Kansas the pick, according to CBS’ ‘Candid Coaches’ series

By Matt Tait     Aug 20, 2018

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Blue Team forward Dedric Lawson (1) puts up a three over Red Team forward Silvio De Sousa (22) during a scrimmage on Tuesday, June 5, 2018, at the Horejsi Athletic Center.

What do Kansas, Duke and Kentucky all have in common?

In addition to being three of the biggest powerhouse recruiting programs in college basketball, being in the top four in all-time victories and having been led by Hall of Fame coaches, those three also were the most popular answers to the CBS Sports poll question, “Who will be the best team in college basketball in the 2018-19 season?”

Big surprise, right?

After all, KU, Kentucky and Duke have long been at the top of the college basketball world, operating as annual title contenders and tossing some of the best talent in the college game onto the court year after year after year after year.

While that trio accounted for nearly two-thirds of the answers in CBS’ annual “Candid Coaches” feature, in which CBS writers Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander ask more than 100 college coaches for their answers to some of the most intriguing questions surrounding the game today each offseason.

The series, which this year opened with a question about which college coach was doing the best job of playing by the rules — Michigan’s John Belein was the run-away winner there — offers some great insight into some fun questions that might not be answered without the anonymity that it offers.

OK. Back to the best team in basketball question. While the blue-blood trio received more than 70 percent of the votes, it was Kansas that received more than half of that.

The Jayhawks were the answer on 38 percent of ballots, coming in 20 percentage points ahead of Kentucky (18 percent) and finishing 23 percent higher than Duke (15).

So, why Kansas?

That was answered, too.

> “They’ve got enough coming back,” one
> coach told CBS. “Have had some guys
> sitting. Add that to what they’ve
> added in terms of their recruiting
> class, and they’ve got all the makings
> of a national championship team. When
> Bill Self likes his team, you’re in
> trouble. I think he likes this team.
> Deep, big and can overwhelm you at a
> lot of positions.”
>
> “Kansas is talented, deep and old,”
> another coach said. “They have to be
> the favorite to win it all. Dedric
> Lawson is going to dominate that
> league.”
>
> And, finally, “They have the best
> mixture of talent and experience.
> Plus, they have the transfers that
> have proven they can play and score at
> a high level.”

It all makes sense. And it’s nothing you haven’t heard or read here and a dozen other places before. But there’s something different — something more powerful — about hearing it from the mouths of actual college coaches.

Clearly, the Jayhawks are positioned for a big season. And when you combine their talent, depth and experience with the fact that the Big 12 appears to be at least a little bit down this year, there’s no reason to think that any of these coaches are wrong.

[Check out the complete article for the rest of the list — a couple of programs might surprise you -][1] including Parrish’s thoughts on whether the coaches polled were right or wrong in picking KU.

[1]: https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/candid-coaches-who-will-be-the-best-team-in-college-basketball-in-the-2018-19-season/

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.