For the first time in four years, there will be a men's basketball game against Kansas that doesn't really matter.
Don't get me wrong, a win against the Jayhawks would be big. A win of that magnitude would give the Wildcats an extremely good chance at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, while keeping alive the hope of the school's first-ever Big 12 Conference title. That would be big for K-State, whether you're a sports fan or not.
However, in head coach Frank Martin's tenure at K-State thus far, the Jayhawks have had no trouble beating the Wildcats at Allen Fieldhouse, where the two teams will meet Wednesday. It seems like the Wildcats always struggle there, facing deficits of more than 10 points early on and never quite recovering. However, this is a different team, with a different mindset and a different national ranking. They played the Jayhawks as close as you can while still losing in Manhattan and have played well ever since.
The Wildcats have a chance to win this game, with the Jayhawks coming off their first conference loss of the season and K-State on a seven-game winning streak. But let's suppose they don't.
If the Wildcats were to lose to the Jayhawks this week, they would still be in line for second place in the Big 12 tournament. Their national ranking would not take a large dip, as a loss to the No. 2 team in the country is in no way considered a "bad" loss, so they would most likely still secure a 2-seed in the NCAA tournament, which would set them up for a long tournament run. The only thing forfeited in a loss to the Jayhawks would be bragging rights, which is a small price to pay.
Or is it?
The rivalry between the two schools has always been big, but has at many times been one-sided. K-State fans wanted so badly to beat KU and end the streak, while Jayhawk fans looked for rivalry elsewhere, with Missouri and even Texas in recent seasons. Now the playing field has leveled. Martin has built the K-State program into a winner on the highest of national levels, and K-State is showing it too has the players and fan support it takes to win a Big 12 title.
Perhaps in the past, KU would have looked past the Wildcats while focusing on bigger games. Those days are over. While KU head coach Bill Self probably won't go so far as to claim it's the biggest game in his coaching tenure as Martin did after the Missouri game, he would probably admit that winning the league title is a big deal, and sealing it against the Wildcats is important. The Jayhawks could lose Wednesday and still win the Big 12 outright, but they'd prefer to win it Wednesday.
Martin also knows how big the game is, and knows the implications of winning. However, Martin also knows at the end of the day, his team is tournament-bound. A loss to KU would not hurt their seeding or ruin their confidence down the stretch. A win against the Jayhawks would bring only pride. It would bolster the support of fans and give the Wildcats tons of national attention. There's nothing wrong with that, but there's a sense of accomplishment when a loss to KU doesn't send the Wildcats tumbling to the NIT like it has in years past. Perhaps a less meaningful game will be just what the Wildcats need to turn the corner and win one in Allen Fieldhouse.
