Kansas State’s Case for Making the 2024 NCAA Tournament
The Kansas State Wildcats will have to sweat out Selection Sunday after losing to the Iowa State Cyclones in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Thursday night.
And while Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology had the Wildcats on the outside, looking in, on the NCAA Tournament as of Thursday afternoon, that doesn’t mean there still isn’t a strong case to be made for the Wildcats to reach the Big Dance.
Jerome Tang laid out the case for his team after the loss on Thursday night, saying that he believed the Wildcats were in after beating Texas in the second round on Wednesday.
“We have five Quad 1 wins, all five against the top-30 in the NET,” Tang said. “We have six wins against the Top 40 in the net. The opponents that we played against in the non-conference and the conference combined have the ninth best defense in the country and the 35th best offense in the country. So we didn’t play a Powder Puff schedule. We have the number one strength of schedule of all of the bubble teams right now.”
And Tang did the research, or at least his staff did. He said they looked all the different Bracketologies out there and compared themselves to 40 bubble teams.
Another interesting fact working in Kansas State’s favor is that the Wildcats have three Q1A wins and no Q3 or Q4 losses. No team has ever had that resume and missed the NCAA Tournament.
And let’s not forget the age-old blind resume test, which is also always intriguing.
Team A: 18-13, 18th SOS, 3-8 vs. Quad 1, 8-13 vs. Quad 1-2, 39th Non-Con SOS, 3-7 road
Team B: 19-13, 23rd SOS, 5-7 vs. Quad 1, 9-13 vs. Quad 1-2, 223rd Non-Con SOS, 2-8 road
Team C: 22-9, 72nd SOS, 4-6 vs. Quad 1, 8-9 vs. Quad 1-2, 299th Non-Con SOS, 3-8 road
Team A: Michigan State (projected 10 seed)
Team B: Kansas State (bubble)
Team C: Nebraska (projected 9 seed)
Lastly, as is laid out below, Kansas State has some of the most impressive wins of any resume in the country.
The issues for the Wildcats appear to be around the computer ratings, where Kansas State’s KenPom ranking is 70th, while Michigan State and Nebraska are in the Top 30. K-State’s NET ranking is also barely inside the Top 70, while the Spartans and Cornhuskers are in the Top 40.
Here’s the complete video of Tang’s comments, as compiled by our Heartland College Sports reporter Matthew Postins, who is at the Tournament.
