The early expectations for Kansas State women’s basketball continue to pile up.
The Wildcats, already picked by Big 12 coaches for the first time to win the conference, came in at No. 13 nationally Wednesday in the preseason USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll. Earlier they also were ranked No. 13 by The Associated Press.
K-State was No. 18 in last year’s final poll after posting a 26-8 overall record and 13-5 conference mark before falling at home to Colorado in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
K-State returns four starters, including super-senior center Ayoka Lee, the Big 12 preseason player of the year, and all-conference senior point guard Serena Sundell.
In an interview with ESPNU on Tuesday at Big 12 Media Day, K-State coach Jeff Mittie downplayed the conference favorite’s role.
“Ironically, though, I think our league certainly returns a lot of really, really talented players and a lot of teams that had success. So, whether you’re picked one, two or three, I think the league is going to be really strong.”
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“I think one, it obviously means you’ve got some good players. People have a lot of respect for the year you had the year before, returning players,” Mittie said. “And in today’s era of college athletics, you don’t always have the returning players that we have this year.
Besides, Mittie added, preseason rankings don’t mean much.
“We were excited to be picked one. It never happened preseason at Kansas State,” he said. “So, certainly your fan base (is happy), but it sells more tickets than it does (anything).
“It did not come with a trophy. I didn’t see a trophy. So, we’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re excited about our year.”
Indeed, while the Wildcats were conference preseason favorites in a narrow vote, they are only third among Big 12 schools in the national coaches poll. Iowa State (21-12 last year) was picked ninth, with Baylor (26-8) at No. 12 and West Virginia (25-8) just behind K-State at No. 15.
In the conference preseason poll, K-State had seven first-place votes and 211 total points to six and 209 for Iowa State, while Baylor came in third with two No. 1 votes and 194 total points.
Sundell echoed Mittie’s sentiments, adding that the Wildcats appreciated the conference favorite designation but quickly moved on.
“We really haven’t talked about it, other than in that team meeting, and we celebrated it for that morning and then we went back to work,” Sundell said. “It was a surprise, but it also kind of validated the talent that we have on this roster and the expectations that I feel like we should have for ourselves.”
Preseason USA Today Coaches Poll
Dropped out: No. 2 Iowa (34-5); No. 8 Stanford (30-6); No. 10 Oregon State (27-8); No. 13 Gonzaga (32-4); No. 16 Colorado (24-10); No. 17 Virginia Tech (25-8); No. 22 Utah (23-11); No. 23 Syracuse (24-8); No. 24 UNLV (30-3).
Others receiving votes: Gonzaga (32-4) 49; TCU (21-12) 37; Stanford (30-6) 32; Tennessee (20-13) 32; Iowa (34-5) 28; Utah (23-11) 25; South Dakota State (27-6) 22; Oregon State (27-8) 21; Princeton (25-5) 18; Colorado (24-10) 15; Virginia Tech (25-8) 10; Illinois (19-15) 9; Middle Tennessee (30-5) 8; Fairfield (31-2) 7; California (19-15) 6; Richmond (29-6) 6; Auburn (20-12) 5; Florida Gulf Coast (29-5) 4; Miami (Fla.) (19-12) 4; UNLV (30-3) 4; South Florida (19-14) 3; George Mason (23-8) 2; Cleveland State (29-6) 1; Michigan (20-14) 1; Saint Joseph’s (28-6) 1.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here’s where Kansas State women’s basketball ranks in preseason poll
