Kansas State ended their season with a bang by upsetting No. 6 Iowa State at home on senior day. This was a very important win for the Wildcats because not only does it improve their resume as they try and sneak into March Madness, but it secured them a first-round bye in the Big 12 Tournament. The Wildcats will be the 10-seed in the tournament and will face seven-seed Texas in the second round.
Kansas State with a loss could have seen themselves playing on the first day of the tournament, making it that much harder for them to move deeper into the tournament. Because the Wildcats won only one of their last three games instead of two or three, they finished their regular season under .500 by just one game.
In the meantime... we have an OFFICIAL bracket for the 2024 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship. pic.twitter.com/xzXcBrhe6Y
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 10, 2024
Kansas State will need a deep Big 12 Tournament run to help improve their resume to get into March Madness. At the moment, 2024 Bracketology has Kansas State in the "Win here, then win again" category, which means the Wildcats will need to win at least two games in the Big 12 Tournament to be considered for the NCAA Tournament. That would mean Kansas State needs to upset thier first opponent, seven-seed Texas, and then upset their next opponent, which would be two-seed Iowa State, who they just beat.
The Wildcats will have the advantage with the Big 12 Tournament being in Kansas City, MO, just a couple hours from Manhattan where they will be able to take the bus and hopefully have a solid fan base to be a sixth man in the stands.
The Big 12 Tournament is set to start Tuesday, March 12, but of course, with the first-round bye, Kansas State won't play until Wednesday, March 13.