Bob Lutz: Who do you like – or hate? Kansas or Wichita State

OMAHA – Let’s be honest, Kansas doesn’t want to acknowledge anyone, let alone Wichita State, as a threat to its basketball kingdom.

It’s not comfortable for the Jayhawks, who have ruled this great basketball state in college hoops for generations.

Occasionally Kansas State steps up. WSU has had its moments. But it’s Kansas that represents basketball in Kansas. It’s the Jayhawks’ turf. And when Wichita State and Kansas meet Sunday afternoon at the CenturyLink Center with a trip to Cleveland and the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 on the line, KU will take on its typical role as Goliath.

But this David guy is pretty strong, too.

The Shockers get their shot. At Kansas, at a Sweet 16, at another potentially long tournament run.

Meanwhile, Shocker fans are tired of hearing about Kansas. It’s Kansas this and Kansas that. STOP TALKING ABOUT KANSAS!

The aura of KU superiority is vast. Shocker fans believe their Jayhawk counterparts are smug. Jayhawk fans regard Wichita State fans as bitter and envious. These are generalizations, of course, but they fly.

For programs that haven’t met in 22 years and have played only 14 times in history, there sure is a lot of angst.

“I’m friends with a lot of KU fans having lived in Lawrence for 10 years,” said Lawrence Journal-World sports editor and columnist Tom Keegan. “And the common thing they kept saying and texting to me this week was that they thought Indiana was going to beat Wichita State. Because they don’t like being nervous when they watch games, they like blowouts. I think Wichita State makes them nervous.”

You’d never get a Kansas fan to admit that, though. Not unless you forced truth serum into them between their sips of expensive wine.

Wichita State drinks beer out of a bottle.

The Shockers have won 150 games the past five seasons, but a Kansas fan will tell you it’s because they play in the Missouri Valley Conference.

Kansas has a string of 11 straight Big 12 championships, but a Wichita State fan will point out that the Shockers have been to a Final Four more recently than the Jayhawks.

The insults go back and forth.

The truth is, these are two excellent basketball programs with outstanding coaches and players.

Of course Kansas has more tradition than Wichita State. Kansas has more tradition than almost anyone.

But if the Shockers haven’t attained KU’s blue-blood status, isn’t their blood at least turning some shade of aqua?

Kansas coach Bill Self, a villain to some Shocker fans because of his refusal to put Wichita State on KU’s schedule, was effusive about the Shockers on the eve of the showdown.

“It’s one thing to have a great team, but it’s a totally different thing to have a great program,” Self said. “And they’ve got a great program. They’re going to be in the game every year and I think that’s obviously a compliment to Gregg (Marshall) and his staff, but also a compliment to how hard his players work. There is obviously a culture there that will remain intact for years to come.”

I disagree with Self on scheduling Wichita State. I think the Jayhawks and Shockers should figure out a way to play each other every season, whether it’s at Allen Fieldhouse, Koch Arena, the Sprint Center, Intrust Bank Arena or one of Saturn’s 53 moons.

Some agree with me. Others don’t care if KU and Wichita State ever play.

Marshall wants a series with KU, but on his terms. Self doesn’t want to play the Shockers regularly because he doesn’t think Kansas has anything to gain and much to lose.

There is a stalemate that will probably not be broken.

Unless, maybe, Self has an epiphany Sunday that playing Wichita State will not threaten inhabitants of Lawrence, Johnson County or greater Kansas City.

It’s only basketball.

The way KU fans feel about Wichita State – if there are any feelings at all – will change Sunday, most likely. I suspect a lot of them haven’t seen much of the Shockers because, unlike Kansas, their games aren’t on a perpetual national television loop.

Many people, including Wichita State radio analyst Dave Dahl, believe this KU-WSU game was a setup by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to finally break the ice that has been forming since the last time the two teams met 22 years ago.

Dahl contends the Shockers (29-4) were vastly underseeded at No. 7 in the Midwest Regional and that they were sent to Omaha, where Kansas is a No. 2, with the hope of this game finally materializing. Those little selection committee devils.

“I’m happy this game is taking place and looking forward to it,” Dahl said.

Most Shocker fans are. They love having the opportunity to stick it to Kansas and if Wichita State falls short, well, the Shockers were an underdog.

But a loss would, in the minds of many KU fans, put WSU back in its place, which is in a sound-proof room in a third-story closet. This Shocker ruckus has to stop.

OK, OK, you went to a Final Four two years ago. Life is full of flukes. We’re Kansas. We’re no flukes.

Kansas is making its 44th NCAA Tournament appearance and its 26th in a row. The Jayhawks recruit the best high school players in the country. They look at McDonald’s All-Americans and work their way up.

The Shockers should be happy to eat at McDonald’s, or so some KU fans would have you think.

The coaches spoke glowingly about one another and the teams they will be coaching against during Saturday afternoon’s news conferences. The players were respectful of one another and wouldn’t be drawn into the war waging among the fan bases.

There are those who like both Kansas and Wichita State and their lives are less complicated. They need to be acknowledged and admired, even, because they will not suffer. No matter the winner Sunday, they will be pleased.

In a way, though, that’s not right. It’s not fair. Everyone should pick a side and be a part of this skirmish.

These fan bases don’t like one another. The vitriol has been years in the making.

Even Self acknowledged feeling a heightened level of anticipation.

“I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I think there are certain games that are big and I think this is one of those games that’s bigger.”

Good luck to both teams Sunday. And to their fans. This is a great game for college basketball and for Kansas. Stop the hating and pat one another on the back.

OK, maybe that’s asking too much.

This story was originally published March 21, 2015 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Who do you like – or hate? Kansas or Wichita State."