K-State Basketball: Bruce Weber Can Still Save His Job

It’s been an up and down year for K-State basketball and even more so when it comes to Bruce Weber’s future with the school. He’s not out of Manhattan yet though.

In a season that saw the Kansas State Wildcats get off to a hot 12-1 start on the year, fans were thrilled. They didn’t expect the team to have to advance in the Big 12 Tournament in order to make it to the big dance in March known as the NCAA Tournament.

That’s what K-State basketball is looking at though, as an abysmal 7-11 record after that hot start wrecked the early success the Wildcats had sustained.

As a six-seed in the Big 12 Tournament, set to jump start on Wednesday, the Wildcats have more to play for than just about anybody else in the tournament. The teams seeded higher than them (Kansas, West Virginia, Baylor, Iowa State, and Oklahoma State) all have pretty good chances of making it to the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas State has to win their first game of the tournament, which will be against the third-seeded Baylor Bears on Thursday night. If the Wildcats win, their March Madness invitation likely won’t get lost in the mail. If they lose, however, their season is probably done.

The biggest question mark with K-State basketball right now is what the future of Bruce Weber in Manhattan will be? Sam Mellinger of The Kansas City Star wrote a nice piece on Weber following the team’s victory against Texas Tech in their regular season finale.

Mellinger centered the article around Weber saving his job and credited the last week as why Weber could stick around.

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"He’s proud of this week. After OU, it felt to many that the team might be caving, but Weber has liked the unity of this group all along.Those synchronized claps and arms around the shoulders at the end of practice are, hopefully, more than just show.For now, the last week of resilience it represents could very well be what saved a man’s job."

Personally, I agree with Mellinger. Bruce Weber was a dead man walking after that horrendous loss to Oklahoma that saw the Wildcats getting bludgeoned by 30 points to one of the worst teams in the Big 12.

After that abomination, however, K-State picked themselves up, and got back to work. They won their final two games of the year and went out as winners. The Wildcats posted a 19-12 record on the 2016-2017 season, but proved they can win when they have to.

As of March 7th, Joe Lunardi of ESPN Bracketology has the Wildcats as a “First Four Out” team. Perhaps if they win against Baylor in Kansas City on Thursday, that can be changed.

Next: Last Ten Wildcats Selected in NFL Draft

Bruce Weber knows what’s at stake for his team and for himself. With John Currie bolting for Tennessee last week, he might be safe for another season, but winning as many games as possible now is the best thing for Weber.

Bruce Weber’s job is on the line, but can he redeem himself to stay on as the head coach of Kansas State for the 2017-2018 season?

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