MANHATTAN — No one knows what to do with Kansas State basketball as they try to project how the 2025-26 season may turn out.
On one hand, Jerome Tang assembled an impressive transfer class with significant potential. On the other hand, the same could have been said before last season when the team flopped.
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Preseason expectations are a little all over the place as the Wildcats head into a new year. Some think highly of them, while others doubt they’ll make the NCAA Tournament. In this era of the transfer portal, projecting a team is more difficult than ever, especially for a team like K-State with 10 newcomers.
Here are some snippets of what the national pundits are saying about the Wildcats:
Jan 29, 2025; Manhattan, Kansas, USA; Kansas State Wildcats head coach Jerome Tang questions a call by the officials during the first half against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Bramlage Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images
Blue Ribbon — No. 10 in the Big 12
The most popular preseason magazine covering college hoops isn’t high on the Wildcats entering the year. It has them projected to finish 10th in the Big 12, but it does have Memphis transfer PJ Haggerty as a Fourth Team All-American.
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Blue Ribbon, in its preview featuring an interview with Tang, focused on the program’s staff additions, with Matthew Driscoll and Bill Peterson among the newcomers. It broke down the additions of Haggerty, Nate Johnson (Akron), and Abdi Bashir Jr. (Monmouth) to the roster, grading the backcourt as an “A.”
The preseason KenPom rankings were unveiled on Sunday, Oct. 12, placing the Wildcats 61st in the country and ninth in the Big 12. Cincinnati, the team in front of the Wildcats, is ranked No. 36 in the preseason analytical database.
KenPom projects the Wildcats to finish 17-13 overall and with a 7-11 record. The projections include a nine-game losing streak in Big 12 play, lasting a month from a home game against Kansas on Jan. 24 through an away game at Colorado on Feb. 25.
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Under a subsection titled “total rebuilds with talent,” is where you’ll find Kansas State, ranked as the eighth-best team in the Big 12, according to The Athletic staff writer CJ Moore.
Moore wrote that Kansas State is the team outside the top-tier that may have the best chance to break in.
“There’s plenty of reason to be excited for K-State fans,” Moore wrote. “Similar to Baylor, it’s just hard to predict how all of these pieces from all over the globe will fit together, but making the NCAA Tournament should be the expectation.”
CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein is known for his catchphrases, but he also has a preseason “Rothstein 45” ranking the top teams entering the year. He has the Wildcats at 44.
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“Kansas State, with a recalibrated perimeter, might have enough to be a surprise team in the Big 12, and reach the NCAA Tournament for the second time under Jerome Tang,” Rothstein said.
ESPN — Not an NCAA Tournament team
The Worldwide Leader hasn’t done too much yet with preseason previews, but the Wildcats have been mentioned a few times across different articles.
Dick Vitale wrote in late August that Haggerty is on his preseason First Team All-Rolls-Royce team, calling him a “big-time baller and scoring machine.”
A late-July piece wrote that Haggerty was a transfer to watch and an All-American candidate, while also labeling Kansas State as a team that can “make a jump.”
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Bracketologist Joe Lunardi didn’t project K-State as an NCAA Tournament team, or one on the bubble for that matter, in his most recent bracketology update on Monday, Oct. 13. He has eight Big 12 teams making the dance.
Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State basketball national expectations for 2025-26
