From K-State Athletics
On the strength of Big 12 regular-season title and berth in the NCAA Tournament, the Kansas State men’s basketball team finished with a No. 19 ranking in the final USA Today Coaches poll released on Tuesday afternoon.
K-State (25-9, 14-4 Big 12), which is one of just 24 schools nationally and 15 in power conferences with 25 wins in each of the last two seasons, was among four Big 12 schools to finish in the Coaches Top 25, joining No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 16 Kansas and No. 25 Iowa State. National champion Virginia was No. 1, followed by No. 2 Texas Tech, No. 3 Michigan State, No. 4 Duke and No. 5 Auburn.
It marks the fifth time that K-State has appeared in the final USA Today Coaches poll since 2010, including 19th in the final poll for the second consecutive season. The Wildcats appear in the final Coaches poll in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2009-10 and 2010-11 campaigns.
K-State concluded its 2018-19 campaign with a 25-9 overall record, including a tie for the Big 12 regular-season title with Texas Tech with identical 14-4 marks, and the school’s 31st appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Overall, it was just the seventh 25-win season and the first in consecutive seasons in school history.
The Wildcats have now won 21 conference championships, including 19 in the regular season, and captured their second in the Big 12 era (joining the 2012-13 team). The 14 conference wins tied for the most in school history, along with the 14-0 in 1958-59 and 14-4 in 2012-13.
K-State’s 31 NCAA Tournament appearances rank 20th nationally, including fourth among Big 12 schools (Kansas [49], Texas [34] and Oklahoma [32]). The Wildcats have now advanced to the NCAA Tournament nine times in the last 13 seasons, including in three consecutive seasons for the first time since making five straight appearances from 2010 to 2014. The five NCAA Tournaments under head coach Bruce Weber are the third-most by a coach in school history, trailing the seven by Jack Hartman and six by Fred “Tex” Winter.
