Four new teams — Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah — will join the Big 12 conference this year with Texas and Oklahoma departing to the SEC.
The quartet of former Pac-12 schools will bring in plenty of talent, making the Big 12 more competitive night in and night out.
“A lot of good teams, but a lot more balance,” Kansas State head coach Jason Mansfield said. “I love this first year of the new Big 12.”
Losing Texas, the two-time defending national champions and five-consecutive conference champion, does weaken the conference on paper. However, K-State proved its ability to compete with the best last year, sweeping the Longhorns in Manhattan.
The Wildcats’ fear-no-one mentality will carry over in the conference this season.
“We feel like we have a shot to be one of the best teams in the conference and I don’t think there’s a team that we’re going to be scared of or think that we can’t beat,” Mansfield said.
In the Big 12 preseason poll, K-State was picked to finish seventh, but it was one of five teams to receive a first-place vote. Newcomer Arizona State was picked the highest of the additions at third and also received three first-place votes.
“It’s loaded, which I love for our conference,” Mansfield said. “I love for our team that we have to compete on so many different nights.”
Mansfield, who coached stints at Washington and Stanford for 15 combined years, has an idea of what to expect from the former Pac-12 schools. That could be key to becoming a tournament team after falling short last year.
“We want to be better on the road, and I think if we play better volleyball, we play together, I know we’re going to be better in those spaces as well,” Mansfield said.
The Wildcats will find themselves in unfamiliar arenas, playing Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado on their home floors. Aside from opposing fans, these new environments present challenges like higher elevation, which even indoors provides an advantage to home teams.
However, K-State returns many players this season, including graduate outside hitter Aliyah Carter, and can lean on its experience and leadership during road games.
“We’re more experienced together, and I think we understand how we want to play together,” Mansfield said. “We have good experience, good leadership, good competitiveness; we have very skilled people in every position. So we’re just a complete team.”
K-State will be tested as it opens its season with five straight road games, including three against teams nationally ranked in the top 25.
The Wildcats start their season Aug. 30 in the Stacey Clark Classic with a three-game tournament against Purdue, UC Davis on Aug. 31 and UMBC on Sept. 1.