Kansas State Wildcats

From Hoopedia

Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas. Kansas State's sports teams are called the Wildcats. Their official color is royal purple, with white and silver being used as complementing colors in logos and uniforms. They participate in the NCAA's Division 1 and in the Big 12 Conference. The basketball teams currently play in Bramlage Coliseum, which has a capacity of 13,500.

Kansas State competed in the Missouri Valley Conference from 1913 to 1928; the Big Six Conference from 1928 to 1947; the Big Seven Conference from 1947 to 1958; the Big Eight Conference from 1958 to 1996, and is now a member of the Big 12 Conference.

Men's Basketball

Kansas State's men's basketball team began competition in 1902. The program has a long history of success. The first two conference titles captured by the school were won in the sport, in 1917 and 1919. Kansas State has gone on to capture 17 conference crowns in the sport.

Through the years the team earned the right to participate in 22 NCAA basketball tournaments. Kansas State's best finish at the tournament came in 1951, when it played the University of Kentucky for the national championship. The school has reached the Final Four four times, the Elite Eight 11 times, and the Sweet Sixteen 16 times. Included among K-State's tournament wins are some all-time classics, including a 50-48 win over second-ranked Oregon State University in 1981, and a 83-80 win over Oscar Robertson's University of Cincinnati team in 1958, which Sports Illustrated called "the game of the year."

The best season in the school's history may have been 1959, when the team finished the season ranked Number 1 in the Associated Press Poll. K-State has finished ranked in the Top Ten of the poll on six other occasions, and in the top twenty twelve total times. The team has also posted a winning record at home every year since 1946. In the 1990s, however, the program faded from the national scene, and K-State has not participated in the NCAA Tournament since 1996.

This is expected to change, now that Bob Huggins has become the coach at K-State. Already he has led KSU to its first 20-win season since 1989.

K-State's biggest rivalry in basketball is the Sunflower Showdown matchup against the University of Kansas.

A number of notable and successful coaches have led the Wildcats through the years. The most successful are:

• Z.G. Clevenger – (1916-1920); 54-17 (.761)

• Fred "Tex" Winter – (1953-1968); 262-117 (.691)

• Guy Lowman – (1911-1914); 34-16 (.680)

• Jack Gardner – (1939-1942; 1946-1953); 147-81 (.645); Member of Naismith Hall of Fame

• Jack Hartman – (1970-1986); 295-169 (.636)

• Lon Kruger – (1986-1990); 81-47 (.633)

• Cotton Fitzsimmons – (1968-1970); 34-20 (.630)

• Bob Huggins – (2006-present); 22-11⁺

⁺Record through March 14, 2007

Women's Basketball

Kansas State's women's basketball team began intercollegiate competition in 1968. The team is among the top 15 all-time winningest programs in the NCAA.

The women's team has participated in 14 total NCAA basketball tournaments and AIAW tournaments (pre-NCAA). It has reached the Sweet Sixteen 9 times and Elite Eight twice. K-State has finished ranked in the Top Ten of the AP Poll on three occasions (1984, 2003, 2004), and in the top twenty nine total times. Following the 2005-2006 season, Kansas State was crowned champion of the Women's National Invitation Tournament.