Kansas State Not on Joe Lunardi’s Bubble After Iowa State Upset
Despite adding a third Top 10 win to an impressive resume, Kansas State was not listed on the bubble in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology update.
Kansas State’s win helped put the Wildcats in position to make a late push for the NCAA Tournament. If the team can go on a run in Kansas City for the Big 12 Tournament, the Wildcats could sneak into the field as the Big 12’s tenth bid.
In Lunardi’s latest update, the Wildcats were listed as the 79th-ranked team, nine spots out of the NCAA Tournament field. With the win over the Cyclones, Jerome Tang’s squad earned their fifth Quad 1 win of the season with wins against Villanova, No. 20 BYU, No. 14 Kansas, No. 11 Baylor, and No. 6 Iowa State. The win also gave the Wildcats a significant boost in the NET to the 71st spot, three places out of the top 68.
Kansas State will have another Quad 1 opportunity on their plate Wednesday against Rodney Terry and the Texas Longhorns in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. While the NET rating isn’t the only metric that influences the Selection Sunday committee’s decision to include a team in the tournament field, it does play a significant factor. Kansas State should have a chance at sneaking into the tournament field if the Wildcats can earn a win over the 25th-ranked team in the NET.
K-State point guard Tylor Perry declared, “We ain’t done,” following the upset win over Iowa State, and now with a path to the NCAA Tournament on the table, only time will tell if his statement is correct.
