Dec 17, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas State Wildcats guard Coleman Hawkins (33) looks to pass against Drake Bulldogs guard Tavion Banks (6) during the second half at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images December is packed with enjoyable, emotional college basketball rivalries from coast to coast. The only person I see trying to end one of these series is Jerome Tang.
Kansas State hasn’t exactly been on top of the world since its surprise run to the Elite Eight in 2022-23, Tang’s first season. The Wildcats went 6-5 in non-conference play, punctuated by their worst game of the year on a trip to Wichita State that yielded an 84-65 collapse.
Tang, in the name of control over his non-conference schedule, claimed playing the Shockers “doesn’t do anything for us” and may not be part of his future plans.
“I know it’s important,” he said. “Our fans enjoy it and their fans enjoy it. But if it’s not going to help us improve as a program and put us in a better position, I don’t know that it’s something that I necessarily want to do.”
It’s a shame he decided to air this opinion after Wichita State handed K-State a beating, a game in which star transfer Coleman Hawkins only shot 2-for-9 and the Shockers out-rebounded the Wildcats 42-38.
You may understand the calculus at play. What do the Wildcats get from beating a mid-major team they’re supposed to beat? Isn’t there all risk and no reward?
This may stun you, but there’s more to running a college program than counting wins and losses.
Fans are still thinking about football in November and early December, so if you’re like Tang and you schedule mostly cream puffs, local engagement and game attendance could dip. Rivalry games may mean less to players in the era of unlimited free transfers, but fan bases remember history.
Rutgers fans still want to beat Princeton. Providence fans still want to beat Rhode Island. Maryland and Georgetown fans have clamored for their programs to pick their series back up, and next season they will.
In the first two examples above, the school from the more prestigious league lost to their rival this month, but you didn’t hear coaches Steve Pikiell or Kim English talk about taking their ball and going home.
“We’ll play them anytime,” Pikiell said after Princeton beat Rutgers 83-82, the Tigers’ second straight win since the series was renewed.
Contrast that with Tang, who’s gone from standing on the scorer’s table after upsetting Kansas and dropping the defiant line, “From here on out, expect to win,” to much more of a loser’s mentality in short order.
As one K-State fan wrote in response, “Translation: ‘They’re not a power conference team and there’s a good chance they will continue to beat us when I am the coach.’”
If Tang had his way, instead of inviting the Shockers to Manhattan next season, he’d fill that date on the schedule with a certain win like Mississippi Valley State.
Wait—Kansas State already played and beat Mississippi Valley State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff this year, literally the two worst teams in all of D1 basketball according to KenPom.com. I’m sure fans were thrilled.
In a sport increasingly affected by football-driven conference realignment and other changes, local rivalries serve as college basketball’s lifeblood. Most people in charge understand this. Let’s hope Tang figures that out while he still has a prominent job.