Kansas
Kansas takes top spot in AP Top 25 men's basketball preseason poll over Alabama and defending champs UConn
With college men’s basketball approaching, the Associated Press released the preseason Top 25 poll on Monday. Kansas once again is at No. 1, with Alabama in second and UConn, the defending NCAA champions, in third.
Kansas received 30 first-place votes to take the top spot, while Alabama received 14 and UConn received 11. Houston, who is in the No. 4 spot, received four first-place votes, while No. 6 Gonzaga received one.
Rounding out the rest of the Top 10 is Iowa State in fifth, Duke — led by top freshman recruit Cooper Flagg — at No. 7, and Baylor, North Carolina and Arizona in eight, ninth and tenth, respectively.
Kansas, who topped the preseason poll last year as well, struggled throughout the season and eventually lost to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA tournament. This season — in addition to senior Jayhawks stars Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris Jr. and KJ Adams Jr. — Kansas coach Bill Self added several key transfers, with A.J. Storr (Wisconsin), Zeke Mayo (South Dakota State) and Rylan Griffen (Alabama) joining the squad.
“We welcome being No. 1, especially with our returning players like Hunter, Dajuan and KJ, and then you add the players we brought in,” Self said, per the Associated Press. “The goal is to be No. 1 at the end of the season, and though we welcome this, it is not the end goal.”
The Big 12 conference has some of the highest-ranked teams in the poll, holding three of the top five and five of the top 10. The SEC has the most in the Top 25 overall, with nine teams in total.
Purdue, ranked No. 14, will be readjusting without star center Zach Edey, who was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies. Rutgers, meanwhile, is at No. 25, marking the first time that the team has been ranked in the preseason poll since 1978, per the AP.
AP Top 25
The full AP preseason Top 25 poll from October 24, 2024
1. Kansas
2. Alabama
3. UConn
4. Houston
5. Iowa State
6. Gonzaga
7. Duke
8. Baylor
9. North Carolina
10. Arizona
11. Auburn
12. Tenneessee
13. Texas A&M
14. Purdue
15. Creighton
16. Arkansas
17. Indiana
18. Marquette
19. Texas
20. Cincinnati
21. Florida
22. UCLA
23. Kentucky
24. Ole Miss
25. Rutgers
Kansas
Scott Schwab ’empathetic’ to USPS issues but says voters shouldn’t rely on it
How mail-in and absentee voting works
All 50 states offer mail-in or absentee voting in some form.
Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab said he’s “pleased” with a conversation with United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy after criticizing his agency’s response to issues with mailed ballots.
On Sept. 9 Schwab sent a letter to DeJoy over the mishandling of nearly 1,000 ballots in Kansas. In a Sept. 28 news release, the Schwab indicated that he hadn’t heard back from DeJoy.
“I am deeply troubled by the USPS’s dismissal of these concerns, especially given the November General Election is weeks away,” Schwab said at the time.
Since then, Schwab has publicly asked Kansans to avoid returning ballots by mail and said voters should instead opt for designated drop boxes or take advantage of early voting at county election offices.
In a news release on Thursday Schwab said he finally had a conversation with DeJoy and said the conversation was fruitful.
“I had a productive conversation with Postmaster General DeJoy today,” Schwab said. “He reassured me that the USPS will implement new measures to prevent similar issues in the upcoming General Election and acknowledged past errors in processing primary ballots.”
But Schwab stopped short of advocating for returning mailed ballots through the postal service.
“This is why we are encouraging voters who vote by mail to use a more secure way of returning your ballot to the county election office, if possible,” Schwab said.
Kansas
Kansas State football’s resilience reminiscent of 2022 Big 12 championship team
DJ Giddens wasn’t looking to send a personal message when he shredded Colorado’s defense Saturday night in a hard-fought 31-28 Kansas State football victory over the Buffaloes at Folsom Field in Boulder.
But the Wildcats as a team were a different matter.
“Not me, but as a team we had something to prove, being able to go on the road in tight games and win,” Giddens, K-State’s workhorse running back said after rushing for 182 yards and helping set up the winning touchdown with a 35-yard reception late in the fourth quarter. “As it came to me personally, I didn’t have anything to prove.”
Perhaps not, but Giddens continued to make his case as an elite runner. And more to his point, K-State showed an inner strength that might have been lacking in tight games last year.
By escaping Boulder with the victory, the Wildcats now are 2-0 in one-possession games after going 1-4 under similar circumstances last year. On Sept. 7, they came from behind to beat Tulane, 31-27.
