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.

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.

“I’m not surprised,” said Bill Self, who was also the coach the other time Kansas was the preseason No. 1 in 2004-05. “… We do have good players. … There’s a lot of excitement surrounding these guys.”

Leading scorers Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich return, and they’ll be augmented by top recruits, Xavier and C.J. Henry, who are brothers.

Michigan State has seven of the top nine scorers back from the team that lost to North Carolina in the national title game. Texas, Kentucky and Villanova rounded out the top five.

Washington was ranked 14th. Gonzaga was not ranked.

2011 double dip for Spokane

Spokane will be the first city to host the opening two rounds and a regional of the NCAA women’s tournament in the same year.

The Lilac City was one of 16 chosen by the NCAA to host the first two rounds in 2011. Gonzaga will host the first two rounds in its on-campus arena while the regional will be hosted by Washington State at the Spokane Arena.

Fastbreaks

Stanford guard Jeremy Green has been suspended indefinitely by coach Johnny Dawkins for a violation of team rules. A Pacific-10 Conference all-freshman team selection last season, Green averaged 6.4 points and 2.1 rebounds. … Former Indiana coach Bob Knight will not attend his induction into the school’s athletic hall of fame next week. Athletic director Fred Glass said Knight was concerned that the interest in him would be a distraction from the other six inductees.