in the poll, while Iowa State, Oklahoma and Kansas State received votes.