Preseason Predictions For Kansas State Basketball, Per Big 12 Coaches
College basketball is approaching as the season officially begins Nov 4.
Coach Jerome Tang of Kansas State is confident in his team but the rest of the Big 12 coaches have placed them out of the top five on the preseason list according to the Topeka Capital-Journal's Arne Green.
"K-State was picked to finish eighth in the newly expanded 16-team conference leading into Jerome Tang's third season as head coach," Green wrote. "The Wildcats had 133 points, just two behind No. 7 Texas Tech's 135 and five behind sixth-place Cincinnati (140)"
The Big 12 conference is loaded with notable teams like Kansas, Houston, Baylor and Arizona.
"I will say this about our league. The Big 12 is the best basketball league in the country before last year, and then we added the conference champion (Houston)," Tang said. "We were the best basketball league in the country last year and now we've added four schools, one of them that is picked to win the national championship."
"And we have four or five other schools in the league that people are picking to have a chance to win a national championship. So, that's at least six games this year we're going to play against a team that in the preseason people thought had a chance to win a national championship. And so that's what makes it exciting for you as a coach and a competitor."
The Wildcats bring in fifth-year senior Coleman Hawkins, junior Dug McDaniel and eight other new faces to help revamp the basketball program. Tang's team had 15 losses last season.
Time will tell if Kansas State can string together a good year that begins against New Orleans at Bramlage Coliseum on November 5.
Jeremiah Artacho is a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at jeremiahartacho@gmail.com or @JeremiahArtacho on X.
Jeremiah Artacho is a sports journalist who has previous bylines featured in The Sporting News, FanSided.com, Hardwood Houdini, Glory Colorado and Busting Brackets.