It’s prediction season for college basketball. One analyst has KU Jayhawks ranked No. 1
Kansas’ men’s basketball team will win the 2022 NCAA title, Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Rob Cassidy predicted Wednesday.
“Obviously, Gonzaga enters the season ranked No. 1 for a reason. But if Kansas manages to stay healthy and enters the NCAA Tournament as the battle-tested Big 12 champion, led by proven star Remy Martin, I’ll take the Jayhawks. Martin is suddenly equipped with a level of supporting talent and experience the likes of which he’s never had,” Cassidy wrote.
Cassidy noted that “the defense will need to tighten up as compared with last year, sure, but the experience and depth of talent in Lawrence is undeniable.”
Cassidy selected Gonzaga’s Drew Timme as national player of the year and Duke’s Paolo Banchero as freshman of the year.
Vitale says KU is fifth-best team in country
ESPN analyst Dick Vitale ranked Kansas No. 5 in his preseason poll last week. Gonzaga is No. 1, followed by UCLA, Texas, Michigan, KU, Memphis, Villanova, Purdue, Baylor, Alabama, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Arkansas, Illinois, Houston, Maryland, Oregon, LSU, Ohio State, Auburn, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Florida State and Michigan State.
“Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk is thrilled to add Arizona State transfer Remy Martin. He is one of the nation’s premier transfers, a potential 20 point-per-game scorer. Add veterans Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack, and you have three players picked on the Big 12 preseason first-team,” Vitale wrote. “Bill Self has led the Jayhawks to 18 straight 20+ win seasons, for a program that has 32 straight overall. Chalk up another one, baby!”
KU opens the season against Michigan State on Nov. 9 in New York.
“Tom Izzo will get a boost with the addition of transfer Tyson Walker, a guard from Northeastern. Walker was the CAA Defensive Player of the Year. Joey Hauser has to improve after a disappointing season a year ago,” Vitale wrote..
Oddsmaker has KU +1400 to win title
KU currently has the fourth best odds of any team to win the 2022 NCAA championship, according to online gambling site Bovada.
Gonzaga is listed at +700, followed by Michigan +1000, UCLA +1200 and Kansas +1400.
Coaches see Jayhawks as third-best team
Kansas, which was picked No. 3 in the country behind No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 UCLA in the Associated Press preseason poll released on Oct. 18, on Wednesday was accorded a No. 3 ranking in the preseason USA Today Coaches poll.
Gonzaga received 29 first-place votes while UCLA finished No. 2, with two .
KU was at No. 3, followed by No. 4 Villanova and No. 5 Texas. Michigan checked in at No. 6, followed by Purdue, Baylor, Duke, Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, Alabama, Houston, Arkansas, Memphis, Tennessee, Ohio State, Florida State North Carolina, Maryland, Auburn, UConn, St. Bonaventure and Virginia.
This story was originally published October 28, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "It’s prediction season for college basketball. One analyst has KU Jayhawks ranked No. 1."
