This weird, ugly season is finally almost over.
We’ve reached was is very likely the penultimate game for the 2025-26 version of the Kansas State Wildcats men’s basketball squad. This is the regular season finale, and the Cats should not be expected to make it out of the opening round next week in Kansas City at the Big 12 Tournament. It really sucks to be so pessimistic about things, but unfortunately it has been well-earned this season.
A season that started out with some actual promise quickly went
downhill in early December before hitting a bit of a plateau. Then Big 12 play started, and the Wildcats fell off a cliff. Despite a couple “dead cat bounces”, these Wildcats have been in a near-constant state of free-fall in 2026 — culminating in the firing of fourth-year head coach Jerome Tang with six games remaining in the regular season. The Cats have actually won two games since Tang’s ouster, both in the friendly confines of Bramlage Coliseum, and last Tuesday’s win came as a team effort with PJ Haggarty on the bench with an injury.
But now the Cats have to travel down I-70 to what has long been a house of horrors for the Wildcats — even for some of the best teams K-State has fielded in the past 20 years. Except for that one team, 20 years ago, that went into Lawrence and came away with easily one of the most improbable wins in program history. That team also ended its season with their head coach fired, so it’s possible there is a chance for a K-State upset today.
Of course, that possibility is incredibly small. Like thousandths of percentage points small. But it does technically exist — that’s why they play the games. But please do not get your hopes up for another improbable upset. As oddly dysfunctional as this KU team has been this season, they are still coached by Bill Self, and they will still have the friendly calls of “The Phog” to aid them.
The best thing that can be said about this game is that it’s it — no more regular season games follow this one, and likely just the one in KC. And then we can focus on the search for the next coach and what happens to this roster of misfit toys.
This season’s finale is scheduled for a 1:07pm CT tipoff from Allen Fieldhouse, and you can catch the action on CBS Sports with Brad Nessler (play-by-play) and Wally Szczerbiak (analyst) on the call.
If you don’t have CBS Sports , or can’t access the stream, the game can be heard across portions of the 28-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play) and Stan Weber (analyst) calling the action. The game will also be available online at K-Statesports.com and via the Varsity Network app, as well as on satellite radio at Sirius/XM Ch. 380. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateMBB) will also be a part of the coverage.
Go Cats!
