Men’s hoops begins 2011-12 with program-best No. 12 national ranking

Here’s some trivia for you: Can you name the only school in the country to be currently ranked in the top 25 of the BCS, men’s basketball AP poll and women’s basketball AP poll? Yep — that would be Baylor.

Baylor football heads to Kansas this week at No. 25 in the BCS standings, the Lady Bears are No. 1 in the nation to begin the year, and No. 12-ranked Baylor men’s basketball enters 2011-12 with the highest preseason ranking in program history.

This marks the second straight year head coach Scott Drew’s Bears have been among the preseason top 25 in both the AP Top 25 and the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll. Baylor was ranked 12th (and tops in the Big 12) in each poll. Looking even further back, Baylor joins Kansas as the only two Big 12 schools to have been ranked in each of the last five seasons.

Sophomore Perry Jones III was named Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year by the league’s coaches (joining with Lady Bear Brittney Griner to give Baylor top honors on both the men’s and women’s sides). Jones, named a preseason all-American by four publications, was joined by freshman Quincy Miller on the Naismith Award watch list, making Baylor the only Big 12 team with multiple players on the list.

Both the Baylor men and women kick off the 2011-12 hoops seasons this Friday, as the Ferrell Center plays host to a doubleheader (women vs. Howard at 6:30, then men vs. Texas Southern at 9 p.m.). The Bears have set a program record, selling more than 5,000 season tickets, but both season and single-game tickets are still available.

Sic ’em, Bears!