AP and Coaches Poll Watch Thread (2015-16 Edition)

[WuShock Reaper]

College Basketball Rankings 2015-16: Bleacher Report's Week 12 Top 25

Shockers come in at...

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2610545-college-basketball-rankings-2015-16-bleacher-reports-week-12-top-25/page/3

[Dave Stalwart]

So, do we squeak in at 25 or do we storm in below 20? I'm not so sure we won't. Nobody knows where to put anybody right now. Why not add a new face to the mix?

[wuhog]

I say 21

[Shock Top]

Back in the rankings this week.

Carry on folks!

[DwShock]

Chris Dachille has Wichita State at #21

[Stickboy46]

Up to 17 in kenpom and 32 in NCAA RPI

Anddddd a 34 point win vs Bradley drops us to 42 in RPI

[WSUwatcher]

Anddddd a 34 point win vs Bradley drops us to 42 in RPI

No surprise there, Stick -- a shutout win would have done exactly the same.

When you win at home against a team that's 2-17 vs. D-1 your RPI value is going to drop, and when that happens your RPI rank is likely to drop as well. At least Bradley has played a reasonably tough schedule outside the league, which gives them a good opposition record; otherwise it would have been even worse. Taking care of business with a home win over Loyola (8-11) this week won't help either. But the two games next week at Evansville (currently 16-4) and at home vs. SIU (currently 18-3, although their schedule is frightful) will provide a chance to regain the lost ground very quickly, if WSU can do its job.

[Play Angry]

Jerry Carino and Geoff Grammer also have us at #21.

[molly jabali]

WSU will do well because of their R.E.P (reputation). Since 2011 they have shown they can bring it in March (save the 2012 debacle vs VCU). If they keep winning, which I think they will, they will show they were worthy of a top 10 preseason ranking. I think they'll get close to top 15 again before seasons end, and possibly a 5 or 6 seed.

I've thought about that match up several times, and while not wanting to all little girlish, that was not a 'fair' matchup...for one thing, they were NOT a normal 12 and for two, there was the familiarity card.

Unless, of course, I've screwed this whole thing up and am thinking about something else!:)

[Shocktoberfest]

You're not making a mistake. I remember driving in my car listening to the selection show and when they called VCU as the 12 we were facing I may have let out a 4 letter word. I did not like that matchup at all. We played like crap in that game and still had a chance to win at the end.

[im4wsu]

Massey Compositedated yesterday has us #26, hi of 16 and low of 45

[WuShock16]

You're not making a mistake. I remember driving in my car listening to the selection show and when they called VCU as the 12 we were facing I may have let out a 4 letter word. I did not like that matchup at all. We played like crap in that game and still had a chance to win at the end.

There was a Selection Show watch party at CKA for this. I was confident that WSU could hang with anyone but Kentucky so I wanted to be as far away from Kentucky as possible. Sure enough, we were the 5 seed in the same bracket. So I was already annoyed. When VCU popped up next on the screen, I too let out a wirty dord. My wife tried to reassure me..."It's okay. It's okay." No, it's not, I told her. I had a bad feeling all week.

There really is something legitimate about tournament experience. VCU of course had just come off Final Four, whereas it was first shot for our guys. They looked scared for about the first 30 minutes. By the time they started playing like themselves, the margin of error was gone. If that game could have made it to OT, I think we'd have been fine. It wasn't meant to be.

When the national media felt sorry for Trey Woodall from Pitt crying at the press conference, it made me mad. No one felt sorry for Stutz the previous year. He had one shot in the NCAA and had one of his worst games.

[Play Angry]

May have already been mentioned but Mark Berman has us at 20 and Doug Haller has us at 23. Haller is seemingly always one of the voters who slots us the lowest over the last 3 years, so I think you can put his ranking as the floor for where we break in today. 20-22 seems the most likely.

Re: VCU - that matchup sucked for us in a big way, but they definitely were not underseeded. The Rams entered the CAA Tournament with an RPI in the mid-60s and 1 top 60 win before winning the auto bid. They were very meh for most of that year, but they were also perfectly built to shut down our offensive machine. That game and the one against George Mason were the two most frustrating tournament losses for me as a Shocker fan. We would have won a ten game series at least 7-3 for both of those matchups IMO.

Of course, I am sure Gonzaga probably felt that way in 2013, so it mostly evens out.

[Stickboy46]

KPISPorts ranks WSU MANAGERS at #10 in the nation :) haha

http://www.kpisports.net/rankings/d-i-mens-basketball-managers/

[SHOCKvalue]

I was at CKA for the 2012 selection show. When VCU was announced as the #12 to #5 WSU you could practically hear the air get sucked out of the room. The before/after energy in the room was like losing to a rival on a last second desperation three. Everyone there, everyone in the entire fanbase, knew what a bad matchup and omen that was.

Oh, and on-topic, we'll be back in the T25 this week, only about two weeks later than they should have been.