Why ‘Writer X’ isn’t sold on No. 1 Kansas

• 🏈👏 Big Brothers Big Sisters KC Update

• 🏀 Why ‘Writer X’ isn’t sold on the No. 1 Jayhawks

• 🏀 3 Official Photos from Allen Fieldhouse renovations 

• 📝 Quick Links: Bill Self presser, Cobee questionable vs. Houston

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The last day to send over tickets is October 16.

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The Jayhawks are officially the No. 1 team in the country. You can view the complete preseason AP Top 25 here.

I’ve brought in a special and prominent guest writer on the condition of anonymity. ‘Writer X’ first made his appearance after KU’s loss to UCF, and it was a hit based on your feedback.

College Basketball ‘Writer X’ has covered college hoops for most of this century. He also has takes.

By Writer X

That Kansas ended up No. 1 in the preseason AP poll speaks to two things: The respect Bill Self commands as the current dean of college coaches (even after Dan Hurley matched him in NCAA titles).

Also, the lack of imagination and general group think from voters. 

I don’t want to be too contrarian, but I think there’s a lot of reasons to be skeptical of Kansas as the best team in the country. Let’s go through them: 

— Has DaJuan Harris improved across the last two seasons? He’ll be 24 in December but he’s still never shown the ability to dominate younger competition through sheer physicality or experience. Until shown otherwise, I tend to think he is what he is.

— Where’s the NBA talent? Almost every NCAA champion has at least one or two first-round picks in the middle of the action, including the 2021-22 Kansas team. (Somewhere Jeff Goodman is still convincing himself of his own narrative that that Kansas team didn’t have the “usual” Bill Self talent.)

— I saw The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie recently released a mock draft. It included zero Kansas players in the first round and just one in the second — AJ Storr at No. 58. We can disagree about one person’s opinion.

But which player on this KU team is in the NBA in five years? Flory Bidunga? Rakease Passmore? The latter is probably not even in the rotation this year. 

Scoopmeister’s note: I’m really bullish on both Bidunga and Passmore, though ‘Writer X’ isn’t wrong. Passmore is gonna have to fight for minutes.

— Speaking of AJ Storr, Bill Self has already started an interesting messaging campaign with him. Storr is a bucket getter, which is sorely needed. Kansas was terrible at the end of the shot clock last year. But I think he’s going to drive Self crazy because he won’t defend or rebound like he wants. Self will need to work his magic with him. 

— To me, the biggest keys are Zeke Mayo and Rylan Griffen. They have to fill it up from three. And Mayo has to play like a borderline pro. It's a big jump in competition for him. I don't want to say he can't. But I'll wait for some evidence first. Otherwise, I just don’t see how KU is all that much different than last year. 

— Hunter Dickinson is what he is. He’ll give you 20 and give up 10. I love KJ Adams. I’d love to see KJ on a team where the point guard isn't also close to a zero on offense. But with Storr and Griffen in the picture, I’d love to see Adams get some time at the 5 with Harris, Mayo, Storr and Griffen on the wing. 

— Kansas should be vastly improved. But they also were pretty bad last year, all things considered. I know the injuries didn't help. But ... it's a lot on the portal guys because the returners all have flaws that aren't going away.

— Their depth is much better. All the portal guys are intriguing in their own way. I have no idea what to think about Bidunga? How many minutes does he get with Hunter and KJ in front of him? How ready is he to contribute?

Maybe there’s not a better alternative for preseason No. 1. But KenPom has at least five other options.

The Big 12 rankings for Kenpom are below. You can see a team’s overall ranking using the number on the far right. (6 = No. 6 overall).

Scoopmeister’s take: I think ‘Writer X’ makes completely valid points here. I agree with the general premise… KU shouldn’t be ranked No. 1.

But I also think KU will be much improved offensively this year. More to come this week.

Copy and paste the link here to pass it along to other KU fans.

3 Photos from the Allen Fieldhouse Renovations

Kansas rolled out the first high-res images of Allen Fieldhouse after the extensive renovations this offseason. I shared similar images on Friday.

I’m sure KU will keep revealing more of the Fieldhouse throughout the week ahead of Late Night Night on Friday.

I want to know what you think of the renovations so far.

The results were near 50/50 from 345 votes after sending you an early look in Friday’s newsletter. Check out the results below and then vote again after seeing the new pics.

• 149 out of 345 of you said “it looks great, no complaints.”

• 137 of you said weren’t happy with the corners OR the changes at all.

• 59 of you said the changes were good, not great…

• Let’s try this again ⬇️

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🏀 Watch Bill Self’s press conference at KU Hoops media day on Monday afternoon.

🏀🏈 My KU Sports podcast ‘Could Be Wrong’ will be live on YouTube tomorrow morning at 9am CT. You can set a reminder here. You can also listen on Spotify and Apple shortly after we’re done airing on YouTube.

🏈 Lance Leipold said Cobee Bryant is questionable and Cornell Wheeler is doubtful for the Houston game. You can watch the entire Leipold press conference here.

🏀 CBSSports announced its Preseason All-America First, Second, and Third teams.