Cats eat the biggest drop from last week.
Last night’s disaster in Provo wasn’t enough to push Kansas State out of the AP Poll, but it was close. The Cats plummeted 10 spots, the largest drop of the week for any team, landing at #23.
The Big 12 added a team to the top 25 this week, as Oklahoma State’s loss to Utah also didn’t send them packing; the Utes moved up to #10 while the Cowboys dropped six spots to #20. Iowa State moved up to fill the vacuum, now at #18, while BYU enters the poll at #22. UCF and Arizona also received votes.
Because the Cowboys and Oklahoma both lost, the US 77 triumvirate remain together; the Sooners sit right between Oklahoma State and BYU at #21. Illinois’ presence at #19 is the only thing breaking up a wild string of present and former Big 12 teams, as the 18-24 spots are taken up by Iowa State, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, BYU, K-State, and Texas A&M.
Your hero this week is Mason Young of the Tulsa World, who still has the Cats at #16. Adam Cole of the Opelika-Auburn News has them at #17. As you can probably guess by these two voters who have K-State ranked wildly above the consensus, there are an absolute raft of villains this week; 17 voters left the good guys off their ballot entirely. And yes, of course, that number includes our villains from recent weeks, Koki Riley and Tom Murphy.
Texas remains atop the poll, adding nine more first-place votes at the expense of idle Georgia. Ohio State and Alabama maintain at 3-4, with Ohio State still clinging to their five first-place votes. Tennessee and Ole Miss swapped places at 5-6, while Miami, Oregon, and Penn State each moved up a spot, followed bv Utah’s two-place jump.
That upward movement was the result of Missouri taking it on the chin after an overtime win over Vanderbilt; the Tigers fell four spots to #11. Michigan climbed six spots to #12 after beating USC, who dropped two places to #13. The four teams benefitting from the K-State/State of Oklahoma trifecta were LSU, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Clemson; the current-and-former Big 12 block was followed in the #25 spot by Boise State’s entry into the poll.
The competition for that last spot was fierce. Boise received 69 points, but Washington State (67) and Indiana (63) are hot on their heels. Boston College (55) got a boost, bouncing back from the Missouri loss to handle Michigan State. UNLV and Pittsburgh were next, followed by last week’s #22 team, Nebraska and then Iowa. James Madison, on the heels of humiliating North Carolina 70-50, got on the board, followed by South Carolina, Liberty, UCF, Arkansas, SMU, Arizona, and this week’s one-point winner, Navy. Northern Illinois, who had surged into the top 25 on the strength of their win over Notre Dame, tumbled not just out of the poll but to zero votes following their overtime loss to Buffalo.