Wyoming Cowboys Accept NIT Bid, Face Wichita State in First Round Tuesday

For the first time since 2003, the Wyoming Cowboys are back in the National Invitation Tournament, and head coach Sundance Wicks had no hesitation accepting the bid while other Mountain West programs walked away from theirs.

Wyoming will face No. 3-seeded Wichita State at Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas, Tuesday at 6 p.m. on ESPNU. The game marks the Cowboys' first postseason appearance since their 2022 NCAA Tournament berth and their ninth NIT appearance in program history. It will be the 58th postseason game in UW program history.

The Cowboys were placed in the NIT field on March 15, after San Diego State and Boise State both declined invitations. Wicks drew a sharp contrast between Wyoming's decision and those programs.

"We will always accept an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament," Wicks said. "If we don't ever get an NCAA automatic qualifier bid or an at-large bid in March Madness, we'll always accept this, because it is our civic duty as basketball coaches of basketball players to normalize playing basketball as long as you can, because that's what we get paid to do nowadays. This is our job."

Wicks extended the analogy to make his point: "My wife can't just wake up someday and be like, 'You know what? I'm gonna opt out of teaching today.' This is what we need to normalize, and this NIT field is outstanding. It is like Mid-Major Madness, and I love it. Kudos to Auburn for accepting the bid. That's outstanding."

He also pushed back on any suggestion that the NIT is a lesser prize: "When it's the NIT, it's a level of respect, in my opinion, because it is the longest-standing college basketball tournament. It was the cat's meow before the NCAA created March Madness."

The Shockers present a difficult first-round test. Wichita State finished second in the American Athletic Conference with a 22-11 record but lost the AAC championship game 70-55 to South Florida the previous weekend. Their leading scorer, senior guard Kenyon Giles, a first-team all-conference selection, averages around 19.2 points per game and dropped 27 on Tulsa in a conference tournament semifinal. Forward Karon Boyd adds 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and 7-foot-2 center Will Berg anchors the interior with 1.4 blocks per game.

The metrics favor Wichita State. The Shockers check in at No. 78 in the NCAA NET and No. 82 in KenPom, while Wyoming sits at No. 99 in the NET and No. 98 in KenPom.

Wicks, though, framed the gap as familiar territory: "This is a top-tier Mountain West game. That's what it reminds me of. We're trying to build on this season. We're trying to get a postseason win. This is just another opportunity for us to feel that pressure of a win-or-go-home situation."

Wyoming players set to make the trip to Wichita include Khaden Bennett, Damarion Dennis, Nasir "Naz" Meyer, and Leland Walker. The Cowboys will be looking to snap a series deficit that dates back to 1948: Wichita State leads the all-time series 10-3, with the most recent meetings coming in 2006 and 2007 when the Shockers won 83-69 in Casper and 75-63 in Wichita. Tuesday will mark the first postseason meeting between the two programs.

Wyoming's deepest NIT run remains a runner-up finish in 1986. A win Tuesday would be the program's first postseason victory since 2022.

Tickets for the game are available through GoShockers.com or the WSU ticket office, with tip set for 6 p.m. at Koch Arena.