Wichita State – Wearing the Black Hat

(St. Louis, MO) – Wichita State will roll into Indianapolis today as one of the most talked about ‘snubs’ in the NCAA Tournament, and if that title doesn’t belong to the Shockers, perhaps it hangs around the neck of fellow Missouri Valley Conference member Illinois State. The Redbirds were this year’s team with the best RPI that didn’t make the field at all.

Wichita head coach Gregg Marshall has made waves by calling out inconsistencies in the NCAA Selection Committee decisions. The tenth seeded Shockers (30-4) take on fellow mid-major Dayton (24-7) in a Friday contest at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse. Playing another mid-major seemed ironic to Marshall, who hinted that the committee pitted smaller schools against one another on purpose.

So, once again the ten-year WSU lead man has placed himself at the eye of the storm.

Marshall told goshockers.com that while he’s unhappy with such a low seed, his team will be ready to play a very good team on Friday.

“You’re number eight in the KenPom. You’re a ten-seed, but you’re No. 20 in the country,” said Marshall. “Somehow, 20 divided by four equals ten. But that’s okay. That’s the way it’s been for a long time. I don’t know what we’d do if we were a really good seed most of the time. The year we got the one seed, we drew Kentucky (in the second round), who was an eight. That was probably another mistake…but we’re in. No matter who you play at this point, they’re going to be champions. They’re going to be really good. I’m not going to focus on that.”

Dayton was the Atlantic 10 champion and is a seven seed. Flyers head coach Archie Miller has been highly successful at the Ohio school and is the younger brother of Arizona head man Sean Miller. Marshall is impressed with Miller and the Flyers.

“I’ve seen them a little bit. They have a forward who I really liked that drove it really strong to the basket. I’m familiar with Scoochie (Smith), the point guard,” said Marshall. “Archie Miller’s been one of the best young coaches in our business for a long time. He’s built that program, he’s been loyal to that program and they’ve continued to be really good.”

So, once again the Shockers take an ‘us against the world’ attitude into the South Region games being played in Indianapolis. Marshall notes some of the greatest programs in college basketball history are in his team’s way.

“I remember the year we were a one seed, our bracket had Kentucky, and then we had Louisville, Michigan and Duke on our side, just to get to the Final Four,” remembered Marshall. “Now you’ve North Carolina, Kentucky and UCLA. I think (CBS) said there’s 24 combined National Championships between those three. If we win this year, that’ll be 25. If we have to go through them, so be it. You’re going to play great teams, there’s no way around it. That’s why it’s a great tournament. But my focus is on Dayton.”

Marshall’s Shockers have won nine NCAA Tournament games in the last five years and are making their sixth straight appearance in the national tournament. In 19 years as a head coach this is Marshall’s 13^th visit to the Big Dance. Miller’s Flyers are playing in their fourth consecutive tournament. Miller owns a 5-3 record in the NCAA’s and Marshall has crafted a mark of 10-12.

Unlike Wichita State, the Flyers top three scorers are seniors. Charles Cooke and Scoochie Smith are veteran guards that have combined for nearly 100 three-pointers. Cooke leads the team with 16.1 points-per-game average. Kendall Pollard (14.1) and Smith (13.5) are the other double digit scorers.

Shocker freshman guard Landry Shamet says the low seeding is typical of the way people have responded to the team all season, and that he and his teammates have a bit of a chip on their collective shoulder.

“It’s been kind of par for the course. This whole year, we’re supposed to have fallen off. The downfall of Wichita State. Armageddon, basically,” said Shamet. “I think everybody here already has that chip. That’s the unique thing about these guys. Coach (Marshall) recruits those kinds of guys with that, and enhances that vibe when they get here. Obviously, we thought we were higher than (a ten-seed), so I guess that will add to that.”

Game time is set for 6:10 Central Time and can be seen on CBS. Oh, and by the way, the Shockers are a six point favorite to ‘upset’ the higher seeded Flayers.

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