Wichita State Basketball: A Quick Glance Behind and a Long Road Ahead
By Eric Hogan
Conference Prediction
The Shockers have gotten off to a great start in conference play, defeating UConn on their home turf. Things could get a little dicey in January as Markis McDuffie shakes the rust off and fights to get back in the starting lineup. I would not be surprised if Wichita State dropped a game or two in January considering their schedule.
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Both SMU and Houston could walk away from Koch Arena with a win, and the road tests against Temple & Memphis will also be extremely challenging. The first half of the conference season should see Wichita State with 7-1 record and on top of the conference, although 6-2 might be a possibility.
February might be among the coldest months of the year, but it promises to turn up the heat for the Shockers. The Shocker Faithful may call this blasphemy, but 4-3 could be a realistic win/loss record if the Shockers are not hitting on all cylinders by then. I am going to be more optimistic and settle on 5-2.
The world of college basketball would love to see the Shockers and the Bearcats playing for the regular season championship on March 4th. Of course I’m sure SMU, Temple, Houston, and everyone else in the conference may have something to say about that. Personally, I hope the Shockers have the regular season title wrapped up by then.
Next: Expectations and Concerns for 2017-2018 Season
That being said, I am going to predict that Wichita State and Cincinnati will both be 14-3 going into the final game of the season with a regular season title on the line. SMU finished last season at 17-1 in conference, so they may have something to say about that as well.
One thing is clear, the addition of Wichita State to the powerful American Athletic Conference is going to change the landscape of the conference as well as the landscape of college basketball. It would not be a stretch to say that Wichita State, Cincinnati, SMU, and several other AAC contenders could all find themselves dancing this year in March.