ATLANTA — Stop if you’ve heard this before: media members aren’t high on Kansas State.
The Wildcats were picked to finish eighth in the Big 12 preseason poll. They proved those doubters wrong by tying for fourth alongside TCU.
Now, K-State will try to silence its critics again.
Three different national outlets “reseeded” every team remaining in the NCAA Tournament with the Sweet 16 beginning Thursday. All three outlets — ESPN, Sporting News and NCAA.com — ranked K-State dead-last heading into its matchup with Kentucky in Atlanta.
A sampling of the responses:
“If Kansas State duplicates Sunday’s effort, however, when it faces Kentucky in the Sweet 16, Bruce Weber’s team will lose by 20-plus,” wrote ESPN.com’s Myron Medcalf, referring to K-State’s 50-43 victory over UMBC, when it won despite hitting just one 3-pointer and committing 18 turnovers.
“One team had to be at the bottom of these rankings,” wrote NCAA.com’s Andy Katz, “and the Wildcats knocked off the weakest opponent and scored the fewest points.”
The most dismissive publication of K-State’s chances was Sporting News. Mike DeCourcy gave K-State no shot at reaching the Final Four.
“No team ever got the chance to play a 16-seed in a second-round game before, and the Wildcats almost blew it,” DeCourcy wrote. “They might have a shot at Kentucky if Dean Wade is able to play, and if Kentucky is freaked out by the stage, but it’s tough to see K-State winning two more.”
Weber said he wasn’t sure if his players saw any of the articles when they were first published. But he made sure they didn’t remain in the dark.
It never hurts to have more motivation.
“We put it up on the board,” Weber said Wednesday. “Obviously the game was ugly the other day, but I don’t think people appreciate what UMBC did to Virginia. You’re talking the best team in the country for most of the year, and that team was tough to play.
“How our guys played to exhaustion, how their guys played to exhaustion, obviously it wasn’t the prettiest game. And I’m sure that’s how people would rate you off of that thing, but again, I’m proud of our guys and what they’ve done and how they’ve fought.”
Weber also thought he knew the reason he team brought up the rear in all three rankings: The writers fixated on offense.
K-State is averaging 59.5 points per game through two rounds of the tournament; the only team averaging less is Syracuse at 57.3. The difference is, the Orange have played three games.
And they knocked off one of the championship favorites, No. 3 seed Michigan State, on Sunday.
So Weber understands why so few have so little faith in his team.
But they should, he said, believe in K-State’s defense.
“We’re No. 1 in the defensive ratings, defensive efficiency, points per game, I believe,” he said. “So that always given you a chance, and they’ve bought into that, done what the coaches have asked, and that’s why we’ve had a successful season. That’s why we’re here.”
Sophomore Xavier Sneed said the slights haven’t affected him.
“We have the same mentality for every game: We really don’t pay attention to outside things or anything like that,” he said. “So we just stay locked into our scouting reports, of course, and just come in focused for the game.”
For junior guard Kamau Stokes, the trio of last-place prognostications simply makes the “chip on their shoulder” more like a boulder.
“We’ve been doubted all year, and now it’s at the point where we’ve proven that we can play with anybody,” he said. “Now we’ve just got to prove it once more.”
Junior forward Dean Wade wryly alluded to the lack of respect as well, saying the run to the Sweet 16 shows “we really are actually a pretty good team, contrary to what other people believe.”
And he’s heard what the team’s naysayers have written or said, too.
“You still hear people doubting us,” Wade said. “We’re in the Sweet 16, but (criticism) happens. You can’t listen to them. But it’s big for our program and hopefully we keep it going for a couple more days.”
In the meantime, junior guard Barry Brown said K-State will slip back into the role it’s made its calling card this season.
“It’s not the first time we’ve been an underdog,” he said. “We were picked eighth in our league, 16th out of 16 teams now, so it’s something we’re used to. It’s something we’ll use to add fuel to the fire.”
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