(Courtesy K-State Sports Information)
Nine national television games, including Big Monday tilts with Kansas and West Virginia, highlight the Big 12 Conference portion of the Kansas State men’s basketball released on Thursday by league officials.
For the second year in a row, Big 12 teams will play an 18-game round-robin schedule, while welcoming conference newcomers TCU and West Virginia to the fold. The Wildcats, who are coming off their sixth consecutive 20-win season and 26th NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011-12, will play home-and-home contests with all nine conference foes for just the second time since the Big Eight era. In all, the squad will play 10 games against teams that advanced to the postseason in 2011-12, including five in Bramlage Coliseum.
“This will be my first go-around in the Big 12, but it looks as good as league in the country,” said first-year head coach Bruce Weber. “Six of the 10 teams were in the NCAA Tournament last year and the league could be even better as both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, who were close last year, will be much improved squads. Our team has a lot of opportunities over the next few months to improve and compete in such an outstanding league.”
All but one of K-State’s 18 conference contests will be on one of the Big 12’s family of television partners, including nine on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. The league previously announced that the Wildcats’ games with archrival and national runner-up Kansas (Feb. 11, 8 p.m.) and former head coach Bob Huggins’ West Virginia team (Feb. 18, 8 p.m.) will be featured on ESPN’s Big Monday broadcast.
The television package also includes three appearances each on ESPN2 and ESPNU, while the Feb. 9 home game with Iowa State (5 p.m.) could appear on either ESPN or ESPN2. The contest with the Cyclones will be the first five straight against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats will host Texas on Jan. 30 (8 p.m.) on ESPN2, while their road contests against Oklahoma on Feb. 2 (5 p.m.) and Baylor on March 2 (6 p.m.) will also appear on the network. In addition, the Jan. 16 game at TCU (8 p.m.) and home contests with Baylor on Feb. 16 (6 p.m.) and Texas Tech on Feb. 25 (6 p.m.) will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The Wildcats will also have eight regular season games broadcast as a part of the Big 12 Conference Television network, beginning with the home opener against Oklahoma State on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 12:30 p.m. Other Big 12 Network games include home games with Oklahoma (Jan. 19, 3 p.m.), Kansas (Jan. 22, 7 p.m.) and TCU (March 5, 7 p.m.) and road tilts at West Virginia (Jan. 12, 12:30 p.m.), Iowa State (Jan. 26, 12:30 p.m.), Texas Tech (Feb. 5, 7 p.m.) and Oklahoma State (March 9, 12:30 p.m.).
The lone game not selected for one of the Big 12 television platforms was the Saturday, Feb. 23 contest at Texas. Its game time as well as those for several non-conferences games will be released at a later date, along with the third-tier television package.
The Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship will be held Wednesday through Saturday, March 13-16 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
Weber’s squad returns 12 lettermen, including seven players with starting experience, in 2012-13. The group is headlined by two-time All-Big 12 performer Rodney McGruder (15.8 ppg., 5.2 rpg.) and fellow Big 12 All-Defensive Team member Jordan Henriquez (7.6 ppg., 2.4 bpg.) as well as senior guard Martavious Irving (5.5 ppg., 1.5 apg.).
K-State made its fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last five seasons in 2011-12, as the Wildcats posted a 22-11 overall record and earned a tie for fifth place in the Big 12 standings with a 10-8 mark. It was the school’s unprecedented sixth consecutive 20-win season and sixth straight trip to the postseason.
The Wildcats are currently in the midst of a 10-day trip to Brazil, which runs until August 17 with five games in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The squad plays its first game on Friday at 3 p.m. CT against Sao Jose Dos Campos.
