NCAA Basketball: 10 teams primed to lose early in 2023 NCAA Tournament

Kansas State

First and foremost, the job that Jerome Tang has done in his first season at Kansas State might be one of the biggest stories of the season. These Wildcats finished under .500 each of the last three seasons but a somewhat refreshed roster is playing impressive basketball this year. The Wildcats got off to a 15-1 start, swept Baylor, beat Texas on the road, and have a win against Kansas already on their resume. What’s not to like about this squad?

Even after losing Nijel Pack to Miami, Kansas State has built this fantastic season on the 1-2 punch of Keyontae Johnson, the former Florida star, and Markquis Nowell, who is having a fantastic senior season on both sides of the ball. Nae’Qwan Tomlin is also putting up 10 points a game while this team is getting decent contributions from other experienced athletes, like senior Desi Sills and junior David N’Guessan.

In three of their last four games, the 3-point shooting has been rough. This is a team that’s won big games because of their defense, but that offense can really smoke people too. While Kansas State can win games at multiple different paces of play, it’s fair to wonder how a first-year coach and a new-look roster will fare, and one that recently lost five of seven games. If Johnson and/or Nowell go cold, we could see an early out for this Kansas State program.