Kansas State question of the week: Which five games will make or break Big 12 play in 2024?
On Tuesday the Big 12 released its 2023-2024 basketball schedule. While the opponents were already known, now the dates and times are attached to the Kansas State league contests. Now with each piece of the puzzle, it is easier to make assumptions on the season.
Jerome Tang enters his second season as the head coach at K-State.
The Wildcats were college basketball darlings and a major surprise in the Big 12. If they want a successful encore in 2023 they will have to navigate the toughest league in the country. But which are the toughest and most important games for 2024’s basketball season?
When it comes to dissecting a basketball schedule you have to factor in not just the opponent, but also the location, time and previous game’s situation.
The Big 12 opener against UCF? Not the toughest or most important of games to start the conference slate for Kansas State. A home game against a mediocre team doesn’t mean much and should be a comfortable win for a team with tournament aspirations.
Early tests at Texas Tech and at home against Baylor come close to meeting the criteria. Lubbock is always a tough place to play, but there was a regime change and questions on talent. For the Bears, they come to Manhattan after being swept by the Wildcats last season.
The first two games that will define the season for K-State actually come in the same week.
Kansas State will spend the final week of January on the road. The week starts with a Wednesday matchup at Iowa State. Hilton Coliseum can be a house of horrors for any team, but a win will be important for the Wildcats as the week gets tougher during the weekend.
The Wildcats head to Houston on Saturday to face new perennial power in Houston. The Fertitta Center isn’t a tough place for road teams to play, aside from the top 10 teams that will be waiting for them. This game also stings as it is a road-only opponent this season, meaning K-State doesn’t get the benefit of facing one of the Big 12’s best in Bramlage Coliseum.
After what is likely a two-game tune-up stretch against the Oklahoma schools, the Wildcats will have a true Big Monday. That is when Kansas State will meet Kansas for the first time in 2024. Last season the true arrival moment for the Jerome Tang era was the home overtime win over the second-ranked Jayhawks.
While losses will happen, the energy and expectation with Tang is about taking care of business, no matter the opponent. How the Wildcats fare at home against the Jayhawks to start February will say a lot about what the last month of 2024 will look like.
Kansas State basketball coach Jerome Tang gestures during one of his team’s games in the NCAA Tournament on March 19, 2023. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
The next major challenge on the schedule is the final road trip to Austin for the Wildcats. It is the second Big Monday game of the season for K-State and comes after a quick turnaround when they will play a physical TCU team on the Saturday before.
Combining a physical opponent and a short turnaround against a top 25 team can be a tricky spot. A win in Austin for the third straight season sets up nicely to finish the year.
The final defining moment of 2024 will come in the next to last regular season game. A late-in-the-season trip to Allen Fieldhouse to face Kansas. Last year the Allen Avalanche came early for the Wildcats and Jerome Tang got a technical foul for telling the refs “we aren’t doing this tonight.”
Kansas State hasn’t won in Lawrence since 2006 and, despite some closer contests in the last handful of years, they have mostly been non-competitive there. One other thing that makes this game impactful is what will be at stake.
Possibly not for K-State, but Kansas could be in position to clinch the Big 12 title with a win. You don’t want to be there for that if you’re Nae’Qwan Tomlin, Arthur Kaluma, Tylor Perry and the Wildcats
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