Bid ends two-year postseason drought for Wildcats
Kansas State is back in the NCAA Tournament after a two-year hiatus.
But its path to the Final Four has an additional stop on the schedule.
The Wildcats were one of the last four at-large teams selected to play in the tournament, sending Bruce Weber’s team to Dayton, Ohio for a play-in game against Wake Forest at 8:10 p.m. Tuesday night.
The bid comes as a hard-earned reward for a team that navigated the Big 12 with an 8-10 record, and 20-13 overall. K-State beat No. 9 Baylor to solidify its case in Thursday’s Big 12 quarterfinals before falling to No. 11 West Virginia, 51-50.
Wake Forest, out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, went 19-13 this season with its most notable win coming March 1 against No. 8 Louisville.
If K-State beats the Demon Deacons, the Wildcats would move on to face 6-seed Cincinnati on Friday in Sacramento, Calif.
Rumors continue to swirl about Weber’s future, and playing in the “First Four” round is unlikely to satisfy all of his skeptics, especially if K-State makes an early exit from the tournament. But the road to his redemption has to start somewhere.
Perhaps it’s in Dayton.
