Bob Lutz: Eight months later, Wichita State should get rankings nod over Kansas

What I’m about to write could be perceived as crazy, outlandish, or wildly homerish, which is the worst thing you can say about someone in my position.

But am I the only one to notice that Kansas – the team Wichita State beat like a drum in last season’s NCAA Tournament – is ranked significantly higher than the Shockers in the preseason polls?

KU is No. 4 in the Associated Press rankings and No. 5 in the coaches poll. WSU, meanwhile, is 10th and 12th.

While I think Kansas is primed for an excellent season and perhaps even a Final Four season, I’m not sure of the rationale used to rank the Jayhawks above Wichita State in the preseason.

Dare I say the Shockers are underranked? Or KU is overranked?

Everybody in town is caught up in this WSU team and I suppose even a hardened journalist like me has the bug.

What’s not to like?

Seniors Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet – or Fred VanVleet and Ron Baker, it’s hard to know which one to list first – are back with the same motive. And it’s not to finish second.

Another senior, forward Anton Grady, could have transferred anywhere after his junior season ended at Cleveland State with one season of eligibility remaining. He chose Wichita State.

Guard Conner Frankamp had options after he left Kansas after the fall semester in 2014. He was a top-100 recruit coming out of North High and he figured the Shockers were the best of his options.

There was a time, not so long ago, when Wichita State was not a great option for basketball players. Business majors, maybe. Would-be teachers, for sure. Engineers, no doubt. But not basketball players.

What Mark Turgeon did to revive basketball at WSU after he took over as coach in 2000 is worthy of a life-size bronze sculpture.

When he left for Texas A&M after the 2006-07 season, it was plausible to think we had seen the best of the Shockers. Then Gregg Marshall walked through the door.

Eight years ago? Can it be that long? And, yes, Marshall is still at Wichita State, earning a king’s ransom, winning championships, making hay in NCAA Tournaments and elbowing his way into discussions centering on the best college basketball coaches in America.

Yes, that’s happening right here in Wichita and we’ve never been more proud.

Wichita State used to step aside for the mighty Jayhawks. There was a reverence, a feeling that the Shockers didn’t quite belong in the same conversation.

Now the feeling among some, right or wrong, is that KU won’t play Wichita State because there’s a fear that as long as Marshall is calling the shots, the results could look a lot like last March’s 78-65 Shocker win in Omaha.

It’s out of habit, most likely, that Kansas is ranked ahead of Wichita State this preseason. It still doesn’t occur to most people that the Shockers have even more to boast of than a KU team that will be chasing its 12th consecutive Big 12 championship.

Kansas is loaded, too. Senior Perry Ellis and juniors Wayne Selden and Frank Mason are back. The Jayhawks have almost as much depth as Wichita State and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if they’re in Houston come April.

But we’re not in April yet. We’re in mid-November and Wichita State is better than Kansas. Didn’t March prove that? And has enough changed with the two teams to make a potential outcome different?

The Shockers have lost Tekele Cotton and Darius Carter. The loss of Cotton, in particular, presents a challenge because he was not only a dynamic defender but a perfect fit with Baker and VanVleet. They were the three players who most defined the Shockers’ incredible success over the past few years.

They played in a Final Four together. They went 35-0 together. And in one of their final hurrahs, they whipped Kansas together.

But why can’t sophomore Zach Brown be even better than Cotton? He has more skills offensively, especially at a comparable age. He’s longer than Cotton and has shown some of the same defensive tenacity.

The 2014-15 Wichita State team that reached the Sweet 16 before losing to Notre Dame wasn’t particularly deep.

Marshall was forced to play Baker, VanVleet, Cotton and Evan Wessel, another key returning senior, mucho minutes. Baker, VanVleet and Cotton each played 37 minutes against KU and Wessel played 30.

The Shockers’ depth this season is remarkable and has drawn the praise of the WSU admissions department for helping to boost enrollment.

The stars shouldn’t have to play crazy minutes and, you would think, be well rested for a March run. There is depth everywhere with the possible exception of point guard, where there is not an obvious second fiddle to VanVleet but plenty who can strum along.

WSU is slowly earning national respect. It’s tough for a program that still gets the term “mid-major” thrown its way too often.

Kansas is Kansas. The Jayhawks get the benefit of the doubt and it’s likely whey they’re ranked ahead of the Shockers, even though they shouldn’t be.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Eight months later, Wichita State should get rankings nod over Kansas."