It’s fair to wonder if Kansas State basketball coach Bruce Weber is secretly putting extra pressure on himself to guide the Wildcats past Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
A victory would lift an overweight gorilla off his back and serve as further proof the program is trending up. A loss would give his detractors another year of ammunition about his postseason struggles.
There’s a lot at stake.
Weber knows this. He took Southern Illinois to the Sweet 16 and then Illinois to the national championship game, but he hasn’t advanced past the round of 64 since being hired at K-State six years ago.