Bill Self recently checked to see how KU’s other preseason No. 1 hoops teams fared

Kansas men’s basketball has been ranked No. 1 in the country in the AP preseason Top 25 four times throughout history, all four times in the 21-year Bill Self era.

“I actually looked at that the other day because I didn’t even know when we had been ranked No. 1. In the years we had, we’ve had good years but they haven’t finished great,” KU coach Self said at Wednesday’s Big 12 Media Day at T-Mobile Center. “I’m certainly hopeful we can change that trend.”

The Jayhawks eight days ago were ranked No. 1 in the country, garnering 46 of a possible 65 first-place votes to runner-up Duke’s 11 firsts. The 2023-24 Jayhawks joined Self’s teams of 2004-05, 2009-10 and 2018-19 as ones declared preseason favorites to win the NCAA title by the AP.

In 2004-05, seniors Keith Langford, Aaron Miles, Wayne Simien and Michael Lee were leaders of a squad that went 23-7 overall and 12-4 in the Big 12 Conference, good for a tie for first with Oklahoma. KU, which had a freshman class of Darnell Jackson, Sasha Kaun, Russell Robinson, Alex Galindo and C.J. Giles, lost to Oklahoma State in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament. As a No. 3-seed, KU lost a first round NCAA game to No. 14-seed Bucknell in Oklahoma City.

In 2009-10, KU went 33-3 overall and claimed the Big 12 crown with a 15-1 mark. The Jayhawks won the Big 12 tournament, then as the No. 1 overall seed beat Lehigh. They lost to No. 9 Northern Iowa in a second-round NCAA game in Oklahoma City.

Sherron Collins and Mario Little were seniors. KU had a junior class of Cole Aldrich, Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed. The sophomore class included Tyshawn Taylor, Marcus and Markieff Morris and Travis Releford. The freshman class consisted of Thomas Robinson, Xavier Henry, Jeff Withey and Elijah Johnson. The preseason No. 1 team’s only losses: at Tennessee, at Oklahoma State and to Northern Iowa.

In 2018-19, the preseason No. 1 Jayhawks went 26-10 overall and 12-6 in the league, good for a third-place finish. KU lost to Iowa State in the finals of the Big 12 tournament, then as a No. 4 seed in the NCAAs beat Northeastern and lost to Auburn in a second-round NCAA game in Salt Lake City, Utah.

That squad had no seniors on the roster. The junior class included Dedric Lawson, Udoka Azubuike and Lagerald Vick. Marcus Garrett was a sophomore. The Jayhawks had a freshman unit of Quentin Grimes, Devon Dotson, Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack.

“Being a preseason 1, people say, ‘With all that talent does it put more pressure on (you)?’ I personally don’t think so,” Self said. “I think we put pressure on ourselves regardless and think from our fan-base standpoint, the way I always thought is our fan base thinks we’ve got better players than everybody on the court regardless of who they are, which isn’t a bad way to feel.

“It seems to me you recruit a top-30 player at Kansas, our fan base thinks that’s the best shooting guard in the country, which I’m actually good with because I think it gives people an unbelievable amount of confidence playing at a place where expectations are high and you are expected to do well.”

This year’s squad has high expectations thanks to a roster that includes Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson as well as three returning starters (KJ Adams, Dajuan Harris, Kevin McCullar) off a 28-8 Big 12 title team.

“I think the expectations are that we should be pretty good and I do think we’re fairly talented,” said Self, who also brought in transfers Nick Timberlake and Parker Braun to go with freshmen Johnny Furphy, Elmarko Jackson and Jamari McDowell (junior Zach Clemence, a 10th scholarship player, is expected to redshirt).

“I’d just as soon be ranked there than not ranked there. It makes for energy and it makes for maybe hopefully some positive recruiting mailouts and those sorts of things. But it means absolutely nothing. It will have no bearing on how good a team we have this year,” Self noted.

KU, which plays an exhibition game against No. 25 Illinois on Sunday in Champaign, Illinois (with a second exhibition to follow at home against Fort Hays State on Nov. 1), will first attempt to defend its No. 1 ranking as heavy favorites against North Carolina Central (Nov. 6) and Manhattan (Nov. 10) at Allen Fieldhouse. Then comes a much-hyped Champions Classic game between No. 1 KU and No. 16 Kentucky on Nov. 14 in Chicago.

If KU beats Chaminade on Nov. 20 in Honolulu, the Jayhawks would play either unranked UCLA or preseason No. 5 Marquette in a second-round Maui Invitational contest on Nov. 21. Ranked teams Tennessee (No. 9), Purdue (No. 3) and Gonzaga (No. 11) join unranked Syracuse on the other side of the bracket.

“Every game is going to be big because we’re the No. 1 team right now,” said KU junior guard Dajuan Harris, who on Monday was one of 20 guards named to the Bob Cousy point guard of the year watch list.

“Preseason No 1 … everyone is going to want to come after us. We don’t want to lose, so every game will be big. Expectations are really high. They’ve always been high. It’s just another year. Basically you’ve got to come in ready for every game. We’ve got a big target on our back, so we have to be ready every night.”

Self stressed this team could be special, but not because of the preseason ranking. There’s a marathon season to be played.

“I’m real excited about this year. I think we’ve got a roster that has a chance. I think we have a real chance,” Self said. “And I know nothing is guaranteed and we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us to become what I think we can potentially be, but I do like our roster. And I think it should be a fun year for us as long as we can stay healthy.”