Is Wichita overrated?

[mkokc]

Looks like some folks think WSU shouldn't have gotten a 1 seed. I'm an old MVC guy, but I was listening to the Franchise today and Sam Mayes was ripping the Shockers. Sounds like Sam is trying to be the big villain on the new sports station.
Here's a shot at Wichita on their website.

The Franchise Sports Talk 107.7

[bradh]

Going undefeated in college hoops over that many games is no small feat. I'm partial to the Shockers because my inlaws are boosters up there, but it's not like this was some out of nowhere team. They had Louisville beat in the final four. I had the chance to see them play in person this year, that's a great venue up there in Wichita.

[Buffalo Bill]

Looks like some folks think WSU shouldn't have gotten a 1 seed. I'm an old MVC guy, but I was listening to the Franchise today and Sam Mayes was ripping the Shockers. Sounds like Sam is trying to be the big villain on the new sports station.
Here's a shot at Wichita on their website.

The Franchise Sports Talk 107.7

Fat Sam is trying to drum up the same feigned Traberesque "outrage" as his ex-Cowboy compatriot on the spurts animal. It rings very hollow.

[Spartan]

Going undefeated in college hoops over that many games is no small feat. I'm partial to the Shockers because my inlaws are boosters up there, but it's not like this was some out of nowhere team. They had Louisville beat in the final four. I had the chance to see them play in person this year, that's a great venue up there in Wichita.

And a weird one

[bradh]

Because it's round? The recent improvements done to the concourses are really nice for a college arena.

[dankrutka]

Yeah, not sure why it's "weird," but maybe Spartan will provide an explanation. It's an old school-style arena (no suites), but it's nice after the upgrades and I think pretty fitting for a mid-major.

I'm not sure how Wichita State could be considered overrated. They went to the Final Four last season, gave Louisville - the national champions - their toughest game of the tournament, and then proceeded to win 34 games in row this season... and still everyone thinks they're going down in the tourney. I have no clue what'll happen in the tournament, and good teams are upset all the time, but goodness, what do these guys have to do to get some respect?!?

Of course, I'm biased. I was a professor at Wichita State the last couple years before I changed universities. It was a great seeing the town and campus so excited during the Final Four run last season. They have tremendous fans - far better basketball fans than OU or OSU right now.

[Laramie]

Any team in NCAA Division I basketball that can go undefeated throughout the season in this day and age deserves the seeding they so rightfully earned. Wichita State Wheat Shockers are for real.

"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.

[PWitty]

I agree. Going undefeated at any level takes an impressive level of consistency. However, if WSU is a 1-seed with the schedule they played (0 against the RPI Top 25 and 3 against the Top 50) then I have no clue how Louisville is a 4-seed. Thankfully, we'll get to (hopefully) see a Final Four rematch between WSU/Louisville in the Sweet 16 this year.

[dankrutka]

It's not like Wichita played no one. They played and beat tourney teams Tennessee, St. Louis, Tulsa, and BYU all away from their home floor. Their schedule was definitely weak, but you can only beat the teams you play!

[Urbanized]

Despite my family being from the OKC area and having personally spent the past 25+ years here, I was born and spent my first 18 in Wichita, and I'm still fond of the place. As a kid I grew up watching guys like Antoine Carr, Cliff Levingston, Aubrey Sherrod, Greg Dreiling and Xavier McDaniel play some of the most exciting, unselfish, fast-break above-the-rim hoop I have ever seen played. A bunch of those guys were hometown, which made it even more cool. The atmosphere there was super special, including the fans.

WSU has always been a little overlooked because of being a mid-major in the same state as the Jayhawks (and even KSU, who has had decent hoop in the past), but truly the school has a really nice tradition going back to the sixties and seventies.

I don't follow college basketball nearly as closely as I used to for a number of reasons (watered-down talent, my own obsession with the Thunder and the NBA), but have watched WSU with a lot of interest the past couple of years. True about the schedule, but these guys are no joke. They have some fantastic athletes. As has been pointed out they ended up being arguably the second-best team when the dust settled on last year's Final Four, and I don't care who you're playing, 34 consecutive wins is pretty amazing. I would say anyone who takes them lightly is doing so at their own risk.

[onthestrip]

Fat Sam is trying to drum up the same feigned Traberesque "outrage" as his ex-Cowboy compatriot on the spurts animal. It rings very hollow.

Dont listen to local sports radio but Im sure thats what it is, just a radio guy yelling just to make it sound like he has a point, even though its a bad one.

So say WSU isnt deserving of a 1 seed, at worst they should be a 2 seed. So its a dumb argument anyways, 1 or 2...who cares. But local radio guys need to yell about something because they do no other show preparation or research. Its why its impossible, for me at least, to listen to local radio.