Opinions differ on Kansas State’s outlook ahead of NCAA Tournament bracket reveal
Ismael Massoud doesn’t have any clue about where the Kansas State men’s basketball team will end up when the NCAA Tournament unveils its 68-team bracket on Sunday. Nor does he really care.
That is the beauty of winning 23 games and locking up a favorable seed at the end of a stellar regular season. You don’t have to sweat on Selection Sunday.
“It’s a new season,” said Massoud, a K-State junior forward. “Coach (Jerome) Tang preaches going 1-0 every time, every game, every possession. So we just have to do that in order to survive and advance. That is the only thing that we are looking forward to.”
The rest of us have the next two days to try and accurately predict what seed the Wildcats will earn in their first March Madness appearance since 2019, as well as where they will play in the opening rounds.
Will they end up as a No. 3 seed? Did losing a quarterfinal game in the Big 12 Tournament drop them to a No. 4 seed? Is there any chance they will open the NCAA Tournament within a few hours of Manhattan in either Denver or Des Moines, Iowa? And what about a spot in the Midwest Region, where T-Mobile Center will host Sweet 16 games?
For now, nobody knows the answers to those questions. But myriad bracket projections have painted a picture of where K-State will likely land.
Bracket Matrix, a web site that compiles more than 100 bracket projections into a single consensus, listed the Wildcats as a No. 3 seed as of Saturday morning. That means that K-State will likely end up on the three line with some favorable outcomes in other conference tournaments this weekend. But it could also drop to a No. 4 seed if the wrong teams keep winning.
A quick rundown of teams that K-State fans might want to start cheering against: Marquette, Xavier, Indiana and Virginia.
The two most popular bracket projections have differing opinions on the Wildcats.
Jerry Palm, of CBS Sports, has K-State as a No. 3 seed in the East Region with Columbus, Ohio as the site of its pod. Its opening round opponent is Kennessaw State.
Joe Lunardi, of ESPN, thinks the Wildcats are more likely to earn a No. 4 seed in the East Region with Albany, New York serving as the host site of their opening game against Toledo.
Teams that advance in the East Region will play for a regional championship in Madison Square Garden.
Beginning the NCAA Tournament in places like Albany or Columbus would be a bummer for most K-State fans, who have been crossing their fingers for an assignment in Denver or Des Moines all season. Losing two games in the past week may have ended that dream.
But a nearby trip could still be on the table. The selection committee had K-State higher than most experts when it listed the Wildcats as a No. 3 seed on a mid-season bracket preview last month. Perhaps it will happen again.
K-State players aren’t focused on what may or may not happen. One way or another, they think they will end up in a good spot.
“It’s a new experience for me,” K-State point guard Markquis Nowell said. “I’m excited I get to experience it with the people I love the most, these guys, and make a deep tournament run.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2023 at 7:24 AM with the headline "Opinions differ on Kansas State’s outlook ahead of NCAA Tournament bracket reveal."