K-State, Kansas enter Tuesday’s showdown as top-10 squads: AP Top 25 rankings update

Gary Bedore
·2 min read

Kansas State’s men’s basketball is ranked No. 7 while rival Kansas is right behind at No. 8 in the Associated Press Top 25 heading into Tuesday’s Sunflower Showdown, set for a 7 p.m. tipoff at Allen Fieldhouse.

Meanwhile, Missouri was not included in the updated rankings Monday despite defeating then-No. 12 Iowa State on Saturday. The Tigers are first in the “others receiving votes” category.

K-State was ranked No. 13 and Kansas No. 2 in the AP top 25 on Jan. 17, when the Wildcats defeated the Jayhawks 83-82 in overtime at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.

K-State (18-3, 6-2 Big 12) dropped two spots from last week’s No. 5 listing following a win over Florida and loss at Iowa State. KU (17-4, 5-3) improved one spot after a win at Kentucky and loss at Baylor.

Missouri (16-5 overall, 5-4 SEC) defeated Iowa State and Ole Miss last week. The Tigers were ranked No. 20 on Jan. 2 for their first AP ranking since the 2020-21 season, but they have since dropped out of the poll.

K-State last week was ranked in the top five for the first time since Dec. 6, 2010.

Purdue, which received all 62 first-place votes, is No. 1 in this week’s poll, followed by No. 2 Tennessee, Houston (3), Alabama (4), Arizona (5), Virginia (6), K-State (7), KU (8), UCLA (9) and Texas (10).

Baylor is No. 11, followed by Gonzaga, Iowa State, Marquette, TCU, Xavier, Providence, Saint Mary’s, Florida Atlantic and Clemson. Rounding out the top 25: No. 21 Indiana, No. 22 San Diego State, No. 23 Miami, No. 24 UConn and No. 25 Auburn.

Others receiving votes: Missouri, Charleston, Illinois, Creighton, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Boise State, Duke, Rutgers, Texas A&M, Northwestern, Memphis, Arkansas, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Nevada, Oral Roberts and Saint Louis.