Shockers receive highest preseason ranking in 36 years in USA Today poll
The USA Today Coaches Poll was released Thursday. Wichita State was tabbed No. 8 — the highest preseason ranking in 36 years.
Duke, Michigan State, Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, Villanova, and Florida got the 1-7 spots. The Shockers received 543 poll points, 28 more than North Carolina, last year’s champions.
The preseason No. 1 team in The American, Cincinnati, was polled at No. 13.
This is only the fifth time in Wichita State history that a team has opened the season in the top-10 in one of the major polls.
The last time the Shockers were ranked in the top-10 was during the Baker and VanVleet era in 2015-16 when they received the No. 10 ranking in the AP rankings.
When it comes to the Coaches Poll, the last preseason top-10 appearance was the 1981-82 team. They were ranked No. 6 in the AP and No. 7 in the Coaches Poll.
The 2017-18 AP Poll isn’t expected to come out until early November.
Aliyah Funschelle was a sports reporter covering men's basketball for The Sunflower. She studied sports management at Wichita State, and worked as a Campus...
