1980–81 Wichita State Shockers men's basketball team

1980–81 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	† 1981 MVC Tournament winner ; Rankings from AP Poll

1980–81 Wichita State Shockers men's basketball
1980–81 Wichita State Shockers men's basketball
MVC Regular Season Champions
NCAA Tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
1980–81 record	26–7 (12–4 MVC)
Head coach	Gene Smithson (3rd season);
Home arena	Levitt Arena (10,506)
	Seasons ← →

The 1980–81 Wichita State Shockers men's basketball team represented Wichita State University in the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They played their home games at the University of Wichita Field House. They were in their 36th season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and 75th season overall. They were led by head coach Gene Smithson in his 3rdseason at the school. They finished the season 26–7, 12–4 in Missouri Valley play to finish in first place. They received a bid to the 1981 NCAA Tournament and advanced to the regional finals before falling to LSU.

Roster[]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
F	35	Antoine Carr	—	—	So	Wichita, Kansas
F	54	Cliff Levingston	—	—	Jr	San Diego, California

Head coach

Gene Smithson

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results[]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular Season
Nov 28, 1980*		Abilene Christian	W 101–60	1–0	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Dec 1, 1980*		Hardin-Simmons	W 105–46	2–0	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Dec 5, 1980*		McNeese State McDonald's Classic	W 91–66	3–0	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Dec 6, 1980*		Colorado State McDonald's Classic	W 53–34	4–0	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Dec 8, 1980*		Long Beach State	W 80–61	5–0	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Dec 13, 1980*		Louisiana-Monroe	W 82–63	6–0	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Dec 17, 1980*		Denver	W 93–60	7–0	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Dec 20, 1980*		at Oral Roberts	W 83–61	8–0	Mabee Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Dec 23, 1980*		at Texas-Rio Grande Valley	L 82–83	8–1	UTPA Fieldhouse Edinburg, Texas
Jan 3, 1981*		Iona	W 77–46	9–1	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Jan 10, 1981		at Tulsa	L 84–91	9–2 (0–1)	Tulsa Convention Center Tulsa, Oklahoma
Feb 28, 1981	No. 19	at Indiana State	L 72–75	21–5 (12–4)	Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana
MVC Tournament
Mar 5, 1981*		Southern Illinois Quarterfinal	W 77–57	22–5	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Mar 6, 1981*		Drake Semifinal	W 88–74	23–5	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Mar 7, 1981*		Creighton Championship Game	L 64–70	23–6	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
1981 NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1981*	(6 MW)	vs. (11 MW) Southern First Round	W 95–70	24–6	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Mar 15, 1981*	(6 MW)	vs. (3 MW) No. 13 Iowa Second Round	W 60–56^[2]	25–6	Levitt Arena Wichita, Kansas
Mar 20, 1981*	(6 MW)	vs. (7 MW) Kansas Midwest Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 66–65	26–6	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 22, 1981*	(6 MW)	vs. (1 MW) No. 4 Louisiana State Midwest Regional Final – Elite Eight	L 85–96	26–7	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

^[3]

Rankings[]

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	19	16	14	19	NR	NR
Coaches	NR	-	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	20	19	15	18	NR	NR

^[4]^[5]

Awards and honors[]

Antoine Carr – AP Honorable Mention All-American
Cliff Levingston – AP Honorable Mention All-American

References[]

^ sports-reference.com 1980-81 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
^ "Wichita St. ends Iowa's title dream". Chicago Tribune. March 16, 1981. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
^ "2019-20 Wichita State Men's Basketball Fact Book" (PDF). Wichita State University Athletics. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 877–878. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.
^ "1980-81 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved November 9, 2020.

[1] sports-reference.com 1980-81 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary

[2] "Wichita St. ends Iowa's title dream". Chicago Tribune. March 16, 1981. Retrieved November 9, 2020.

[3] "2019-20 Wichita State Men's Basketball Fact Book" (PDF). Wichita State University Athletics. Retrieved November 9, 2020.

[ESPN-4] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 877–878. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[5] "1980-81 College Basketball Polls". Sports Reference. Retrieved November 9, 2020.

[1]

[2]

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[4]

[5]

v t Wichita State Shockers men's basketball
Venues	Charles Koch Arena (1955–2002; 2003–present) Kansas Coliseum (2002–2003) Intrust Bank Arena (alternate; 2010–present)
Rivalries	Tulsa
Culture & lore	WuShock
People	Statistical leaders
Seasons	1933–34 1943–44 1963–64 1964–65 1980–81 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
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

1980–81 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Wichita State	12	–	4	.750	26	–	7	.788
Creighton †	11	–	5	.688	21	–	9	.700
Tulsa	11	–	5	.688	26	–	7	.788
Drake	10	–	6	.625	18	–	11	.621
Bradley	10	–	6	.625	18	–	9	.667
New Mexico State	7	–	9	.438	10	–	17	.370
West Texas State	7	–	9	.438	16	–	11	.593
Indiana State	4	–	12	.250	9	–	18	.333
Southern Illinois	0	–	16	.000	7	–	20	.259

† 1981 MVC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]