No. 11 Kansas State aims to continue ascent under Tang

The gains have come quickly for Kansas State under new coachJerome Tang.

The 11th-ranked Wildcats haven’t lost in more than a month andturned two road wins against ranked Big 12 teams last week intoMonday’s headline-grabbing debut in the national rankings. Theyplay Tuesday against Oklahoma State and then visit No. 17 TCU onSaturday as part of the national AP Top 25 schedule with theirfirst ranking since the 2018-19 season.

“I am very happy for our fans and for our players and for ourstaff,” Tang said at a news conference Monday. “Our goal wasn’t tobe a ranked team, but it is pretty cool that long the journey ithappened.”

Tang had spent 19 seasons at Baylor before taking over at KansasState, a program picked to finish last in the 10-team Big 12. Butthe Wildcats (14-1) dropped 116 points in a win at now-No. 10 Texasand claimed a high-scoring overtime win at Baylor last week,matching the program’s best start since the 1958-59 season.

While teams have gone from unranked to the top 10 before, NCAAdirector of media coordination and statistics David Worlock saidKansas State is the first to go from unranked to as high as No. 11after the turn of a new year.

Keyontae Johnson averages a team-high 18.8 points, while No. 2scorer Markquis Nowell posted two huge performances (36 pointsagainst Texas, 32 against Baylor) in last week’s wins. Kansas Stateenters the week with eight straight wins and its first 3-0 start inBig 12 play since the 2012-13 season, and has already matched lastseason’s win total in Bruce Weber’s final year.

BIG 12

The Big 12 is tied with the Southeastern Conference for the mostranked teams with five each, and Kansas State isn’t the only one ofthose meeting Top 25 opponents. The Longhorns host TCU onWednesday, while No. 2 Kansas hosts No. 14 Iowa State onSaturday.

SEC

Fourth-ranked Alabama has moved to the top of the SEC’s rankedteams, just ahead of Tennessee in the Volunteers’ first appearancethis season inside the top 5. The Crimson Tide visit No. 15Arkansas on Wednesday for the week’s top matchup, though theVolunteers have a noteworthy Saturday visit from unrankedKentucky.

BIG EAST

No. 25 Marquette joined No. 19 Providence as the Big East’s twoadditions to Monday’s latest poll. The Golden Eagles won’t have aneasy week back in the AP Top 25 schedule with Wednesday’s visitfrom sixth-ranked Connecticut and Sunday’s trip to No. 12Xavier.

AT THE TOP

Houston, which is back at No. 1 for the second time this season,has a light week. The Cougars host South Florida on Wednesday, thendon’t play again until visiting Tulane on Jan. 17.

WATCH LIST

Clemson is the unexpected leader of the Atlantic CoastConference and sitting just outside the AP Top 25. The Tigers(13-3, 5-0 ACC) host two-win Louisville on Wednesday before gettinga marquee matchup with No. 24 Duke on Saturday, and a win againstthe Blue Devils could be enough to push the Tigers into the pollfor the first time in two years.

There’s also Florida Atlantic (14-1, 4-0 Conference USA), whichenters the week with the nation’s second-longest winning streak at13 games. Dusty May’s Owls visit Florida International on Wednesdaythen host North Texas on Saturday as they chase the program’sfirst-ever appearance in the AP Top 25 poll.

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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter athttp://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap