Just a quick report from the Wichita metro area, post-BattleOmaha:
Saw yellow t-shirt being sold by local Dillons that said: "Talked the Talk, Shocked the Chalk" (with Chalk written in white old-ku font...)
Older black lady at my health club said she likes the KU players, but called Bill Self "selfish, and arrogant".
Many people in Wichita have told me they think Self is trying to turn KU into Calipari's KY, with the OADs..
I'm pretty sure most wannabes think the people they want-to-be are arrogant. Especially, when they know they aren't there yet!
I "almost" hope the Wichita Weasles get by Notre Dame.
So Kentucky can beat them like a rented mule.
Beat them so bad that they're crying - at half time.
Beat them so bad that the authorities have to get involved.
Beat them so bad that Marshall is run out of town and has to get a job as Bill Self's water boy. Then gets fired from that.
A realistic Kentucky - WSU score: 109 - 37
Most KSU fans have elected to jump on the WSU bandwagon because their team stunk it up on the hard wood.
@nuleafjhawk WSU fans probably think he's Self-ish cause he won't play them!
@Crimsonorblue22 Yeah.
Maybe he's smarter than we think.......?
@nuleafjhawk but I agree w/coach.
@Statmachine Maybe KSU fans have jumped on the WSU bandwagon because WSU is from Kansas? I haven't lived in Kansas for 35 years but I'd sure as hell rather see a team from Kansas win than Kentucky.
@oldhwkfan no way, they sure wouldn't jump on ours! I'd rather see wv beat Kentucky then play WSU, if WSU can get by nd.
@Crimsonorblue22 I agree too, I'm just bent out of shape.
@nuleafjhawk obviously!
@nuleafjhawk Ya, I'd be rooting for WSU in that one. As most KU fans probably should.
@MoonwalkMafia not me!
There is a very easy solution to this .. win. Marshall can be arrogant, gloat, etc. He deserves it. His moment in the sun. WSU and Marshall earned it. They were better in every aspect Sunday. The only thing we had on them were higher ranked recruits.
If Self would have manned up and just played WSU over the last few season, this game wouldn't have had the same drama. His explanations are bogus. We play a team each season at the Sprint Center -- a few years ago it was Davidson. Last year New Mexico. This season Utah. So we weren't traveling to any recruiting territory there. And we have travelled to the recruiting hot-bed of, uh, Colorado.
This game will draw Midwest interest, at least. And yes, we do recruit players from the Midwest, and certainly we do from Wichita and the state of Kansas.
It's one of those situations where you can always come up with a reason not to do something.
Imagine a worse scenario .. we have refused to play MU. MU stinks. We'd be pounding them right now. Then, in a few years, they make the NCAA tourney. Guess what the bracket makers will do? Not saying we won't win, but the game is certainly a likely eventuality.
@HighEliteMajor I don't understand why Self's explanation even exists. To me the explanation is simple: WSU hasn't asked KU to schedule them. Marshall said "We haven't called them".
When I was a teenager, there sure were a lot of arrogant girls who wouldn't go out with me because I didn't call them!
I guess I should have done like Marshall and told my classmates how arrogant they were for not going out with me: then they would have had some 'splaining to do...
@ParisHawk I know what you mean! I STILL can't get the teenage girls to go out with me.
Wait.
@nuleafjhawk 👬 this is the reason, you have to many man crushes, only reason!👀😱
I'm right on with your post... but everyone in here already knows that.
The way to shut up the Shockers is to play them every year and kick their behinds.
We need to develop a real rival game and this is the most natural one out there, unless we go back to playing the Tig crackheads in Missouri. I'd rather play the Shockers. So it helps them more than us. Great! The Midwest needs more powerhouse teams. It's like fast food. Where the heck you going to build your Burger King? That's right... across the street from McDonalds.
I just like watching good basketball and that game will be good as long as WSU has a good program. If they fall again, then let them fall and cut off the game. I think we could help them stay good by playing every year. Help their SOS. It's good for Kansas.
Plus... I never back down. Someone calls me a chicken, we step outside. Kansas is my team, my school, and I can't stand the chicken comments! Let's kick their arses!
@drgnslayr Agree that a real rival game would be good - and I would be okay if it were a real rivalry, which means we wouldn't kick their behinds every year. KSU isn't a real rivalry, because we do dominate that series (cough, excepting a game this year). If WSU continues to play at a high level, admittedly a big if, like it has the past few years, then that is one game I would love to see each year. Good for both programs. Good for the state. CBS or ESPN would have it as a feature game. Not going to rival Duke - UNC or UK - Louisville, but it could be the next best thing out there.
So if Marsha leaves, you still want the game? I'll pass. Think Marsha said he wanted to leave it as is, since they won.
I'll cast my vote for an annual home-an-home with WSU as well. I've never heard a valid reason for not playing them. Or even Mizzou. Sure beats playing San Diego State or Temple. Makes KU sound like spoiled brats.
And, now that KU is out of it, I hope the Shockers win from here on out.
