Why K-State, Wichita State are reviving men’s basketball rivalry after 18 long years
The men’s basketball rivalry between Kansas State and Wichita State has been dormant for so long that geography is about the only thing connecting the teams today.
Bruce Weber has never coached against Isaac Brown. Mike McGuirl has never tried to score against Tyson Etienne. Young K-State fans have never hated the colors black and yellow.
But that doesn’t mean it will take the Wildcats and Shockers long to bring passion back to the in-state series when it resumes at 5 p.m. Sunday at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita.
“This will be something that will go down in history,” K-State sophomore guard Nijel Pack said. “We haven’t played in 18 years. This is just something that would be really good to get on our resume. They are doing really well right now. What are they, 6-1? It would be good to go down there and get a road win.”
There was once a time when K-State and Wichita State were always this fired up. They played just about every year between 1986 and 2003 with games rotating between Bramlage Coliseum and Koch Arena.
K-State won 20 of the first 31 meetings. But then the games stopped. Why? The story goes like this: Former K-State men’s basketball coach Jim Wooldridge thought the Wildcats deserved more home games in the series and pushed for two out of every three rivalry games to be played at Bramlage. That didn’t sit well with former Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon, so the series ended.
Over the past 18 years, there was always talk about reviving the rivalry. Frank Martin and Gregg Marshall were on friendly enough terms to hold closed scrimmages against each other in the late 2000s, but their relationship grew frosty before they could agree to play in front of fans.
Weber and Marshall approached each other about rebooting the rivalry a few times.
“They wanted to play a couple times and we offered to play,” Weber said. “It didn’t work out.
The timing was never right. K-State fans argued they had nothing to gain from a game against the Shockers. Wichita State called the Wildcats scared.
But the Shockers and Wildcats eventually worked things out. They will play four games over the next four years with games scheduled for IBA, T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Koch and Bramlage.
“This is the way it ought to be,” Wichita State athletic director Darron Boatright said. “I think it’s important for basketball in this state. I think regional opponents should play regional opponents that are similar. That’s the way college athletics was intended when it began. We have kind of gotten away from that. This game is a big deal, and I think fans of both teams will treat it as such.”
Boatright is expecting a good crowd on Sunday. Earlier this week, he said Wichita State sold out of student seats and was nearing 11,000 tickets sold overall. Seats remained in the upper deck as of Friday, but the rest of the arena should be filled with a mix of black, yellow and purple.
There is excitement on both sides.
“It’s a great game to play,” K-State athletic director Gene Taylor said. “The better teams you play in the early part of the season, the better chance you have of boosting your RPI. I think the coaches realized that and made it happen. It’s an easy game. It’s right there. We can make some money on it. It should be fun.”
Question is: why did it take both sides so long to view this as a mutually beneficial game?
K-State and Wichita State could have resumed their rivalry at any point over the past 18 years. What is so special about right now?
“It’s good for college basketball and it’s good for our state,” Weber said. “Obviously, if you lose it’s not a good situation, but you have got to play tough games. That’s how you get better. It’s a good game for us right now.”
Perhaps Wichita State switching conferences from the Missouri Valley to the American had something to do with it. Or maybe it’s because for the first time in a long while both teams seem on level footing. Neither team is coming off a Final Four or a Big 12 championship.
Wichita State is currently rated No. 54 by Ken Pomeroy. K-State is currently No. 71.
Boatright said neither team seemed ready for the series to resume until their programs evened out.
“You want to put yourself in a position where when you play someone, regardless of if you win or lose, it doesn’t hurt either program,” Boatright said. “I think that’s where we have been the last several years. We are right in the middle of good basketball. We have been able to play Missouri, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Baylor and we don’t feel like a win or a loss hurts ourselves or hurts them. This game will be no different.”
If all goes well, Boatright can envision K-State and Wichita State returning to a home-and-home series after their next four games.
So can Weber.
“I hope it becomes something that stays for a while,” Weber said, “and that fans enjoy.”
Who knows? Maybe renewing this rivalry will go over so well that the Kansas Jayhawks, who haven’t played the Shockers in the regular season since 1993, consider getting in on the fun by also adding Wichita State to one of their future schedules.
“We’re plugging along pretty well without them,” Boatright said. “But we are here if they ever want to play. Any time they want to play, we will be ready to play.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 12:03 PM.