No. 10 Texas Tech has highest preseason AP ranking and preseason All-America forward JT Toppin

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The 10th-ranked Red Raiders have never started a season ranked so high. This is after being No. 8 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll last season, matching the best in program history. They made it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament before an 84-79 loss to eventual national champion Florida. Third-year coach Grant McCasland and Tech return standout 6-foot-9 forward JT Toppin and sophomore guard Christian Anderson, to go with five transfers and a highly touted freshman class.

AP preseason All-America forward Toppin is also the Big 12 preseason player of the year. The 6-foot-9 junior from Dallas averaged 18.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in his Tech debut after his freshman season at New Mexico. Toppin had 19 double-doubles, including all four of Tech's NCAA Tournament games.

Anderson was one of the Big 12's top freshmen last season, averaging 10.6 points and 2.2 assists per game.

Darrion Williams transferred to North Carolina State after averaging 15.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists at Tech last season, and guard Chance McMillian (14.2 ppg) exhausted his eligibility. Among the five incoming transfers is LeJuan Watts, a 6-6 junior who was Pac-12 newcomer of the year after averaging 13.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists at Washington State last season. Donovan Atwell averaged 13.3 points at UNC Greensboro, and Tyeree Bryan 10.4 at Santa Clara. The freshman additions include two Gatorade players of the year: 6-5 guard Nolan Groves in Minnesota, and 6-1 guard Jaylen Petty in Washington.

The Red Raiders get an early road test Nov. 11 at 17th-ranked Illinois. They have neutral-site games three consecutive weekends in December, against LSU at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth; against No. 14 Arkansas at the home of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks; then sixth-ranked Duke at Madison Square Garden. Their first Big 12 road game is Jan. 6 at second-ranked Houston, whose only conference loss last season was at home to Texas Tech.

This will be the 101st season of Tech basketball. ... McCasland got a new contract in May that extended him through the 2030-31 season. He is 51-20 at Texas Tech, and has gotten a contract extension after each of his first two seasons. He went 23-11 with an NCAA Tournament appearance in his 2023-24 debut.

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