Spring football update

What a slow Tuesday. You know it's slow when I read quotes from a press conference in order to find something to write about.

Reading coach-speak during spring football and trying to figure anything out about your team's chances during the fall is about as worthless as a promise of loyalty from a college coach these days. I suspect even the head coach of Louisiana-Lafayette claims his team's prospects are looking up during spring practice.

I can only cull a few discernable improvements from K-State's spring practice thus far. It appears Alesana Alesana (yeah, that's his real name) has been a nice addition on the offensive line this spring. We can certainly use the help after the injury bug bit the OL hard and often last year, and has continued on this spring with Brad Rooker and Nick Stringer missing time. If the OL comes together this spring and on into fall camp, we may be able to put up 150 yards total offense on Auburn's defense in the season opener. Sorry, but I'm not at all optimistic about that opening road trip.

In other news, it appears the Lynch Mob will be switching to a base 3-4 set. That's not exactly breaking news, I know. I'm not sure how I feel about this, as I'm not exactly an X's and O's expert in football. There has also been talk of moving last year's Big 12 tackles-for-loss leader and the Houston Chronicle's defensive player of the year, Ian Campbell, from defensive end to outside linebacker. Now granted Campbell is a little undersized for DE at 6'5" and 232 lbs., but it seems changing something that worked so well is a big risk. I'll be the first to admit that I'm wrong if I am, but I'd rather have Campbell on the OL wreaking havoc in the opponent's backfield than learning a new position where he may be less effective.

In other news, it has been reported that redshirt freshman Carson Coffman may push sophomore Josh Freeman for the starting position. Umm, yeah, and I'll probably be elected governor of Texas. I hope Coffman is a serviceable backup, but we better do everything in our power to protect Freeman.

All right, that's enough of that. I better move on to other topics before I fall asleep.

***

The college basketball coaching carousel is starting to slow down a little bit. Both Arkansas and Texas A&M have named head coaches, which ends what little speculation there was (outside of Lincoln) that Doc Sadler might be chosen to fill either of those positions. A&M today introduced Mark Turgeon as its new head coach. Good call by the Aggies, as Turgeon is probably the lowest-risk coach who was reasonably available to the Aggies. He's a tireless worker and fearless (went on the road early this year to George Mason, LSU, Syracuse and Wyoming). He has the benefit of returning three starters. Now, if he can convince the top recruit in Texas, DeAndre Jones, to honor his commitment to the Aggies, he could have the Aggies back near the top of the conference standings next season.

***

An Internet rumor is now circulating that KU guard Sherron Collins may transfer from KU to DePaul. Of course, an Internet rumor is worth about as much as a cold bucket of piss, but it would be quite a blow if the beaks lost Julian Wright, Brandon Rush and Collins.

I sure hope tomorrow is more exciting.

The week in review, 4/9

And what a week it was. I'll start with the current sports news, and move on to the "other" stuff...

Baseball

Tough series for the Bat Cats in horrible weather this weekend. The series was supposed to start Thursday to avoid the Easter holiday, but bad weather forced it back to a regular weekend series. The Cats opened strong with a 12-0 win Friday, but were buzzed by Missouri ace Rick Zagone's one-hitter Saturday.

Sunday brought heartache as the Cats tried to take their second straight conference series, but failed when a two-out, two-strike triple by Mizzou's Brock Bond tied the game and an extra-inning homer by Trevor Coleman ended the game in the 12th.

Let's be honest. Even at home, it was likely No. 29 Missouri was going to take the series off us. The win on Friday was a huge boost, now we need to hope the tough losses the next two days don't kill that momentum. Taking a win off Missouri is a decent weekend, and it puts us in position to achieve our primary goal of making it to Oklahoma City. Here are the current conference standings...

1. Texas 9-3 (Beat KU, 2-1)
2. Oklahoma State 6-3 (Lost to NU, 1-2)
2. Missouri 6-3 (Beat K-State, 2-1)
4. Texas A&M 6-5 (Beat TTU, 2-1)
5. Texas Tech 5-6 (Lost to aTm, 1-2)
6. K-State 4-5 (Lost to MU, 1-2)
7. Oklahoma 4-5 (Lost to BU, 1-2)
8. Nebraska 5-7 (Beat OSU, 2-1)
9. Baylor 4-8 (Beat OU, 2-1)
10. Kansas 4-8 (Lost to UT, 1-2)

As you can see, K-State is 1.5 games ahead of Baylor and KU for the 8th spot, which ensures a berth in the conference tournament. A tough weekend awaits the Cats as they attempt to hold their position as they travel to Stillwater for a tango with Oklahoma State. The Cowboys dropped a series to struggling Nebraska in Lincoln this weekend, which may indicate vulnerability. A series win is probably out of reach, but we need to at least ensure we don't get swept.

Oh yeah, and in midweek action, the Cats dropped KU in a "non-conference" matchup, 10-6. Tomorrow they will be host to the Creighton Bluejays, who dropped their weekend series to Wichita State.

Men's Golf

The men's golf team finished in a three-way tie for 5th place with Northeastern State and Nebraska at the Shocker Classic in Wichita. Individually, golfer Bobby Streb finished in second place with a seven-over-par 220.

The Cats stood second after Monday's double round, but imploded with a team score of 318 on a windy second day, dropping them into their final position. Again, outside of Wichita State, the Cats did not face a lot of strong competition in this meet, but that will change this weekend as K-State travels to the desert to for the ASU Thunderbird Invitational.

Women's Golf

The ladies started off solidly yesterday in Norman, tieing for 5th after two rounds of the Susie Maxwell Invitational. The women only have a realistic chance of catching fourth-place Tulsa, as they trail third-place SMU by 13 shots, but they lead fellow Big 12 programs KU, OU and Texas Tech. The final round is probably concluding as I type this, but scores are not yet available.

Track and Field

The tracksters got to compete on a big stage this weekend in Eugene, Ore., as they competed at Hayward Field. And compete they did, winning seven events in finishing 2nd (women) and 3rd (men). Event champs included...

Women
Beverly Ramos (3,000 meter steeplechase, new school record time)
Marianne Schlachter (Triple jump)
Lindsay Grigoriev (Discus)
Kaylene Wagner (High jump)
Morgan Bonds (800 meters)

Men
Scott Sellers (Triple jump)
Kyle Lancaster (High jump)

The Cats will split up this weekend as they compete in both the Oklahoma Invitational in Norman and the UTEP Invitational in El Paso.

OK, the current events are updated, now on to other news.

Some final thoughts on the Bob Huggins saga...

We've had a few days to think about the situation we dealt with last week. I'm just going to say this; Bob Huggins must really love West Virginia (and Morgantown) to leave a #1 recruiting class and a team that would have been in the running to win a conference title next year, not to mention a good chance to make a Sweet 16. WVU is certainly no slouch of a program, but they're not in the same position we're in as far as competing in our conference. Anyway, we really need to get over this whole situation and move on.

That brings me to the next situation...the hiring of Frank Martin and retention of Dalonte Hill. Those outside the program are taking their chances to laugh at us right now, but what's being said right now is nothing but conjecture. We hired a guy with no head coaching experience. Big deal, so did KU when it hired Roy Williams. The point is, none of us have any idea how this is going to turn out, not even fatass Jason Whitlock (way to cite sources for your claim that Huggins conned Weiser, Jason. Been a while since j-school, huh?). Martin might be the next great coach, or he might be a total bust. I'm not that worried about the lack of head coaching experience, because our other alternative would have been to hire a head coach from a mid-major program, which is no guarantee of success. We've seen promising head coaches flame out in the Big 12 before, most notably Barry Collier at Nebraska.

Martin is no bigger risk than anyone else we would have hired, and by hiring him and retaining Hill, we likely have kept our recruiting class intact. That will be a big help to the new coaches as they experience the inevitable growing pains of learning the day-to-day operations of a BCS-conference program. If we would have lost the recruiting class, we would have been left with David Hoskins, Clent Stewart, Blake Young and probably Bill Walker. Not to mention there's a decent chance Jason Bennett or Luis Colon might have left, leaving us with some decent talent but a dangerously thin bench and no post players (not that we really had one with Bennett and Colon anyway, but they should be improved next year). If we can keep the momentum of this last year going with a high conference finish and an NCAA appearance, we have a great chance at a good recruiting class for 2008-09.

Some say Martin is a huge risk because of some problems he encountered at Miami High, where he was the coach of a state championship team that was fined and forced to forfeit its championship in 1998. Martin was also apparently fired over the incident. Others have written that Martin was the victim in the whole situation and is a principled guy who would never cheat. What's the truth? Who knows, but I'm guessing it's somewhere in the middle.

Now on to those who claim we're doing this becuase we're all about winning (*cough* Joe Posnanski *cough*). Of course we're all about winning. That's what college sports is all about these days. Any delusions we had that it's about kids going to school and getting their degrees went out the window about 15 years ago when it started to become routine for players to jump to the NBA early. No coach is ever going to stand in the way of kids going to class, but it's no shame to encourage a kid to go down the best path for him, and if that's the NBA, so be it. College sports is about winning and big money these days, so get off your high horse about us being a bunch of sellouts. Iowa State had Larry Eustachy and Wayne Morgan, Mizzou had Quin Snyder, KU had Mark Mangino (and the history Roy-boy left you), Colorado had Bill McCartney and Gary Barnett, and Nebraska had its litany of off-field trouble during Osborne's latter years. And that's just to mention the Big 12 North programs who have gotten in trouble. So get the fuck over yourselves and deal with the fact that we have some major talent coming in next year.

