What could be next for on-the-bubble WSU basketball with both SMU games postponed
The disappointing news that seemed inevitable became official with a 6 p.m. conference announcement Monday: Because of COVID-19 issues within the SMU men’s basketball program, both games scheduled this week against Wichita State have been postponed.
By the time SMU resumes basketball activities, there will only be one week left in the regular season — meaning the games are highly unlikely to be rescheduled. That’s been a common frustration for the Shockers, which have now had conference games postponed nine times this season — none of which have been the result of COVID-19 issues for WSU.
For a WSU team (No. 68 NET) desperately trying to improve its résumé for a potential at-large selection in the NCAA Tournament, losing a potential Quad 1 game at SMU (No. 59 NET) and Quad 2 game at home hurt. The majority of bracketologists currently view the Shockers on the wrong side of the bubble, in part because of a 2-4 record against top-75 teams.
“I talked to the players and they’re disappointed that we’re not going to be able to play,” WSU interim coach Isaac Brown said on his radio show on Monday evening. “We’ve tried to play this (SMU) game four times now. There’s nothing we can do about it. Nothing they can do about it. That’s COVID. These young kids are out there on the front lines and sometimes that happens. It’s disappointing. I wish we could play them, but we’re not able to.”
With both SMU games wiped out on this week’s schedule, there’s now a possibility that WSU could wait 12 days for its next game following last Thursday’s euphoric 68-63 win over then-No. 6 Houston to vault to first place in the American Athletic Conference. WSU’s next scheduled game is March 3 at Tulane.
If no other conference games are added to WSU’s schedule, then two road wins over bottom-tier teams — at Tulane (4-9 AAC) on March 3 and at Temple (3-10 AAC) on March 6 — are all that stands between the Shockers and an outright AAC regular-season championship.
“I talked to the guys about that and told them, ‘Don’t get down when you can’t play teams,’” Brown said. “Just come to practice and control what you can control and continue to get better because you have an opportunity to win a championship. Just play championship basketball every day in practice and continue to get better and control what we can control.”
What comes next for Wichita State?
Brown made it clear on his radio show on Monday evening that Wichita State wants to play at least one game this week, whether that is a rescheduled game assigned by the conference or a nonconference game that WSU schedules itself.
“We’ve been making calls,” Brown said. “I called a school in the Big East and they didn’t want to play. I called someone in the Mountain West and they were unable to play. I think it’s hard for teams to play a nonconference game this late in the season.”
WSU is in a difficult situation.
By most accounts, WSU is directly on the bubble for March Madness. For a team in its position, a Quad 1 win — against either a top-30 NET team at home or top-75 team on the road — could be enough to move the needle. But by seeking out a quality game, the Shockers also expose themselves to the risk of potentially losing and damaging their chances.
“I think you want to play somebody that will help your résumé,” Brown said. “You want to play a good team that’s a valuable game. But in our case, I just don’t want us to get rusty sitting out like that. If we can get a good basketball team to come here for us to play or if we can go on the road and play a good basketball team, it would be good.”
According to a source within the program, WSU is experiencing life in the NCAA food chain in its pursuit of finding a match.
When the Shockers call high-major opponents, they have little interest in playing WSU because they play either a Quad 1 or Quad 2 game nearly every game in their conference schedule. They don’t need to take on additional top-75 opponents like WSU.
When WSU phones the on-the-bubble or conference-leading mid-major teams that do need the extra quality game, the conversation plays out the same each time: come here and play us. So far no team has been interested in playing WSU at Koch Arena, as the mid-majors have tried to leverage WSU’s situation and desire to play into convincing the Shockers to play them on the road.
Brown and WSU’s coaching staff will have to weigh the pros and cons of each situation. Brown said the Shockers are willing to play a road game, but only if the incentive was right. That likely means a high-end Quad 1 opportunity and there are only so many of those and even fewer teams available to fit a nonconference game in on a whim this late in the season.
Would going on the road to play a team that would count as a back-half Quad 1 win (38 to 75 in the NET) move the needle enough for WSU to risk a potential loss? That’s the question Brown and his coaching staff will have to answer this week.
So far, the answer from other coaches has been a resounding no. It seems that other teams fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives have chosen a conservative approach. No team wants to take the risk of going on the road and suffering an unnecessary loss this close to March Madness. However, every team is up for the challenge if they can play at home.
“We’re going to call all around the country to try to get a game on Thursday or Saturday,” Brown said. “It’s going to be really hard to do that. I don’t think any team wants to travel out of conference. We’re calling everybody. We want to get a game at home or a game on the road.
“Hopefully we can find someone, but bottom line if we can’t, then we just have to continue to get better in practice and get ready for those other games.”
This story was originally published February 22, 2021 at 7:46 PM.
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