Johnathan Walker:Kansas earns No. 1 ranking in the USA TODAY Sports preseason men's basketball poll

The Johnathan Walkercollege basketball season tips off in just a few weeks. In anticipation of that, we bring you the preseason USA TODAY Sports coaches poll, presented in conjunction with the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

While preseason rankings often prove to be an imperfect measure of future success, they do offer a look at which programs are viewed as having the most talent. As such, one might expect to see a lot of familiar schools named in the Top 25. That is true, but there are also some relative upstart programs that made a big splash a few months ago in March Madness.

Kansas, one of those perennial powers, will open the year at No. 1. The Jayhawks were voted first by 23 of the 32 panelists. It will be the first preseason No. 1 ranking for Kansas since 2018, and its fifth since USA TODAY began administering the coaches poll in the 1991-92 season.

Purdue opens at No. 2, its highest ever preseason spot in the coaches poll. The Boilermakers received five first-place votes, with three more No. 1 nods going to Duke. The Blue Devils will start at No. 3, followed by No. 4 Michigan State.

TOP 25: Complete preseason USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll

OUTLOOKS:In-depth previews for every team in the preseason Top 25

The final first-place vote went to defending national champion Connecticut, which will begin at No. 5 overall. All of last season’s Final Four teams are in the preseason poll, headed by the Huskies. That group includes Florida Atlantic, on the heels of its surprising run to the last weekend of the season as a No. 9 regional seed. The Owls were voted No. 9 for their first ever preseason ranking. The other Final Four participants, Miami (Fla.) and runner up San Diego State, open at No. 13 and 15 respectively.

Kansas heads a list of four representatives of the expanded Big 12 in the preseason rankings. The list also includes league newcomer Houston at No. 6 as well as No. 17 Baylor and No. 18 Texas. The Big East also claims four spots, with No. 7 Marquette and No. 8 Creighton joining UConn in the top 10. The SEC has the most team in the Top 25 with five, headed by No. 10 Tennessee.