1980–81 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team

1980–81 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
1980–81 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Big Eight Conference
Record	24–9 (9–5 Big Eight)
Head coach	Jack Hartman (11th season);
Assistant coach	Lon Kruger (2nd season)
Home arena	Ahearn Field House

1980–81 Big Eight Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Missouri	10	–	4	.714	22	–	10	.688
	9	–	5	.643	24	–	9	.727
Nebraska	9	–	5	.643	15	–	12	.556
Kansas †	9	–	5	.643	24	–	8	.750
Oklahoma State	8	–	6	.571	18	–	9	.667
Colorado	5	–	9	.357	16	–	12	.571
Oklahoma	4	–	10	.286	9	–	18	.333
Iowa State	2	–	12	.143	9	–	18	.333

† 1981 Big Eight tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

The 1980–81 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University as a member of the Big Eight Conference in the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Jack Hartman and played their home games at Ahearn Field House in Manhattan, Kansas. The Wildcats finished second in the conference regular season standings and received a bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 8 seed in the West region. The Wildcats beat No. 9 seed San Francisco in the opening round,^[2] then upset No. 1 seed Oregon State and No. 4 seed Illinois to reach the regional final where they lost to North Carolina in Elite Eight, 82–68.^[3] Kansas State finished with a record of 24–9 (9–5 Big Eight).

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	12	Tim Jankovich	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	Jr	Manhattan, Kansas
G	25	Rolando Blackman	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Brooklyn, New York
F	45	Ed Nealy	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	238 lb (108 kg)	Jr	Bonner Springs, Kansas
F	52	Randy Reed	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	Jr	St. Louis, Missouri

Head coach

Jack Hartman

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[4]

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
November 29*		Northern Iowa	W 72–54	1–0	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
December 1*		South Dakota	W 83–50	2–0	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
December 6*		at Arizona	W 55–53	3–0	McKale Center Tucson, Arizona
December 8*		at No. 15 Arizona State	L 61–84	3–1	ASU Activity Center Tempe, Arizona
December 13*		Wisconsin-Parkside	W 72–58	4–1	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
December 20*		US International	W 76–45	5–1	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
December 23*		No. 15 Indiana	L 44–51	5–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
December 27*		vs. No. 17 Arkansas	W 47–46	6–2	Kansas City, Mo
December 31*		Fresno State	W 47–39	7–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
January 3*		Louisville	W 64–47	8–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
January 6*		Oklahoma City	W 97–79	9–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
January 10*		Eastern Illinois	W 74–62	10–2	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
January 14		at Nebraska	L 49–59	10–3 (0–1)	Bob Devaney Sports Center Lincoln, Nebraska
January 17		at Colorado	W 63–62	11–3 (1–1)	CU Events Center Boulder, Colorado
January 21		Oklahoma State	L 83–90	11–4 (1–2)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
January 24		at Oklahoma	L 63–65	11–5 (1–3)	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, Oklahoma
January 28		No. 18 Kansas	W 54–43	12–5 (2–3)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
January 31		at Iowa State	W 75–62	13–5 (3–3)	Hilton Coliseum (11,238) Ames, Iowa
February 4		Missouri	W 75–65	14–5 (4–3)	Ahearn Field House (11,290) Manhattan, Kansas
February 7		Colorado	W 82–62	15–5 (5–3)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
February 11		at Oklahoma State	W 73–70	16–5 (6–3)	Gallagher-Iba Arena Stillwater, Oklahoma
February 14		Nebraska	W 66–49	17–5 (7–3)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
February 18		at Kansas	L 49–51	17–6 (7–4)	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
February 21		Oklahoma	W 108–71	18–6 (8–4)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
February 25		Iowa State	W 67–60	19–6 (9–4)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
February 28		at Missouri	L 43–46	19–7 (9–5)	Hearnes Center (12,906) Columbia, Missouri
Big 8 tournament
March 3	(2)	(7) Oklahoma Quarterfinals	W 75–56	20–7 (9–5)	Ahearn Field House Manhattan, Kansas
March 4	(2)	vs. (6) Colorado Semifinals	W 64–61	21–7 (9–5)	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
March 5	(2)	vs. (4) Kansas Championship	L 68–80	21–8 (9–5)	Kemper Arena Kansas City, Missouri
NCAA Tournament
March 12	(8 W)	vs. (9 W) San Francisco First round	W 64–60^[2]	22–8 (9–5)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California
March 14	(8 W)	vs. (1 W) No. 2 Oregon State Second round	W 50–48^[5]	23–8 (9–5)	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California
March 19	(8 W)	vs. (4 W) No. 19 Illinois West Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 57–52	24–8 (9–5)	Jon M. Huntsman Center (15,450) Salt Lake City, Utah
March 21	(8 W)	vs. (2 W) No. 6 North Carolina West Regional Final – Elite Eight	L 68–82^[3]	24–9 (9–5)	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Central Time.

Source^[6]^[7]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	9	Rolando Blackman	Dallas Mavericks

References

^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Big Eight Conference Season Summary
^ ^a ^b "Kansas State Rallies to Win". The Washington Post. March 13, 1981. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA REACH N.C.A.A. FINAL FOUR". The New York Times. March 22, 1981. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
^ "1980-81 Men's Basketball Roster". Kansas State University Athletics. February 19, 2023.
^ Layden, Tim (March 14, 2012). "March 14, 1981: When the NCAA tournament became Madness". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
^ "1980-81 Kansas State Wildcats Schedule and Results". CBBRef. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
^ "1980-81 K-State Schedule". K-State Basketball. K-State Athletics. Retrieved July 12, 2021.

[1] sports-reference.com 1980-81 Big Eight Conference Season Summary

[SAN-2] "Kansas State Rallies to Win". The Washington Post. March 13, 1981. Retrieved February 26, 2023.

[UNC-3] "VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA REACH N.C.A.A. FINAL FOUR". The New York Times. March 22, 1981. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

[4] "1980-81 Men's Basketball Roster". Kansas State University Athletics. February 19, 2023.

[5] Layden, Tim (March 14, 2012). "March 14, 1981: When the NCAA tournament became Madness". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 19, 2023.

[6] "1980-81 Kansas State Wildcats Schedule and Results". CBBRef. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 12, 2021.

[7] "1980-81 K-State Schedule". K-State Basketball. K-State Athletics. Retrieved July 12, 2021.

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Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball
Venues	Manhattan YMCA (1902–1911) Nichols Hall (1911–1950) Ahearn Field House (1950–1988) Bramlage Coliseum (1988–present)
Rivalries	Kansas
Culture & lore	Willie the Wildcat "Kansas Wildcats" "Wabash Cannonball" Wildcat Victory The Pride of Wildcat Land
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics