AP College Basketball Poll 2023: Complete Preseason Men's Rankings Released

The road to March Madness begins.

The Associated Press preseason Top 25 for the 2023-24 men's college basketball season was released Monday, and the Kansas Jayhawks sit atop the list. They are followed by Duke, Purdue, Michigan State and Marquette in the top five.

Here is a look at the full Top 25:

1. Kansas

2. Duke

3. Purdue

4. Michigan State

5. Marquette

6. UConn

7. Houston

8. Creighton

9. Tennessee

10. Florida Atlantic

11. Gonzaga

12. Arizona

13. Miami

14. Arkansas

15. Texas A&M

16. Kentucky

17. San Diego State

18. Texas

19. North Carolina

20. Baylor

21. USC

22. Villanova

23. Saint Mary's

24. Alabama

25. Illinois

UConn may be the reigning champions, but Kansas looks like the potential team to beat as the new season approaches.

The Jayhawks avoided a postseason ban and significant penalties with the final ruling on their infractions case this offseason, which cleared the way for head coach Bill Self to pursue the third national championship of his career.

There may not have been a more important offseason move than Hunter Dickinson's transfer from Michigan to Kansas, which gives the Big 12 powerhouse a formidable low-post presence who has already proven himself at some of the highest levels of college basketball.

Dickinson's resume already includes a consensus All-American selection, a Big Ten Rookie of the Year and three All-Big Ten selections from his time on the Wolverines. He averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 56 percent from the field and even 42.1 percent from deep last season.

His ability to extend his game beyond the perimeter even one or two times a game makes him all the more dangerous and gives the Jayhawks another option on the offensive side.

Throw in Dajuan Harris Jr. facilitating and Kevin McCullar Jr. defending on the wing, and the Jayhawks are loaded.

They are far from the only national title contenders, as Purdue brought back big man Zach Edey and should be plenty motivated to bounce back from its stunning NCAA tournament loss to Fairleigh Dickinson. Duke might be the best team in the country with Kyle Filipowski leading the way, and Michigan State has enough talent to challenge the Boilermakers in the Big Ten.

Then there is UConn, which lost Adama Sanogo, Andre Jackson Jr. and Jordan Hawkins, among others. That is plenty of firepower to replace, but Cam Spencer transferred there from Rutgers to join a highly regarded recruiting class.

Head coach Dan Hurley landed the No. 4 overall recruiting class for 2023, per 247Sports' composite rankings. Stephon Castle leads that group as a 5-star shooting guard, giving the Huskies someone who could potentially make up for the loss of Hawkins.

There will be no shortage of competition from other elite programs, but UConn has a chance to cut down the nets for a second consecutive year.