The Monster Energy Big 12 Men’s Basketball Media Preseason Poll was released on Thursday, and the Kansas Jayhawks once again find themselves ranked among the Big 12’s best this season.

KU was picked to finish third in the poll, which is voted on by various Big 12 media members from across the country. The Jayhawks were also picked third in the Monster Energy Big 12 Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll that was voted on by the league’s coaches.

The top three ranked teams are the same for the media poll as they were for the coaches’ poll with Tommy Floyd’s Arizona Wildcats coming in at No. 1 and Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars coming in at No. 2.

The full Big 12 media poll is as follows:

1. Arizona
2. Houston
3. Kansas
4. Texas Tech
5. Iowa State
6. BYU
7. Baylor
8. TCU
9. Cincinnati
10. West Virginia
11. Oklahoma State
12. Arizona State
13. UCF
14. K-State
15. Colorado
16. Utah

Clearly there are high expectations this year for a KU team featuring a revamped roster with a lot of young talent, led by freshman Tyran Stokes who continues to rack up preseason honors. Thus far, he’s been deemed a Preseason First Team All-American and Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year - just to name a few.

Stokes is joined by fellow talented freshman Taylen Kinney who was also a five-star recruit coming out of high school and could very well be a starter alongside Melvin Council Jr. in the backcourt. Council and fellow returning senior Tre White bring a lot of talent and experience to this KU roster, while also giving KU a deeper bench with some of the transfers and other freshmen they’ve brought in.

Arizona and Houston will be fierce competition this year, and the Big 12 is one of the strongest and deepest leagues year in and year out in college basketball. KU will have plenty of tests throughout the season that will help determine what kind of team this ultimately is and just how far they can go in March.