The rivalry between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Wichita State Shockers in men’s basketball has been dormant for over three decades. The last scheduled regular-season game between the two teams occurred 30 years ago, with Kansas leading the all-time series 12-3. However, there is potential for increased competition between the teams in the future.

Kansas head coach Bill Self has expressed that it’s unlikely for there to be a home-and-home series with Wichita State, but he hopes that their upcoming game will ignite an in-state rivalry. He emphasized that this match won’t follow the recent series between Kansas and Missouri.

The decision to play a neutral site game in 2023 was made to generate more interest in the matchup. Self proposed this idea to Wichita State, and they agreed that a neutral site game in Kansas City would be beneficial. This move is aimed at attracting more fans to the game and is not considered a Kansas home game.

In the past, Self has stated that scheduling games should benefit the Kansas program. He believes that there is little to gain and everything to lose for a high-major program like Kansas when scheduling a mid-major opponent from the same state. Despite this, Self acknowledges the significance of their upcoming game against Wichita State and believes that it’s an essential match to gain momentum going into the league.

Self also mentioned that he has a good relationship with first-year Wichita State coach Paul Mills, and there are no personal grudges against Wichita State. He pointed out that his experience as a coach at Tulsa involved trying to schedule games with high-major programs like Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, but those calls were not returned, demonstrating the challenges of scheduling games between schools of different levels.

The series between Kansas and Wichita State has been historically one-sided, with Kansas holding a dominant record against the Shockers. Despite this, Self believes that playing Wichita State could be beneficial and hopes that it will reignite a more frequent and competitive series between the two teams.

In conclusion, the future of games between Kansas Jayhawks basketball and Wichita State remains uncertain, but there is potential for more matches in the coming years. The upcoming matchup in 2023 is a step towards rekindling the rivalry between these two Kansas basketball powerhouses.