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California women picked to win the PSAC West title
California returns its two leading scorers from last season, Brooque Williams (21.9 ppg) and Kayla Smith (16.0). They will be playing for new head coach Mark Swasey, who is no stranger to success. Swasey guided Franklin Pierce (N.H.) to 29 wins and the Division II championship game last season. Franklin Pierce defeated the Vulcans in the national quarterfinals.
California, which has advanced to the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons, received five out of eight first-place votes. The Vulcans were followed by Gannon, which received two first-place votes. Defending PSAC tournament champion Indiana was third and Edinboro was fourth and received the other first-place vote.
"Preseason polls don't mean anything other than giving other people ammunition," Swasey said.
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The Indiana men are the favorite in the West. The Crimson Hawks received five of eight first-place votes. Indiana has three preseason all-conference picks returning from a 22-8 team and is bolstered by the addition of 6-8 Akida McLain, a transfer who played in 40 games for Boston College.
California, hoping to bounce back from a 13-13 season, was picked to finish second followed by Gannon, Slippery Rock, Mercyhurst, Edinboro, Clarion and Lock Haven. Kutztown edged West Chester and Mansfield for the top spot in the East.
Kansas No. 1: For the second time in its storied basketball history, Kansas is No. 1 in The Associated Press' preseason Top 25.
The Jayhawks were a runaway choice Thursday, receiving 55 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel to easily outdistance Michigan State, which was No. 1 on five ballots.
There was little suspense as to which team would top the preseason poll. Kansas has all five starters and the top nine scorers back from last season's team that went 27-8 and reached the third round of the NCAA tournament.
The Jayhawks also feature a recruiting class considered among the nation's best.
Texas, Kentucky and Villanova rounded out the top five, while North Carolina, a unanimous preseason No. 1 last season, was sixth. Kentucky received three first-place votes and Texas and North Carolina got one each. Purdue, West Virginia, Duke and Tennessee completed the top 10.
Butler was 11th in the poll followed by Connecticut, California, Washington, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Louisville and Georgetown. The last five ranked teams were Dayton, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Clemson and Minnesota.
Kentucky, Georgetown and Georgia Tech were the only teams in the preseason poll not to play in the NCAA tournament last season.
The Big Ten has six teams in the preseason poll, one more than the Big East. The Atlantic Coast Conference had four and the Big 12 and Southeastern Conference three each.
Michigan State tops Big Ten: Michigan State, the national runner-up last season, has been picked in a preseason poll to repeat as Big Ten champions.
A 24-member media panel chose Purdue - which made it to the round of 16 last season - to finish second and Ohio State to take third.
Michigan State's Kalin Lucas, last year's player of the year in the conference, was chosen as preseason player of the year.
Lucas is joined on the first team by four other juniors - Manny Harris of Michigan, Evan Turner of Ohio State, Talor Battle of Penn State and Robbie Hummel of Purdue.
Michigan State finished 31-7 last year -- 15-3 in the Big Ten -- and lost to North Carolina in the national title game.
