Kansas State to play Montana State in first round of NCAA Tournament on Friday
Kansas State has advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Yes, that is not a shocker after a fantastic season in the first year under new head coach Jerome Tang. That earned him Big 12 Coach of the Year and nominated for multiple national coach of the year honors.
K-State will play Montana State in Greensboro, North Carolina on Friday, March 17. The Bobcats finished champions of the Big Sky Conference. Kansas State will also be in the East Region that will play their Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games in New York City.
The No. 1 seed in the region is Big Ten Champion Purdue. But it also includes Duke, Michigan State, Tennessee, Kentucky, Marquette, Providence and Memphis. Top mid-majors Florida Atlantic and Oral Roberts. It’s a monster.
If K-State were to win, they could play John Calipari and the Wildcats in a rematch of the Sweet 16 contest in 2018.
It is the first tournament appearance for Kansas State since 2019 and 32nd appearance total, which ranks in the Top 20 all-time by Division I schools. K-State holds a 37-35 record in NCAA Tournament games and has been to 17 Sweet 16s. That also ranks No. 12 all-time in appearances.
Despite having a new roster, the Kansas State lineup does have players with experience playing in the NCAA Tournament.
Keyontae Johnson played in the Big Dance as a member of the Florida Gators in 2018-19. David N’Guessan was a member of the Virginia Tech squad to make the NCAA Tournament last season. Desi Sills also started for an Arkansas squad who made the Elite Eight in 2020-21.
K-State had a chance to play closer to home in Des Moines, Iowa or Denver, Colorado. However, they were not selected for those cities after falling to TCU in the quarterfinal of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.
Marquette, Gonzaga and Arizona all finished their regular season strong and catapulted themselves over Kansas State. All three teams won their conference tournaments and added more quad one wins to jump ahead of K-State in overall seed for the tournament.
Keep it locked into KSO for a more in-depth breakdown of the matchup between Kansas State and Montana State.
