Kansas Basketball: K-State game could decide winner of Big 12

Kansas basketball has done something incredible under head coach Bill Self and that’s their conference title streak. If the Jayhawks win the Big 12 again this year, that’d make it 15 straight conference titles.

While this season hasn’t been perfect so far, the Kansas Jayhawks are still looking good toward getting that 15th straight title. A week from Tuesday, however, the deciding factor could come into play. That deciding factor is the in-state rival Kansas State Wildcats, who are having a nice season themselves.

The Jayhawks sit at 16-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play and are currently ranked 11th in the country. While it’s never fun to lose, KU’s losses have been pretty ugly, including a recent meltdown against Kentucky in Lexington.

Kansas is an entirely different team on the road, but they don’t appear as invincible at Allen Fieldhouse as they have in years past. They narrowly got past Texas a few weeks ago and they still have some tough opponents coming to play them at the Phog.

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While KU still has another battle with Texas and a home game against Texas Tech before they travel to Manhattan next week, it can’t be understated how important this game will be.

The Jayhawks were lucky that K-State (15-5, 5-2) lost to a bad Texas A&M team over the weekend. Otherwise, the Wildcats would have the same overall record as Kansas and all of the momentum in the world moving forward.

Kansas State has one game before it hosts Kansas next week and that’s a road game at Oklahoma State on Saturday. They’ll have plenty of time to prep for the Jayhawks and that will be a HUGE game in Manhattan.

As of now, the two Sunflower State schools have the same record in conference play. While that can obviously change before next week’s showdown, this is a game that both programs definitely have circled on their calendars.

If KU can go into a ruckus Bramlage Coliseum and leave with a victory, the next time they’ll face the Wildcats will be at Allen Fieldhouse and that’s a place KSU has struggled at. In other words, if Kansas basketball beats K-State next week, their 15th straight Big 12 title should be in their sights.

A loss, however, lets K-State stay in the hunt for the title and the opportunity to break a huge streak for the Kansas Jayhawks.

We’re still a week away from this match-up, but it’s going to be a good one for sure. Hopefully Kansas comes out on top!