KANSAS STATE
Toughest: at Virginia Tech (Dec. 4), vs. West Virginia in Wichita (Dec. 8), vs. Alabama in Kansas City (Dec. 17)
Next-toughest: Diamond Head Classic (Dec. 22-25)
The rest: Charleston Southern (Nov. 11), Loyola (Nov. 14), Maryland Eastern Shore (Nov. 22), George Washington (Dec. 1), North Florida (Dec. 11), Howard (Dec. 31).
Toughness scale (1-10): 6 -- I don’t blame Frank Martin for dialing it back a bit since he has a team that is reshuffling. But the Wildcats have a schedule in front of them that it can win and build up equity for a run in the Big 12. West Virginia is a virtual home game for the Wildcats. Alabama is too. Virginia Tech is like Kansas State in that both schools could be better than projected and a road win in Blacksburg would carry weight. The Diamond Head Classic could produce some power-rating pop if KSU beats Southern Illinois and then draws Clemson in round two before possibly playing tourney favorite Xavier in a possible final. Do that and Kansas State’s nonconference schedule rating will increase.
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/36371/nonconference-schedule-analysis-big-12