MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State men’s basketball team will start the 2018-19 season with collective Top 15 rankings in each of the major polls, as the Wildcats checked at No. 11 in theUSA TODAY Coaches Preseason Top 25 poll released earlier today (October 25).
The No. 11 ranking in the Coaches Top 25 poll follows the Wildcats checking in at No. 12 in The Associated Press Preseason Top 25 poll released on October 22. It marks the first time that K-State has started with preseason rankings in both major polls since the 2010-11 campaign when the school opened at No. 3 in both the AP and USA TODAY Coaches polls.
Like the AP poll, Kansas was selected No. 1, followed by No. 2 Kentucky, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Gonzaga and No. 5 Virginia. The rest of the Top 10 included No. 6 Tennessee, No. 7 North Carolina, No. 8 Villanova, No. 9 Nevada and No. 10 Michigan State.
K-State and Kansas were joined in the poll by fellow Big 12 schools, No. 13 West Virginia and No. 21 TCU.
The Wildcats have received several preseason rankings, including No. 11 by NBCSports.com, Yahoo! Sports, Street & Smith’s, Lindy’s and Athlon, No. 12 by ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, USA Today, Stadium, No. 13 by The Athletic, Blue Ribbon Yearbook and No. 14 by SI.com.
Picked by the league coaches to finish second in the annual Big 12 preseason poll, K-State returns 10 lettermen, including six players who combined to start all 37 games a season ago, for a squad that won 25 games for just the sixth time in school history and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in eight years. Among the returning starters for the Wildcats include Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year Dean Wade, fellow Preseason All-Big 12 selection Barry Brown, Jr., and juniors Xavier Sneed and Makol Mawien.
Season tickets for the 2018-19 season are currently on sale with a variety of pricing options available, including the Big Game, Pick 5 and Holiday mini-plans as well as Wildcat 4 Packs and Bramlage Bundles. Fans can purchase tickets in a variety of ways, including toll free at (800) 221.CATS (2287), online at www.kstatesports.com/tickets and in-person at the Athletics Ticket Office located in Bramlage Coliseum.
Preseason AP Top 25
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Duke
- Gonzaga
- Virginia
- Tennessee
- North Carolina
- Villanova
- Nevada
- Michigan State
- K-State
- Auburn
- West Virginia
- Syracuse
- Florida State
- Oregon
- Virginia Tech
- Michigan
- Mississippi State
- UCLA
- TCU
- Purdue
- Clemson
- Washington
- Nebraska
–www.kstatesports.com–
TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics