Kansas Jayhawks place first in Big 12 men’s basketball preseason coaches poll

Kansas is the pick of the Big 12 Conference men’s basketball coaches to win the regular-season league title this season.

The Jayhawks, who placed second to eventual NCAA champion Baylor in the 2020-21 standings after also finishing runner-up to the Bears in the preseason poll, returned to the top of the coaches poll released Thursday.

Bill Self’s Jayhawks received eight first-place votes and 80 points to runner-up Texas’ two first-place votes and 70 points.

Baylor placed third with 67 points while Texas Tech placed fourth with 51 points. Oklahoma State and West Virginia tied for fifth with 49 points each. No. 7 Oklahoma (29), No. 8 TCU (24), No. 9 Kansas State (22) and No. 10 Iowa State (9) completed the poll. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. .

“Preseason polls don’t mean anything other than the fact we hope to have a team that has a great chance to have a great season,” KU coach Bill Self said. “I’m excited about this group and I’m really excited about the competitiveness of what we consider to be the best league in America.”

KU has been picked to win the Big 12 title 10 of the past 11 years and 19 times in the 26-year history of the league.

Kansas has won 19 (outright or shared) Big 12 regular-season championships since the inception of the league in 1996-97. Included was an NCAA-record 14 straight regular-season league crowns from 2005-18. KU’s 62 overall conference titles is an NCAA record.

2021-22 Big 12 men’s basketball preseason poll

1. Kansas (8): 80

2. Texas (2): 70

3. Baylor: 67

4. Texas Tech: 51

5. Oklahoma State: 49

West Virginia: 49

7. Oklahoma: 29

8. TCU: 24

9. Kansas State: 22

10. Iowa State: 9