Wichita State drops to No. 16 in AP poll; KU up to No. 8

A road loss to a nationally ranked opponent shouldn’t damage a team’s reputation too much, and it didn’t for Wichita State.

The Shockers dropped four spots to No. 16 in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll after Saturday’s 70-54 loss at Northern Iowa. The win moved the Panthers up four spots to No. 14, the program’s highest.

Kansas moved up one spot to No. 8. The Jayhawks play No. 11 Iowa State on Monday.

WSU dropped five spots to No. 17 in the USA Today coaches poll. UNI moved up three spots to No. 15.

WSU’s first Missouri Valley Conference loss since 2013 dropped the Shockers one seeding line in ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi’s NCAA Tournament bracket projection to a No. 5 seed. It cost WSU two spots in Jerry Palm’s projection for CBSSports.com, down to No. 6. The Shockers have a month to recover and basketball analyst Ken Pomeroy said its NCAA resume remains strong.

“It probably doesn’t hurt Wichita State too bad being on the road, they still look like a 3 or a 4, even with another loss or two,” Pomeroy wrote in an e-mail. “For UNI, it looks like most people have them around a 6 right now, and I’d guess they could suffer another loss or two to someone other than Wichita and hang onto that.”

The Shockers (19-3, 9-1) play at Bradley (7-16, 2-8) on Wednesday. The Braves have lost two in a row and are again playing with a depleted roster. Coach Geno Ford suspended three players for Saturday’s loss at Indiana State. Guard Warren Jones is Bradley’s leading scorer at 13.9 points. Guard Ka’Darryl Bell started all previous 22 games and guard Omari Grier averages 8.2 points. According to the Peoria Journal Star, Jones was arrested last week after using Grier’s identification to enter a Peoria night club. Bell was with Jones. Grier was not at the club.

On Monday, Ford said he was unsure how long the suspensions would continue. He expects at least two players will remain suspended for Wednesday’s game, but left open the possibility that one could return.

“Not to be Captain Obvious, but (WSU) has had just an insanely good run in our league and they’ve got a great team again this year,” Ford said. “We’re catching them — I don’t know if there’s ever an opportune time to get them — not sure after their first league loss in a couple of seasons is what you would pick. We’re going to have our hands full.”

Northern Iowa (20-2, 9-1 MVC) moved up to a No. 5 seed in Lunardi’s bracket and up to the fifth seed in Palm’s projection. Third-place Indiana State (11-11, 7-3) plays UNI on Tuesday and Sycamores coach Greg Lansing watched the Panthers lead by double digits the entire second half.

“(UNI) was certainly impressive,” Lansing said. “They took a tremendous basketball team in Wichita State, one of the better teams in the country, and put a strangle-hold on them there for a stretch of that game.”

WSU is 17th in the USA Today coaches poll; UNI is 15th and Kansas ninth.

AP Top 25

The top 25 teams in the Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 1, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 40, Seton Hall 22, Arkansas 21, Indiana 18, San Diego St. 18, Colorado St. 11, Dayton 9, Tulsa 8, Xavier 8, Stephen F. Austin 5, Providence 3, Stanford 3, Louisiana Tech 2, Murray St. 2, Oklahoma St. 2, Temple 2, Georgia 1, Michigan St. 1, Rhode Island 1, Valparaiso 1.

USA Today Top 25

The top 25 teams in the USA Today men’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 1, points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

Others receiving votes: Arkansas 39, Colorado State 37, Texas 37, Dayton 27, San Diego State 25, Texas A&M 16, Wyoming 10, Providence 9, Tulsa 8, Seton Hall 7, Stephen F. Austin 7, Michigan State 5, TCU 5, Stanford 2, LSU 1, Valparaiso 1.

This story was originally published February 2, 2015 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Wichita State drops to No. 16 in AP poll; KU up to No. 8."