Wichita State Shockers

Wichita State drops to No. 12 in AP basketball poll; Kansas No. 9


Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet was called for a foul on Illinois State guard DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell while trying to steal the ball during the second half of their semifinal game at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Saturday.
Wichita State guard Fred VanVleet was called for a foul on Illinois State guard DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell while trying to steal the ball during the second half of their semifinal game at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Saturday. The Wichita Eagle

Wichita State dropped four spots to No. 12 in the Associated Press basketball poll on Monday. The final AP poll comes out next week and the Shockers are poised to appear in that poll in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1963 and 1964.

WSU (28-4) won’t play again until after that final poll, so its chances of joining the teams from 1963 (No. 5), 1964 (No. 5), 1983 (No. 14), 2012 (No. 18) and 2014 (No. 2) are strong. The AP poll traditionally ends before NCAA and NIT play.

The Shockers also finished in final coaches polls in 1963 (No. 6), 1964 (No. 6), 1965 (No. 14), 2006 (No. 21), 2013 (No. 4) and 2014 (No. 7), voted on after the NCAA Tournament.

Monday’s poll pushed WSU’s record of consecutive weeks in the AP poll to 38.

The Shockers, who lost to Illinois State on Saturday in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semfinals, are waiting for Sunday’s NCAA Tournament announcement. Their next game will be either March 19 or 20 at a location to be determined.

Northern Iowa (30-3), which defeated Illinois State on Sunday, moved up one spot to No. 10.

Kansas (24-7) stayed No. 9. The Jayhawks play at 1:30 p.m., Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament against either Kansas State or TCU.

Reach Paul Suellentrop at 316-269-6760 or psuellentrop@wichitaeagle.com. Follow him on Twitter: @paulsuellentrop.

AP Top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 8, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

Record

Pts

Prv

1. Kentucky (65)

31-0

1,625

1

2. Duke

28-3

1,544

3

3. Virginia

28-2

1,454

2

4. Villanova

29-2

1,444

4

5. Arizona

28-3

1,360

5

6. Wisconsin

28-3

1,344

6

7. Gonzaga

30-2

1,229

7

8. Maryland

26-5

1,103

10

9. Kansas

24-7

1,040

9

10. N. Iowa

30-3

1,037

11

11. Notre Dame

26-5

1,026

12

12. Wichita St.

28-4

797

8

13. Iowa St.

22-8

786

17

14. Louisville

24-7

780

16

15. Oklahoma

21-9

772

15

16. Baylor

23-8

701

14

17. Utah

23-7

587

13

18. West Virginia

23-8

525

20

19. North Carolina

21-10

406

19

20. SMU

24-6

339

22

21. Arkansas

24-7

300

18

22. Butler

22-9

287

21

23. Georgetown

20-9

223

_

24. Davidson

23-6

99

_

25. Boise St.

24-7

82

_

Others receiving votes: Oregon 69, Providence 63, Ohio St. 40, BYU 18, Michigan St. 15, LSU 8, Iowa 7, St. John’s 6, San Diego St. 3, Stephen F. Austin 2, Dayton 1, North Florida 1, Purdue 1, Valparaiso 1.

This story was originally published March 9, 2015 at 12:07 PM with the headline "Wichita State drops to No. 12 in AP basketball poll; Kansas No. 9."

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