No. 1 Kansas looks to shake off a disappointing end to the 2023-24 season when its revitalized roster opens the new campaign with a nonconference game against Howard on Monday in Lawrence, Kan.The Jayhawks are picked to win the sturdy Big 12 Conference, while the Bison are predicted to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.The Jayhawks are one of five Big 12 teams in the preseason AP top 10, joined by No. 4 Houston, No. 5 Iowa State, No. 8 Baylor and No. 10 Arizona.Howard, which has won the MEAC tournament and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament each of the past two years, is led by Bryce Harris, the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, and Marcus Dockery, a All-MEAC preseason second-team selection.Harris led the Bison with 16.6 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, from the guard position, last season. Dockery finished third on the team with 13.5 points per game.The Bison are hoping an early-August trip to Brazil will galvanize this year’s squad.”This trip is a huge part of our student-athlete experience,” Howard coach Kenneth Blakeney said. “To expose them to another continent and a place that most of our student-athletes have never gone to is exciting for me.”Our program is about exposure and the opportunity to have our kids spend time in a place that we have heard about and seen pictures of, which is something they will not soon forget.”The Jayhawks have size, depth and experience, as they return three of their top five scorers from the 23-11 squad that lost to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. Kansas dropped five of its final seven games dating back to the regular season.Hunter Dickinson, named to the AP Preseason All-America team, leads this year’s squad. The senior center was a consensus second-team selection last season, when he finished with 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.The two other stars back from last year’s team are KJ Adams Jr. (12.6 points and 4.6 rebounds) and Dajuan Harris (8.5 points, 6.5 assists and 1.5 steals).