Three reactions to Kansas State’s Big 12 basketball schedule for the 2023-24 season

Kansas State’s basketball schedule is complete.

The Big 12 has released its full slate of conference games, which means the Wildcats and their fans can start making travel arrangements during the same week that preseason practices begin on campuses all across the country.

Here are some thoughts on the Big 12 schedule that K-State will face:

The Wildcats are back on Big Monday

ESPN didn’t select K-State for a single Monday game last season, but the Wildcats are heading back to prime time in Jerome Tang’s second year as head coach.

K-State will play two games on Big Monday this season.

The first will be a much-anticipated home game against rival Kansas on February 5 at Bramlage Coliseum. The game will tip off at 8 p.m. and ESPN will broadcast the action to a national audience.

The second Big Monday game will occur at Texas on Feb. 19.

Both of those games will give the Wildcats an opportunity to play on a big stage. K-State will play one more game on a Monday when West Virginia visits Manhattan on Feb. 26, but that game will be played on “Little Monday” at 6 p.m. with ESPNU televising the action.

K-State will be challenged during key stretch of conference play

The Wildcats will need to hit the ground running after starting out Big 12 play with a home game against UCF on January 6. Their schedule is difficult for the following month.

A daunting stretch of games begins with trips to West Virginia and Texas Tech, followed by home games against Baylor and Oklahoma State. Then the Wildcats will play at Iowa State and Houston. Next up, Oklahoma comes to Manhattan and K-State travels to Oklahoma State. Then K-State will host KU in what should be its biggest game of the year.

That’s five challenging road games and home games against Baylor and Kansas in a nine-game stretch.

Those games could define the season for K-State.

You will need ESPN+ to watch the Wildcats in Big 12 play

K-State is guaranteed two conference games on ESPN this season. It will also play seven league games on ESPN+, a streaming service that requires a paid subscription.

The other nine will be spread across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU with many games being assigned at a later day.

By now, fans should know all about ESPN+ and how to watch Big 12 games on it. Some hate the streaming network. Some don’t mind it. No matter what you think of ESPN+, you will need to have access to it in order to watch every K-State game this season.

Kansas State’s basketball schedule for 2023-24

Nov. 1 - Emporia State (Exhibition)

Nov. 6 - vs. USC in Las Vegas

Nov. 10 - Bellarmine

Nov. 13 - South Dakota State

Nov. 17 - vs. Providence in The Bahamas

Nov. 19 - vs. Georgia/Miami in The Bahamas

Nov. 22 - Central Arkansas

Nov. 28 - Oral Roberts

Dec. 2 - North Alabama

Dec. 5 - Villanova

Dec. 9 - at LSU

Dec. 17 - Nebraska

Dec. 21 - vs. Wichita State in Kansas City

Jan. 2 - Chicago State

Jan. 6 - UCF on ESPN2/U

Jan. 9 - at West Virginia at 6 p.m. on ESPN+

Jan. 13 - at Texas Tech at 3 p.m. on ESPN/2/U

Jan. 16 - Baylor at 7 p.m. on ESPN+

Jan. 20 - Oklahoma State at 6 p.m. on ESPN+

Jan. 24 - at Iowa State at 8 p.m. on ESPN2/U

Jan. 27 - at Houston at 11 a.m. on ESPN/2

Jan. 30 - Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on ESPN+

Feb. 3 - at Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. on ESPN+

Feb. 5 - Kansas at 8 p.m. on ESPN

Feb. 10 - at BYU at 9 p.m. on ESPN2/U

Feb. 17 - TCU at 11 a.m. on ESPN/2/U

Feb. 19 - at Texas at 8 p.m. on ESPN

Feb. 24 - BYU at 1 p.m. on ESPN+

Feb. 26 - West Virginia at 6p.m. on ESPNU

March 2 - at Cincinnati at 6 p.m. on ESPN+

March 5 - at Kansas at 8 p.m. on ESPN/2

March 9 - Iowa State at 1:30 p.m. on ESPNU