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.