WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State is No. 8 in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, released Thursday. It's the program's highest preseason ranking in 36 years.
With all five starters and their top-eight scorers back, the Shockers (31-5 last year) are a trendy choice heading into their inaugural year in the American Athletic Conference.
WSU tallied 543 poll points – 28 more than defending national champion North Carolina. Spots 1-7 went to Duke, Michigan State, Kansas, Kentucky, Arizona, Villanova and Florida. New American rival Cincinnati checked in at No. 13.
This is the fifth time in school history that WSU has opened in the top-10 in one of the two major polls. They were No. 10 in the AP heading into the 2015-16 campaign (and No. 12 in the Coaches Poll).
WSU's last preseason top-10 appearance in a Coaches Poll came prior to the 1981-82 season. That team – headlined by the junior tandem of Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston and fresh of an Elite Eight appearance – checked in at No. 6 in the AP and No. 7 in the Coaches.
WSU in the Preseason Polls –
1963-64: AP (5), Coaches (5)
1964-65: AP (3), Coaches (4)
1981-82: AP (6), Coaches (7)
2013-14: AP (16), Coaches (16)
2014-15: AP (11), Coaches (11)
2015-16: AP (10), Coaches (12)
2017-18: AP (tba), Coaches (8)
