January and February, the gripe went, presented mostly downside for Wichita State as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. The potential for bad losses dominated the 18-game schedule, with rare chances to improve its standing in the power rankings.
This week is exactly what the No. 19 Shockers wanted when they joined the American Athletic Conference.
They are solidly in the NCAA Tournament's 68-team field. The Bracket Matrix judges them a No. 6 seed in its compilation of 106 bracket predictions. ESPN's Joe Lunardi has Wichita State a No. 6 seed. The Athletic's Stewart Mandel considers it a No.