Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball

The Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represents Kansas State University in college basketball competition. The program is classified in the NCAA Division I, and is a member of the Big 12 Conference. The head coach is Jerome Tang. The program began competition in 1902. The first two major-conference titles won by the school were won by the men's basketball team, in 1917 and 1919 (in the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association). Kansas State has gone on to win 19 regular season conference crowns. Jeff Sagarin listed the program 27th in his all-time rankings in the ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Following the 2022-23 season, the Wildcats have a record of 1,717–1,222. History Kansas State University has appeared in 32 NCAA basketball tournaments, most recently in 2023. The team's all-time record in the NCAA tournament is 39–35. Kansas State's best finish at the tournament came in 1951, when it lost to Kentucky in the national championship game. The school has reached the Final Four 4 times, the Elite Eight 14 times, and the Sweet Sixteen 18 times. Included among K-State's tournament wins are some all-time classics, including an 83–80 win over Oscar Robertson's Cincinnati team in 1958, which Sports Illustrated called "the most exciting game of the 1958 season," and a 50–48 win over second-ranked Oregon State in 1981, which USA Today listed as one of the greatest games in NCAA tournament history. The team also had some notably successful seasons before the creation of the NIT (1938) and the NCAA tournament (1939), including conference titles in 1917 and 1919 under coach Zora G. Clevenger. The Helms Athletic Foundation named Frank Reynolds the program's first All-American player in 1917, and the Premo-Porretta Power Poll retroactively ranked Kansas State #12 in 1910, #18 in 1916, #8 in 1917 and #7 in 1919.