South Florida Men’s Basketball vs. WSU

Nine first-place votes made Wichita State the American's preseason pick for the first time since the Shockers joined the league in 2017. Paul Mills, now in his fourth season, has raised the win total every year, from 15 to 19 to 24, and last season's team finished second, reached the conference tournament final and then the NIT quarterfinals. Will Berg, a 7-foot-2 center and the league's reigning Sixth Man of the Year, made the preseason first team. The title-game loss came against South Florida, which coaches picked third.