Kansas State University received a bid to the Division-I college baseball tournament. The University of Kansas did not.
That made things super awkward when ESPN incorrectly announced the Wildcats’ inclusion in the Field of 64!
It gave false hope to the Jayhawks, who will not compete for a national championship. The “Worldwide Leader” accidentally threw many handfuls of salt directly in their wound.
Kansas finished 31-23 during the 2024 college baseball season. A program that did not record a winning record in each of the last two years got back on the right side of .500 and reached the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament. There was some buzz about the Jayhawks’ ability to sneak into a Regional as the recipient of an at-large bid.
They ultimately fell short based on low RPI. Momentum is extremely strong in Lawrence despite being left out in favor of UCF, which finished with a lesser record in the same conference. It still stings!
On the flip side of the Sunflower State rivalry, Kansas State got into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 3 seed in Fayetteville. Arkansas is the host, Louisiana Tech is the No. 2 seed, Southeast Missouri rounds things out as the No. 4.
Shortly after the Regional grouping was announced, ESPN cut to Manhattan for a live reaction shot. The graphic displayed the Kansas Jayhawks instead of the Kansas State Wildcats. Oops!!
Not only do those two teams hate each other, the team whose name was shown on the tag did not even make the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks likely gathered together to watch the selection show and might have got their hopes up after seeing their name only to be completely left out all together.
ESPN bungled the graphic in the most demoralizing fashion. It gave false hope to a team that did not have any while labeling them as their rival. Brutal!