K-State Q&A: How long can the Wildcats remain atop Big 12 basketball standings?

It’s time for another K-State Q&A.

The Wildcats are surprisingly tied for first place in the Big 12 standings of both men’s and women’s basketball, so this week’s mailbag is understandably dominated by questions about those teams. But we’ve also got some good football topics to cover.

Let’s dive in. Thanks, as always, for your participation.

Are we certain this is the same team I watched against Chicago State? Really excited to see us against Texas Tech! - @Weebs____ via X

The beautiful thing about college basketball is that a team can look absolutely dreadful in one game and then look like world beaters the next time it takes the court.

Case in point: K-State had to sweat for 40 minutes against Chicago State and then whipped UCF by 25 in its conference opener. As if that wasn’t enough of a surprise, the Knights then turned around and beat Kansas this week.

Always expect the unexpected.

Credit the Wildcats for turning things around and taking care of business in their first two Big 12 games. This version of the Jerome Tang’s team looks nothing like the squad that barely survived against Oral Roberts, North Alabama and Chicago State or the squad that lost to USC, Miami and Nebraska (though that Huskers loss is starting to look more understandable).

What changed? Look inside. David N’Guessan and Will McNair are starting to give K-State consistent play down low, and that has made a world of difference as they help the big three of Cam Carter, Arthur Kaluma and Tylor Perry. The bigs are no longer just doing a bunch of little things like setting screens and boxing out. They are now filling up the stat sheet with impressive numbers.

The Wildcats have put themselves in a great position at the start of league play, and they can strengthen their position atop the standings with upcoming games against the two other teams with undefeated conference records — Texas Tech and Baylor.

Starting 3-1 or 4-0 would put the Wildcats on track to reach the NCAA Tournament and maybe even compete for a conference title.

Fans are allowed to dream at the moment.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. K-State started 2-0 against arguably the two worst teams in the conference. Things are about to get much harder. The Wildcats are probably due for a bad performance at some point soon. Good as they have looked lately, they still rank 74th in NET, 57th at Ken Pom and 55th at Torvik.

Torvik is currently giving K-State less than a 1% of winning the Big 12.

That seems a bit low. I would put the number closer to 10% or at least 5% until the Wildcats lose a game.

In any case, K-State has looked much better since conference play began. It’s time to see how long they can sustain this winning streak.

Two games into Big 12 play, what’s your men’s and women’s prediction and MVP for Big 12 play and the person whose play has to exceed expectations for the Cats to play longer in the NCAA tournament? - bfullingt1 via X

My conference prediction for Jerome’s Tang team is 10-8.

Great as it is that the Wildcats are off to a 2-0 start, they have benefited from playing two pushovers. They still have to play Iowa State twice, Kansas twice, BYU twice and also go to places like Houston, Texas and Cincinnati.

Losses are unavoidable in this conference. The schedule is simply too difficult to expect wins on most nights.

I think we can all agree that K-State had a stronger team last season with Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson leading the way. Well, that group only went 11-7 in the Big 12. Going 10-8 this year would be a nice accomplishment.

The MVP is Cam Carter, because of his versatility as a scorer and his consistency in all other areas.

But I think the most important player moving forward might be David N’Guessan. The senior forward has been on a tear over the past four games, and the Wildcats have won all four. Coincidence? I think not.

On the women’s side, let’s go with 14-4.

That could be good enough to put Jeff Mittie’s team in the conversation for a Big 12 championship, depending on how they play against Baylor and Texas.

Ayoka Lee is the MVP. Give me Gabby Gregory as another important contributor.

How is it that we can win four games in a row and still not make into the projected field at Bracketology? - Andrew B. via e-mail

Unfortunately, none of the teams that K-State has recently beaten rank all that highly in any ratings system.

That is why the next two games are important. Beating Texas Tech on the road or Baylor at home would improve K-State’s tournament profile.

Joe Lunardi currently has K-State in his “next four out” category, which means he thinks the Wildcats have work to do to reach March Madness. But they are on the bubble and they will get many opportunities to prove themselves in the Big 12.

Is there any chance that Conor Riley and Matt Wells will split play-calling duties next season? - Jeff M. via e-mail

No, I don’t think so.

Riley did a radio interview late last week and said he would continue calling the plays next season. So it seems like the Wildcats have made their decision on that front.

It’s possible that Wells will be asked for special input in certain situations and have the opportunity to suggest plays from time to time. But it sure seems like Riley is the offensive coordinator and Wells is the QB coach, despite holding the title of co-coordinator.

So after tonight, can I send you a box of any flavor Pop Tarts to “accidentally” miss going to the K-State game in Lawrence? -@snflwr66 via X

I’ve had enough Pop-Tarts for a while.

If K-State fans want me to stay home because there is a small chance that it will bring good luck to the K-State men’s basketball team when the Wildcats hit the road then I am going to need something better than toasted pastries.

But I am open to other suggestions. Bribe away!

In all seriousness, let’s get this out of the way right now. There is no such thing as a jinx.

To borrow a line from our former columnist Sam Mellinger, if jinxes were a real thing then flight attendants wouldn’t welcome you to a city while you were still in the air.

I will admit, it’s interesting that the K-State men’s basketball team has played extremely well the past two times I was unable to cover a Big 12 road game in person. Last year, I sat out a road trip to Texas and the Wildcats scored 116 points as I watched from home. Earlier this week, K-State beat West Virginia 81-67 while I was stuck under inches of snow in Manhattan.

A fun coincidence? Sure. I laughed when Tang brought it up in his postgame news conference. But I fail to see how my travel woes legitimately helped the Wildcats in those games. Anymore, media seating is nowhere near the floor. The only time we interact with players is after the game.

Besides, if me not attending games was such good luck, then why did Miami blast K-State 91-83 in the Bahamas while I was watching from a thousand miles away?

I am planning to be in Lubbock for the Texas Tech game on Saturday. I will do my best to keep bad voodoo away.

But if K-State loses that game, just remember I am willing to listen to creative offers to stay home in the future.

Enjoy your articles, but one thing in the football grades (last week) struck me a bit ... Let’s not forget the win over KU was when they played the entire game with a third string true freshman quarterback who had maybe a dozen snaps at the college level before the game. - Steve H. via e-mail

I stand by my selection.

For my money, K-State’s rivalry win over Kansas was the best football victory of the season for the Wildcats, even though the Jayhawks were playing with Cole Ballard at quarterback instead of Jason Bean or Jalon Daniels.

KU finished the season ranked in the top 25, the win came on the road and it was the final game played at the old Memorial Stadium. It’s hard to top that.

The only other choice would be the Pop-Tarts Bowl. I understand if you think beating North Carolina State on a neutral field was more impressive than winning at KU. But the Sunflower Showdown was more meaningful, so that’s why I chose it.

I would also like to point out that the Jayhawks deployed an amazing game plan on offense that night. Former OC Andy Kotelnicki called one of the best games I have ever seen and had K-State completely out of sorts with wildcat looks and other exotic plays. The Wildcats didn’t adjust until midway through the second half. Who knows what things would have looked like with Bean at QB, but I don’t think the backup QB hurt them.

Also: K-State only played against five starting quarterbacks all season. It was a weird year of injuries.

What the heck are you doing with your grading? Reality check. Offense = B-. Check out the close losses and mismanagement. Mizzou, Texas, ISU? I am being kind with a B- should be a C+. D=C at best. Just look at the tackling and the ISU game to mention one of many. The points allowed are at best a D, coordinator issue. Coaching = C+ and you give them a B+? I mean that is just not a fairly written deal. - Dennis S. via e-mail

I’m genuinely surprised my Year in Review for the football team generated this kind of feedback ... for being too positive!

Come on fellas, the Wildcats had some good wins and (all things considered) a successful season in 2023. K-State entered the year with an over/under wins total of 7.5 and it ended up going 9-4 with a victory in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. The Cats also finished third in the Big 12 and ended up ranked in the top 25.

None of those things are easy to do.

For that reason, I think the Wildcats deserve better grades than C’s and D’s.

Could things have gone better? Sure. But let’s not forget that all four of the Wildcats’ losses came by single digits. They lost at Missouri by three, at Oklahoma State by eight and at Texas in overtime before falling by seven at home to Iowa State.

Close games are filled with variance. If the Tigers don’t connect on a 61-yard field goal at the buzzer and the Longhorns don’t defend a pass into the end zone on the final play, then the Wildcats finish 11-2 and we’re talking about straight A’s.