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Wichita State and Oklahoma State schedule home-and-home

Vanderbilt v Wichita State

DAYTON, OH - MARCH 15: Markis McDuffie #32 of the Wichita State Shockers dribbles the ball against Joe Toye #2 of the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first half of their game during the first round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at UD Arena on March 15, 2016 in Dayton, Ohio. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

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Wichita State added another high-profile home-and-home series to its schedule late this week as they’re going to play Oklahoma State the next two seasons.

According to a report from John Helsley of the Oklahoman, the teams will begin the series this December at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita before switching gears and returning the favor to play near Oklahoma State the next year.

In the post Fred Van Vleet and Ron Baker era, Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall has done a great job of scheduling games against tough competition to help keep the Shockers a national-level program. They’re already scheduled to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis this year while Wichita State will also have home-and-home series with Oklahoma State and Oklahoma the next two years.

Which begs the question: Why is Kansas still afraid to schedule Wichita State?

The Jayhawks are noted for scheduling tough games outside of the Big 12, but they still refuse to play their in-state rivals from the Missouri Valley Conference. I understand that it’s basically a no-win situation for Kansas to play Wichita State because their fans always believe they should beat them, but if Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are bold enough to schedule the Shockers in a home-and-home then Bill Self should feel inclined to do the same.

Think of how much fun that NCAA tournament clash between Wichita State and Kansas was two years ago? Now imagine that kind of matchup every year? That will likely never happen, but here’s to hoping that the Jayhawks toughen up and schedule their in-state rival from a smaller league. It would be great for college basketball and for college hoops in that region of the country.