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.

Georgia Tech is ranked No. 22 and Clemson No. 24.

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.

The Jayhawks received great news when guard Sherron Collins and center Cole Aldrich , last season's leading scorers, decided to return to school rather than test the NBA Draft. Then brothers Xavier and C.J. Henry decided to enroll in Lawrence, making the Jayhawks the early national favorite as well as the choice to win a sixth consecutive Big 12 title.

CLEMSON: Forward Trevor Booker is among 50 players named to the Naismith Trophy preseason candidate list.

Booker led the Atlantic Coast Conference in rebounding and field goal percentage last season, the first player in the league to accomplish that double since Tim Duncan at Wake Forest in 1996-97. The 6-foot-7 Booker was previously announced as a candidate for the John R. Wooden Award.

The Naismith watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club and will be awarded during the Final Four in Indianapolis next spring.

INDIANA: Former coach Bob Knight will not attend next week's induction into the athletic department's hall of fame.

Athletic director Fred Glass said Thursday that Knight contacted him directly to decline the invitation. Glass said Knight was concerned that the interest in him would be a distraction from the other six inductees.

LOUISVILLE: A federal judge has denied a prosecution request for a psychiatric evaluation of the woman accused in a plot to extort $10 million from Louisville coach Rick Pitino .

U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson ruled this week that there was no "reasonable cause" to question Karen Cunagin Sypher' s competency. Prosecutors had noted in asking for the exam that Sypher's former attorney was concerned about her mental state.

Simpson also denied a motion from prosecutors for a protective order that would have barred Sypher from releasing evidence in the case to the media.

OKLAHOMA: Here's a sign of how far Jeff Capel has come in building his program.

As the Sooners prepare to move on after Blake Griffin became the No. 1 overall pick in this year's NBA Draft, Capel has three more McDonald's All-Americans on his roster to try to build on back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

Oklahoma is No. 17 in the preseason poll.