Is KU really the 19th-best team in college basketball entering 2025-26 season?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- AP preseason poll slots Kansas at No. 19, signaling voter doubt about improvement.
- Five-star guard Darryn Peterson raises Kansas’ ceiling and fuels tournament expectations.
- Tough nonconference slate: Duke, North Carolina, UConn are early tests for Kansas.
The 61 voters in the Associated Press preseason men’s basketball poll, who ranked Kansas No. 19 in the country Monday, apparently are not convinced the Jayhawks have improved much — on paper — from last season’s 21-13 team.
That squad, as a No. 7 seed, lost to No. 10 seed Arkansas by seven points in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
The current ranking, KU’s lowest in the AP’s preseason poll since a No. 24 slot in the 2008-09 preseason, did seem a bit pessimistic according to one national writer — Cameron Salerno of CBSsports.com.
“The Jayhawks have massively underperformed during the last three seasons with three consecutive exits in the NCAA Tournament before the second weekend,” Salerno wrote Monday.
KU went 23-11, losing to Gonzaga in the Round of 32, in 2023-24 and 28-8, losing to Arkansas in the Round of 32, in 2022-23. KU (34-6) won the national title in 2021-22.
“What makes this version of Kansas (potentially) different is five-star Darryn Peterson, who profiles as the projected No. 1 pick this summer and one of the best guard prospects in recent memory,” Salerno added. “Peterson alone raises the ceiling and floor of this Kansas team. The Jayhawks haven’t had a player like Peterson in the (Bill) Self era. There’s a reason why the Kansas coach has labeled him the best player he has recruited at the school. I’m buying all the hype around Peterson bringing Kansas’ program back to glory.”
The Jayhawks, who finished behind Big 12 foes Houston (No. 2), BYU (No. 8), Texas Tech (No. 10), Arizona (No. 13) and Iowa State (No. 16) in the 2025-26 preseason AP poll, will have a chance to impress skeptics during the upcoming nonconference season.
First, KU will play preseason No. 11 Louisville in an exhibition game on Oct. 24 in Louisville. In the second game of the regular season, KU will play No. 25 North Carolina on Nov. 7 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
KU will be matched against No. 6 Duke on Nov. 18 in the Champions Classic in New York. The Jayhawks, if they can beat unranked Notre Dame and Syracuse, would likely play a ranked team in their third and final game of the Players Era tourney on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas.
KU will play host to No. 4 UConn on Dec. 2 in Allen Fieldhouse and meet unranked Missouri on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Center.
The Jayhawks will play unranked North Carolina State on Dec. 13 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
ESPN on Monday broke down the projected starting lineups and biggest early season games for each of the 25 men’s hoops teams in the AP top 25.
For KU, ESPN went with a lineup of freshman Peterson and sophomore Flory Bidunga to go with senior transfers Melvin Council Jr. (St. Bonaventure), Jayden Dawson (Loyola Chicago) and Tre White (Illinois). The biggest early season game, according to ESPN, would be the Duke game in the Champions Classic.
ESPN, by the way, recently ranked KU No. 22 overall in its own preseason top 25.
“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. 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,” wrote ESPN.com’s Jeff Borzello.
“But potential No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson brings plenty of optimism — he’s a truly exceptional offensive player. Flory Bidunga anchors the interior, and Self has a slew of options on the wing. Keep an eye on reclassified recruit Kohl Rosario,” Borzello wrote.
KU on Sunday was ranked No. 21 in the preseason rankings put out by kenpom.com. Missouri was ranked No. 28, Kansas State 61st, Wichita State 128th and Kansas City 317th.
This story was originally published October 14, 2025 at 6:30 AM with the headline "Is KU really the 19th-best team in college basketball entering 2025-26 season?."