@ralster She obviously doesn't know Self and you're talking Wichita. Remember, Wichita has a lot of KSU influence too. Wichita is obviously heavy WSU, then KSU, and a fair KU fanbase/alumni.
I'd say the opposite and if you talk to the KU fans/alumni, they would say the same about Marshall being arrogant.
In fact, some are even wondering if VanVleet's elbow was incidental. They knew with Ellis out even for a few minutes would give them momentum. And, it worked too. KU was never the same.
Why play the Shockers every year? Think about it? If KU played the Shockers every year they would get beat like a rented mull. Actually the Shockers fans should be glad KU doesn't play their program every year. If you ask me they got lucky this year.
@HighEliteMajor Perfect summation! Bluebloods shouldnt be afraid of anybody. Really like the idea of playing Shox in Sprint Ctr in KC. Plus both schools would earn$$$. One thing Ive never understood is us routinely beatin the shizz out of in-state Div2 schools. Hate watching KU only to feel sorry for those poor kids of FHSU, PittSt, ESU getting demolished. I question the sportsmanship of such fish-in-barrel "games".
Wichita state is exactly the kind of team we should be playing in nov/December on a neutral court.. We also need to maybe dial the SOS back a bit, the conference is a serious grind, so making the non con a grind just seems to only wear our guys down mentally, and by March physically. Other than securing us a high seed what purpose does playing such a hard schedule serve ? I don't think it helps OAD freshman, and it just makes it hard for the team to gel and gain confidence. The champions Classic and a tournament should be a tough enough challenge in this OAD era.
ESU, FHSU, PSU and Washburn are all exhibition games. Also, these are two games per season that KU has at home which equals money for KU and Lawrence.
We have discussed this topic before. KU makes money when the games are played on campus. Lawrence makes money when the games are on campus.
KU makes less money when the games are played at a neutral site. Missouri makes money when the games are played at the Sprint Center.
KU makes 0 dollars for playing in Wichita. The city of Wichita makes money when we play there.
KU loses out on money when playing a game off campus. Same for Lawrence. Financially there are two programs that run the entire athletics department. And I'd venture basketball revenue is the bigger of the two (football is the other). KU basketball doesn't just play these home games against SDSU and Rider for itself. Other programs depend on AFH sellout crowds. As do businesses and the city for all those tax dollars.
@ralster Those games are looked on by many as great for the school and kids. The school gets a nice paycheck and the kids get to play in AFH in front of 16000 people. They also get to play against some of the best players in the country. I have read more than one article about how this was something good that Roy started every year and that Self has continued.
I am sticking in the Do Not Play camp.
The reason KU stopped playing WSU in the 90's was because of this:
1989 - KU won by 20 in Lawrence
1990 - KU won by 27 in Wichita
1991 - KU won by 34 in Lawrence
1992 - KU won by 30 in Wichita
1993 - KU won by 49 in Lawrence
Wichita State, after having some strong teams in the 70's through the mid 80's, fell off significantly. They weren't competitive. The game was irrelevant.
And that's why I think KU shouldn't play them. If WSU is good, the game would be on at least regional TV, but KU will be on regional TV whether they play WSU or Towson State. However, WSU doesn't help expose KU to a bigger audience because WSU is only on TV here in Kansas and KU is already going to be on here in Kansas either way.
I'd rather KU play San Diego State, or SMU, or Houston, or Loyola Marymount, or Seton Hall, or La Salle, or DePaul, all schools that are in major recruiting areas around the country than play WSU.
I like playing the D2 schools as exhibitions. Those games are good for both KU and the D2 schools because the D2's get a nice check and KU gets a nice tune up game, sometimes against a pretty darn good team. But WSU wouldn't want to play an exhibition, and because they are D1, the game would count. It doesn't help KU to play them because KU gets no additional exposure, and it doesn't add to KU's schedule strength over playing a game that KU could schedule anyway.
There's just no real point unless WSU gets to a level where they are similar to Louisville (who UK plays every year). WSU has to show that they won't fall back off like they did in the late 80's and early 90's because KU gains nothing from beating a team by an average of 32 points with no game being closer than 20.
@wissoxfan83 have you seen any misery games? Empty.
But it wouldn't be empty if we played them.
The draw of games like that Philly one is kids like Frank, Morris twins, TRob, Russ Rob, ect can have family and friends come out to watch them and they don't have to drive two days or spending a grand on plane tickets. Plus like @justanotherfan said it puts KU on in that schools tv market. Games in Philly and the east coast increase our recruiting foot print.
Let them play. When WSU is good, KU gets the SOS/RPI boost. When WSU is down, KU gets a cream puff. Every game for a blue blood is an everything to lose nothing to gain proposition. Unless it's against another blue blood of course. HEM already pointed out the games that KU schedules that debunk the reasons not to play , especially regarding recruiting. A lot of those games are at Sprint also so the money goes too. Marshall just has to be realistic that a one for one is not equitable.
@That-Is-All see kips^^^
Marsha just said baker will graduate maybe he can transfer. Jk
