If the World Series between the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets reaches a Game 7, Kansas University basketball fans won’t have to worry about missing the Jayhawks’ opening exhibition of the 2015-16 season in order to follow the decisive MLB game.
KU’s athletic department announced Friday morning the Jayhawks will move their preseason debut — scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m., against Pittsburg State — to the following night if the World Series returns to Kansas City for a Game 6.
The Royals, up 2-0 entering Friday’s Game 3 in New York, could end the series in four or five games, allowing Kansas to play its exhibition as scheduled. But if that doesn’t happen, KU will face Pitt State at 7 p.m. Thursday, at Allen Fieldhouse, in order to avoid a potential conflict of fans’ interests, with Game 7 and KU basketball going on at the same time.
“We love the roll the Royals are on,” KU coach Bill Self said in a press release, “and we know that interest in this Series is sky-high in this area. Many of our Jayhawk fans will want to attend or watch Game 7 next Wednesday, if it goes that far, and we don’t want them to have to make a choice. We hope the Royals wrap it up in New York, but if they don’t we’ll be ready to move our game.”
Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger said KU will move the game, even if the Series ends Tuesday night.
David J. Phillip/The Associated Press“We want to be fair to Pittsburg State, and we want to keep any confusion to a minimum,” Zenger said. “If we move the game once, we won’t move it back if the Series ends in six games. The sure thing is that if the Series returns to Kansas City, we will move the exhibition game to Thursday night.”
