Despite being the second-closest Division 1 team to either school, it’s been nearly 18 years since the last time the Kansas State Wildcats and the Wichita State Shockers men’s basketball teams have met on the hardwood.
Of course, there’s been much call by he two fanbases for a renewal of the rivalry over the intervening years, but there was little interest from the two schools until recently, and finally the two schools were able to work out an agreement to renew a series that has been played 31 times prior to today. Today’s game is part of a three-game series that includes a “neutral site” game in Wichita at Intrust Bank Arena in downtown Wichita, as well as home-and-home games at Koch Arena on the campus of Wichita State (“The Roundhouse”) and Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan.