K-State Doesn’t Fall Far In AP Poll, Sits At #13
By Dave Thoman
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Kansas State suffered a harsh loss to KU, but it wasn’t enough to shake the confidence of AP voters that ranked the Wildcats #13 in this week’s poll. A team that goes down 20 points in the first half and never comes back generally doesn’t find itself in the top 15 the next week, but a huge bounce back win against Baylor – 81-61 – certainly helped soothe the sting. The three spot drop from #10 the prior week was at the expense of KU, which moved up five spots to number nine overall in the nation. The team’s are separated by Louisville, Georgetown, and Arizona.
Trailing immediately is Oklahoma State, which climbed another three spots and are 14th overall on the heels of their league-leading seven game winning streak. The Cowboys beat Texas Tech and Oklahoma last week. Movement is virtually guaranteed next Monday thanks to a big match up in Stillwater Wednesday night. Kansas travels to Oklahoma State that night in a meeting of two of the Big 12’s teams tied for first place.
While OSU and KU fight for first place in the league, K-State looks to stand a great chance of maintaining their tie atop the Big 12. As of this writing, the Wildcats are leading WVU at halftime by the score of 33-20, but have the Mountaineers in serious foul trouble while doing an excellent job of rotating players in and out to keep everyone fresh. K-State must also travel to Texas on Saturday, but the Longhorns (11-14, 3-9) don’t look ready to put up a strong fight, despite recently getting guard Myck Kabongo back from a 23-game suspension. At 20-5 overall, with a 9-3 conference mark, K-State is off to one of its greatest starts in the modern era.