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College basketball rankings: Kevin McCullar Jr. returning further solidifies Kansas as preseason No. 1 team – CBS Sports
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I’ve had Kansas at No. 1 in the 2023-24 CBS Sports preseason Top 25 And 1 college basketball rankings since former Michigan All-American Hunter Dickinson committed to the Jayhawks earlier this month — and that was without the expectation that Kevin McCullar Jr. would withdraw from the 2023 NBA Draft and return to college.
But McCullar did just that Tuesday morning.
So now, with a two-time Naismith Memorial Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist back on board, I expect most others to join me in ranking KU No. 1, especially considering the Jayhaws are now officially the favorites in the betting markets to win the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
A possible KU starting lineup looks like this:
That’s a lineup with size, shooting and experience, one so strong that five-star high school prospects like Elmarko Jackson and Arterio Morris will likely begin games on the bench. Combine that with the fact that Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer Bill Self — a man who has made 24 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and earned No. 1 seeds in 10 of the past 16 — will be the person developing the roster and coaching the team, and it’s pretty clear to me that Kansas will now most likely begin the season at No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time since 2018.
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