The RoundHouse | 3/2/2018 11:35:00 AM
By
Paul Suellentrop
Measure this game by the numbers and it's big. Measure this game by the emotions and possibilities and it's every bit as big.
No. 11 Wichita State plays No. 10 Cincinnati on Sunday at Koch Arena. The Roundhouse opened in 1955 and is the home of two Final Four teams and the long list of Shocker greats. College basketball superstars such as Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird and Danny Manning played in the arena.
Sunday's CBS game joins that short list of monumental moments. It is the eighth game in arena history in which both the Shockers and their opponent are nationally ranked and the third since 1964.
After Thursday's win at Central Florida, Shocker coach
Gregg Marshall recommended the game to any fan, willing to pay big money for a ticket, with a desire to see a big game in a great atmosphere. When coaches checked secondary-market prices on the flight home, they found them ranging up to nearly $1,000. On Friday morning, the prices for lower-level seats ranged from $250 to $950. The cheapest upper-level seat went for $105.50.
"It will be two really gritty, tough teams playing for a regular-season championship," Marshall said. "Which, in my estimation, is the most valuable championship there is. It's a two, two-and-half, three-month grind. . . as opposed to three or four days in a conference tournament."
The closest comparison in recent times is the 2015 game between No. 11 Wichita State and No. 10 Northern Iowa, a day started by a visit from ESPN's College GameDay to Koch Arena. The Shockers won 74-60 to wrap up the Missouri Valley Conference title.
Ranked vs. ranked is a rare treat in Wichita. The low number of matchups may be somewhat surprising, given the strength of the MVC in the 1950s and 1960s. One factor: The Associated Press ranked 20 teams from 1949-61 and 10 from 1962-68.
In 1981, No. 4 Wichita State defeated No. 9 Alabama-Birmingham 75-60. In 1964, the fourth-ranked Shockers defeated No. 9 Loyola 65-60. The Shockers went 2-1 as a ranked team vs. a ranked opponent in 1954.
All that history is secondary to Sunday's stakes.
Wichita State (24-5, 14-3 American Athletic Conference) must win to share the title with Cincinnati (26-4, 15-2). A win hangs a banner for a fifth consecutive conference title in Koch Arena and concludes Wichita State's debut season in its new home. (To add to the history of the moment, consider that the 11 a.m. Bearcats-Shockers game features a matchup of old MVC rivals and leads into Sunday's 1 p.m. MVC Tournament game, also on CBS).
A win strengthens the Shocker NCAA resume, one that improved significantly during this seven-game win streak. ESPN.com and CBSSports.com both place the Shockers as a No. 3 seed. Is jumping up another seed line possible? Sunday's game and the American Tournament offer resume-building games.
All those factors are sure to bring out peak emotions from the fans. A Feb. 15 rally in a 93-86 win over Temple is this season's standard for crowd participation.
"In my opinion, the loudest I've heard Koch already was Temple," Shocker guard
Landry Shamet said. "I'm expecting that to be surpassed. I know our fans and how excited they are about Cincinnati and this new rivalry."
After the game, six Shocker seniors will watch their highlight videos, hear the ovations and hug coaches, teammates, parents, siblings and fans. They will take their final jogs in and out of the tunnel at Koch Arena on Sunday. It is a large senior class and one that will be remembered for bridging the Early-Baker-VanVleet era to their own time and carrying the program into the new conference.
That is big stuff, regardless of the opponent.
"I can't wait for it," senior guard
Conner Frankamp said. "I think it will be one of the craziest atmospheres Koch Arena has seen."
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.
