March Madness for Weber, Kansas State Wildcats
By Stan Unruh
For the third time in five seasons Kansas State has won at least 20 games. Thursday night’s Big 12 tourney win over Baylor was impressive.
Bruce Weber’s Wildcats advanced to the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference semifinals with an upset of Baylor. Kansas State beat the Bears for the second straight time.
After the ‘Cats lost by 30 at Oklahoma on February 25, fans were furious and wanted a new Wildcat basketball coach.
A lot has happened since that loss.
First of all, athletic director John Currie surprised us on February 28 with his resignation to return to the University of Tennessee.
That took some pressure off Weber.
They started the month of March with a one-point victory over TCU in Fort Worth. That win over the Frogs was huge and gave the team some confidence.
The game’s winner was likely in the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN Bracketology Expert Joe Lunardi.
As a result, the March 4, Senior Day game was magnified. They desperately needed to end the home court losing streak. They beat Texas Tech 61-48.
Compared to the pre-season 9th place prediction, a sixth-place finish in the incredibly difficult round-robin Big 12 looked good.
Next: Kansas State Beats Bears In Big 12 Tourney
Weber’s team played great defense on Thursday and added a significant win to their NCAA tournament resume.
The outcome of the Big 12 tournament semifinals should not determine their post-season fate.
They beat West Virginia on January 21. How many nationally ranked teams are required to earn a trip to the big dance?
How many of these wins did Weber need to save his job?
Unless we are shocked on Sunday, the Wildcats appear to be heading to the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years.