Scheduling KU

[ShockerFever]

As Marshall has stated... scoreboard.

I don't care one way or the other. Been there, done that. If they wanna play, cool. If not, scoreboard. The ball is in their court now.

Moving on to more important things like the Sweet 16...

[DUShock]

[WstateU]

[KC Shox]

I didn't see it, but the Senator from Wichita, Michael O'Donnell was interviewed on 610 in KC to discuss legislation of a series between KU and WSU. Yeah, he's brought it up before, but listening to the Senator, he made some comments that made me embarrassed for him. The radio guys picked up on it and found it laughable as well, particularly Mr. O'Donnell's comment of playing the game at the Sprint Center. Two KS teams playing for the benefit of the state of Missouri which gets tax dollars from the game, yeah right.

http://media.610sports.com/a/103624483/03-25-7a-headlines-royals-michael-o-donnell.htm?pageid=491426

[SHOCKvalue]

I didn't see it, but the Senator from Wichita, Michael O'Donnell was interviewed on 610 in KC to discuss legislation of a series between KU and WSU. Yeah, he's brought it up before, but listening to the Senator, he made some comments that made me embarrassed for him. The radio guys picked up on it and found it laughable as well, particularly Mr. O'Donnell's comment of playing the game at the Sprint Center. Two KS teams playing for the benefit of the state of Missouri which gets tax dollars from the game, yeah right.

http://media.610sports.com/a/1036244...?pageid=491426

O'Donnell embarrasses himself on regular basis. You can almost set your watch to it. And I don't say that as someone who is opposed to him politically.

If his district were in E, NE, or NW Wichita he would never be a state rep, but since his district probably turns out a total of 37 people on election day, it is not real hard to grab a seat.

Thankfully, he is not actually a WSU alum, so we do have that card up our sleeve when it comes to defending ourselves.

[shock]

The way I see it, we got our game. Thank you NCAA. We made our point. The ball is in their court. Would I be in favor of a series? Sure. I don't think anyone on here wouldn't be. Should it be clamored about as much? No. Now quit arguing and enjoy this run.

[ShockBand]

I am glad we won, because now it puts us safely and defensibly in the frame of "we don't need to play them to validate ourselves", as if we ever really did. Yes, it would be a fun series for the fans of Kansas, as would a series with K-State. If it happens, the games should only happen at venues inside the state of Kansas. Maybe we could play KU at Bramlage! :)

[kochHead]

I skipped to the end of this thread just to say...

[shockerfan]

As a fan of college basketball, yes the game would be great.

However, WSU is doing just fine without them. Definately nothing to lose sleep over. Especially since nothing I do will change anything.

[Jamar Howard 4 President]

(almost) nothing any of us do will change anything (regarding WSU). Good thing it is a message board where we can talk about it anyway.

[ShockTalk]

Our non-con is not the problem. Would playing KU help it? Certainly, but to do it every year, not that interested. If we also had to play K St as well, then a big no. We can schedule better on our own thank you.

[AZ Shocker]

Sure...let's play 'em every year. Like in the NCAA Tourney!!!!

[im4wsu]

Sure...let's play 'em every year. Like in the NCAA Tourney!!!!

You're assuming they qualify

[Rlh04d]

I care. Many others care as it wouldn't keep coming up if we didn't.

Sure, WSU's basketball program will continue to exist, and even thrive, whether KU gets on the schedule or not. However, that doesn't mean the game wouldn't be fun on a regular basis. KU on the schedule would make for a game to circle on the calendar (as a fan) amongst a bunch of games (Drake, Bradley, Newman, etc.) that are rather ho-hum.

Wouldn't it be fun to turn what has been a non-rivalry and make it an actual rivalry? I loved playing Creighton because we both "hated" them and because they were good. The games were exciting, the wins provided an extra level of excitement, and the losses fueled the fire of the rivalry. To me, regular season games don't get much better than when the Shox line up against a "hated rival", and unfortunately, those are rather lacking at the moment.

Some of you say you don't care one bit, and I believe that may be true in some cases. For others however, I wonder if you are so focused on creating some "internet tough guy" image and "slamming KU through your apathy" that you aren't really being honest about the simple fact that playing KU would be good for WSU and fun for the fans, yourself included.

I think the main thing many cared about in playing Kansas was the opportunity to quiet the "you guys are a cute mid-major" feeling from many in the Kansas fan-base and state media.

Ultimately, whether WSU plays Kansas a split series over the next six years or we don't play each other again once ... that goal has already been established. So from a fan standpoint, I absolutely believe most here don't care if WSU and Kansas play again. Honestly, at this point it's probably better for the WSU program not to play Kansas: we own bragging rights and, more than ever, the claim that KU is "scared" can realistically be made. I personally don't think they are, they're just another manipulative NCAA money machine, but that's a realistic shot to take now. One that can be used in fan arguments, in the media, in recruiting, etc. For as long as WSU remains nationally relevant, KU can never truly claim to be the best program in the state again. Their fans and the state media can no longer dismiss WSU's accomplishments as being due to level of competition.

If you take the fan attitudes out of it? Yeah, of course that series would be great for WSU in terms of improving our NCAA tournament seed and improving our national visibility.

But I can see why fans would be happy to live with the way bragging rights are now, and would prefer a rival with less vitriol than Kansas, which, unlike Creighton, almost certainly still wouldn't consider us a "rival" even if we won the next ten consecutive games in the series.

[1972Shocker]

You're assuming they qualify

Well they have made 26 in a row so perhaps not a terribly unreasonable assumption. The real assumption, of course, is would the NCAA Selection Committee be as accommodating as they were this year. Could be some behind the scenes J-squawking to try and prevent that.