LJWorld.com

Kansas City, Mo. — It's Oklahoma No. 1, Texas No. 2 and Kansas and Baylor tying for No. 3 in the Big 12 men's basketball preseason coaches poll released Tuesday.

"That's exactly how I voted it: OU, Texas, Baylor because I think those are the three most talented teams returning on paper. There's no doubt," KU coach Bill Self said Tuesday, commenting on the poll results at the Coaches Vs. Cancer Season Tipoff Reception at the College Basketball Experience next to Sprint Center.

"I'm a little surprised people thought enough of us to rate us that high, to be honest," added Self, who loses all five starters from his national championship team. "When you lose six out of your top seven (rotation players) the tendency is for people to maybe not think that much about you. Everybody lost a lot. Nobody lost more than us."

It's KU's lowest finish in the poll since the 2005-06 preseason, when KU also was tapped third. That KU team tied for first in the conference with Texas.

"We lost Wayne (Simien), Aaron (Miles), Keith (Langford) and J.R. (Giddens) and the sky was falling obviously back then. We recruited three freshmen who turned out to be pretty good," Self said of Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Julian Wright. "Brandon was the only one who impacted our team at all before the first of the year. It will take time. That team got good when it got comfortable. This team ... it's too early to say, but I like our talent level and I certainly like our depth."

Self stressed Oklahoma is the obvious No. 1 squad in the conference despite the fact just six points separated the top four teams.

"They have the best player in the country in my opinion. I think they have the No. 1 player in the (NBA) draft in Blake Griffin," Self said. "He is a viable candidate for national player of the year. They recruited well and have some other key pieces returning.

"Texas has everybody back with the exception of D.J. (Augustin). D.J. is terrific obviously. Baylor has a lot of players back as well. The unknown is what creates the situation where there maybe is a separation between those three and everybody else. I bet you it's as competitive as it has ever been this year."

Oklahoma finished with 109 points and three first- place votes; Texas 107 points and four firsts; Baylor 103 points and two firsts and KU 103 points and three firsts.

Texas A&M placed fifth (79) points, followed by Oklahoma State (69), Missouri (51), Kansas State (50), Nebraska (49), Texas Tech (39), Iowa State (20) and Colorado (13). Eleven points were awarded for firsts, 10 for seconds, down the line. Coaches could not vote for their own team.

¢ Collins OK: KU junior Sherron Collins had his tonsils removed on Tuesday.

"As a tonsillectomy goes, the procedure was a success," Self said. "He'll probably be out (of workouts) a while - at least a week."

¢ For a good cause: Self was joined by Missouri's Mike Anderson, Kansas State's Frank Martin and UMKC's Matt Brown as featured speakers at Tuesday's fundraiser. Former MU coach Norm Stewart was emcee.

"It is an honor to be associated with Coaches Vs. Cancer. Coach Stewart is the one who started it," Self said. "Cancer affects everybody. I've had cancer survivors in the family and had close friends who lost family members to cancer."

¢ Self the player: Stewart coached against Self's Oklahoma State teams during Self's playing days.

"Coach Stewart said, 'I never had to put a good defender on you,'" Self said with a smile.

"That's not true. I did put my best defender on Bill ... when he needed a breather," Stewart cracked.

¢ Recruiting: Dominic Cheek, a 6-5 guard from St. Anthony High in Jersey City, N.J., tells Zagsblog.net he's eliminated Wake Forest, Tennessee and UConn from his list of schools. He will visit KU for the Oct. 17 Late Night and Memphis the following week. He also plans on visiting Indiana, Villanova and Pittsburgh .

¢ C.J. Henry out: Memphis freshman guard C.J. Henry, the brother of KU target Xavier, had surgery Tuesday to repair a broken left foot, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. He will miss at least eight weeks and is not expected to play until at least Christmas.