Our RPI and SOS continue to recover, and should do so for most of the rest of the year. South Dakota was the last major anchor around our neck, and hitting Big 12 play will help to alleviate that negative impact quite a bit.
That, despite IUPUI's home loss to Ohio, an embarrassing affair that dropped the Jaguars to 10-7, although their RPI somehow remains in the Top 100; UNLV's clunker against BYU in Provo; and Iowa State's absolute thrashing at the hands of Duke in Chicago.
A quick note on the playing-with-fire Jayhawks: I think last night demonstrated that this team still relies on Sherron Collins overly much, and a team with an excellent defending guard who also can match the Elevator Man point-for-point in a Chicago-style shootout (cough*jacobpullen*cough) always will have a chance to beat KU.
For most of the game, the Big Three were all KU had, and even they were patently mediocre at times — Cole Aldrich was very quiet in the first half and Wunderkind Henry finished a pitiful 3-of-14 from the field and 3-of-7 from the free-throw line. The entire rest of the team produced two field goals. The Morris twins and Tyshawn Taylor (who was way more interested in fouling than scoring) didn't make a single one.
Deepest bench in the country? Against good competition (which has been woefully lacking in quantity thus far in their non-conference season), I've yet to see it. They better find it fast, because Jan. 30 isn't that far away.
Current Kansas State AP Ranking = 11
Current Kansas State ESPN/USA Today Ranking = 10
Current Kansas State Record = 13-1
Current Kansas State RPI = 6
Current Kansas State SOS = 26
Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton, Xavier, UNLV
Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI, Washington State, Alabama
Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none
- Loyola (11-3, 2-2) | RPI = 68
- Western Illinois (6-8, 0-4) | RPI = 323
- Boston (5-8, 0-1) | RPI = 149
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No. 14 Ole Miss (12-2) | RPI = 45
- Dayton (11-3) | RPI = 24
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IUPUI (10-7, 3-1) | RPI = 68: Loss to Ohio (63-62)
- No. 13* FHSU (11-1)
- Washington State (11-3, 1-1) | RPI = 72
- Xavier (8-5) | RPI = 42
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UNLV (12-3, 0-1) | RPI = 32: Loss at No. 25 BYU (77-73)
- Alabama (10-4) | RPI = 69
- UAPB (1-11, 1-0) | RPI = 220
- Cleveland State (5-10, 1-2) | RPI = 186
- South Dakota (6-7) | RPI = 252
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Missouri (12-3) | RPI = 70: Win over Savannah State (74-45)
- Texas A&M (11-3) | RPI = 22
- Colorado (9-5) | RPI = 217
- No. 2 Texas (14-0) | RPI = 13
- Oklahoma State (12-2) | RPI = 36
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Baylor (12-1) | RPI = 61: Win over Morgan State (79-63)
- No. 1 Kansas (14-0) | RPI = 7: Win over Cornell (71-66)
- Nebraska (12-3) | RPI = 99
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Iowa State (10-4) | RPI = 138: Loss to No. 5 Duke (86-65)
- Oklahoma (9-5) | RPI = 112
- No. 20 Texas Tech (12-2) | RPI = 33
*Division II Top 25