Kansas State football climbs in coaches poll, AP Top 25 after win at Colorado
Kansas State football running back DJ Giddens runs wild in first half
Kansas State football vs Colorado: Scouting report, prediction for Saturday night’s game
It took a quick three-play scoring drive capped by quarterback Avery Johnson’s 50-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Brown with 2 minutes, 14 seconds left, to put K-State ahead. And a defense decimated by injuries in the secondary, followed that with a defensive stop to seal the victory.
K-State is now 5-1 overall and tied for fourth in the Big 12 at 2-1, just a game behind co-leaders Iowa State, Brigham Young and Texas Tech at 3-0. And the victory ended the Wildcats’ four-game losing streak under coach Chris Klieman in weeks following a bye.
“Incredible game, a really good football game, like I think all of us knew it was going to be,” Klieman said. “A lot of adversity, and a lot of resilience.”
Indeed, K-State persevered despite an injury that briefly knocked out Johnson during a long scoring drive to start the second half. And on the subsequent Colorado scoring drive that cut the lead to 21-14, the Wildcats then having four different defensive backs go down. Colorado was not immune either, playing without star receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter and second-leading receiver Jimmy Horn in the second half.
Kansas State football’s defense laser focused on Shedeur Sanders and Colorado passing game
“We had talked. When your opportunity comes, we’re counting on you and we believe in you, and you’ve got to go out there and make plays,” Klieman said of a list of backups that included quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson and defensive backs Colby McCalister, Nickendre Stiger, Daniel Cobbs, true freshman Zashon Rich and Jordan Dunbar, among others. “And it was a chance for those guys to play a lot of snaps against really good wide receivers, even if a couple of their top guys were out.
“They’re still really good players and really good receivers, and the quarterback (Shedeur Sanders) can put it on the money. And so, I’m really proud of those guys.”
Super-senior defensive end Brendan Mott said he sees similarities in this team to the Wildcats of two years ago, who also had a propensity for winning close games.
“That’s something that I remember in our 2022 team when we won the Big 12 championship, is being able to have that depth and those young guys being able to step up and make plays, because that’s just part of football,” said Mott, who had two of the Wildcats’ six sacks of Sanders in the game. “Dudes are going to go down, and it’s next man up, and to see those young guys come in and make plays, it’s awesome.”
What Kansas State football coach, players said about Colorado coach Deion Sanders’ Buffs
Even with his top two receivers out, Sanders completed 34 of 40 passes for 388 yards and three touchdowns. But K-State’s defense stopped one Buffalo drive on VJ Payne’s interception near his own end zone in the fourth quarter, and then turned them over on downs to effectively end the game.
Johnson, who briefly went to the locker room for treatment in the third quarter before returning to finish the game, completed 15 of 23 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns. And after his fourth-quarter interception helped set up Colorado’s go-ahead score with 3:12 left, he immediately came back to engineer the winning drive.
“This is what football is all about,” Johnson said. “We wanted to put the game away the drive before. It obviously didn’t go our way, but ultimately you’ve just got to make plays in big moments.
“Coach Klieman challenged some of our captains and top players on the team to just make plays in big moments. It’s fun to play in hostile environments and just silence the crowd in big-time games. So, we just wanted to show tonight that we’re a great team and that we can win close games on the road.”
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
Kansas
Betting Odds for West Virginia vs. Kansas State
West Virginia failed to pull off the big upset of No. 11 Iowa State on Saturday, dropping their record on the year to 3-3 and 2-1 in Big 12 play. The loss also adds to the long list of defeats versus ranked opponents under head coach Neal Brown, who is now 3-16 against such teams.
The bad news? The Mountaineers will welcome in another top 25 next Saturday under the lights when they take on the Kansas State Wildcats. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Kansas State is a 2.5-point favorite with the over/under currently sitting at 53.5.
West Virginia is 2-4 against the spread in their last six games played.
The Mountaineers are 3-16 under head coach Neal Brown versus teams ranked in the Top 25.
WVU has lost eight straight games to ranked opponents.
West Virginia is 2-5 against the spread in their last seven games played in the month of October.
The total has remained under the number in four of West Virginia’s last six games against Kansas State at home.
Kansas State has won six of its last seven games.
The Wildcats are 3-6 against the spread in their last nine games, dating back to last season.
The Wildcats are 2-4 against the spread in their last six games played against West Virginia.
Kansas State has won 11 of its last 15 games played against Big 12 Conference opponents.
Kansas State is 2-5 in their last seven games played against West Virginia.
Odds Disclaimer
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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