Finally, even if it turns out Martin isn't the man for us, we will probably still be in decent shape. Former Wildcat player Tim Jankovich just signed on as the head coach at Illinois State, meaning he will get some head coaching experience, which would put him in good position to return to his alma mater if we ever need him. I'd love to have a K-State guy on our sidelines because it he'd be less likely to leave for another program, but I'm not as worried about Martin, considering his alma mater is Florida International.

***

Surprising news from "Harvard" on the Kaw (that's KU to you non-Kansans) as sophomore forward Julian Wright announced today he's leaving for the NBA draft. Wright had stated at least three times previously that he intended to stay next year and get his degree before leaving.

This should be worrisome news for the beaks, as they now face the possibility they could lose 2/5ths of their starting lineup, as there's still a good chance Brandon Rush will turn pro as well. Gee KU fans, you were told one thing by one of your own and then he changed his mind and ditched you. Don't you feel betrayed?

***

In other Big 12 news, it looks like Texas A&M will hire Wichita State head coach Mark Turgeon to replace Billy Gillispie. Pretty good hire for the Aggies, in my opinion, as Turgeon has made steady improvements in the Shockers' program without ever bringing in high-level talent. He has a system that works and proved he can coach in the tournament, taking the Shockers to the Sweet 16 two years ago.

Here's a link to some video of Martin's press conference today in Manhattan (right side of the page).

That didn't take long

It's still been less than 24 hours since official word came down that Bob Huggins was turning his back on K-State to go to West Virginia, and we already have a replacement coach. GoPowercat.com and the KC Star are reporting assistant coach Frank Martin is being promoted to the head coaching position. Perhaps more importantly, it appears Dalonte Hill is staying put in Manhattan. For those who don't remember, Hill is the coach who was hired away from Charlotte because he was the man who recruited Michael Beasley.

Obviously, this appears to be a calculated risk on AD Tim Weiser's part. We're hiring a 40 year old, lifetime assistant to take the reigns of a major conference program. We're also dancing with them what brung us by hiring one of Huggins' guys to replace the man who walked out on us after one year. See Jason Whitlock's column in the KC Star for an assesment of the merits of that risk.

I'm not saying I agree with Whitlock, but it looks like we're gambling that Martin is ready to be a head coach at a major program in order to hold together the #1 recruiting class in the nation. If we can manage to get Beasley, Pullen and Sutton on campus for next year, as well as keep Bill Walker in Manhattan (I doubt he's going anywhere), we will have as much talent as anyone next year. The question is, can Martin coach? Does he have a system? Is he ready to handle the day-to-day operations of a major college program? I would like to see him hire an old coaching hand as his director of basketball operations or a special adviser to help get him started. The good news is, I highly doubt Martin would be tempted to leave K-State for his alma mater (Florida International).

I'm ready to give him a shot. I'm a K-State basketball fan, not a (name of coach here) fan. K-State basketball existed long before Bob Huggins was born, and it will continue long after he's dead. Let's get those recruits in town, pack Bramlage, and bring on the Cats.

***

At least we could find a silver lining in our misery, and had a day or two to get ready for it. Today, Texas A&M fans awoke to the news their head coach, Billy Gillispie, had bolted College Station for Lexington, Kentucky, to take over at UK.

To me, this is quite the egotistical move on Gillispie's part. He got to make A&M lick his boots and promise the world to keep him in College Station, then he left them high and dry by not signing his new contract and and bolting for Kentucky. As I mentioned before, I don't know why the hell anybody would want to coach Kentucky basketball. Ok, so you have 24,000 screaming fans at every home game, all the money in the world, and a ton of tradition. You also have a whole bunch of Kentuckians whose lives hang on how succesful your team is every year, and just winning SEC championships isn't enough. Now that conference rival Florida has upstaged the Wildcats, the hunger is probably twice as strong to "get back to where they belong." I would never want to coach at a place where two or three conference titles every five years and a Final Four every five years isn't good enough. What a bunch of delusional fans.

Best of luck Billy Clyde. For what you're about to put up with, I hope sexual liberties with Ashley Judd is part of your contract.

***

Thanks to all the new readers I apparently have. I had triple the hits yesterday of any previous day. I won't have a weekly update posted Sunday night, but I'll try for sure to have one up by Monday night. Cheer on those Bat Cats in the crappy Great Plains weather against Mizzou tonight.

(Picture courtesy GoPowercat.com)

Huggieville is no more

Fox Sports is now reporting Bob Huggins has agreed in principle to become the new head coach of the West Virginia Mountaineers. Ok, so that's not quite Huggins himself saying "I'm the new head coach at WVU" but I doubt he's going to have a press conference in Morgantown to announce he's staying at K-State.

First of all, a big salute to the internet West Virginia fans for handling this with class. That's probably not a big surprise considering they just had to deal with their own coach leaving last week, and know what it feels like. To my fellow K-State fans who read this (all 5 of you), I beg you...please do not go to the WVU message boards and act like a jackass. If you personally know 'Eer fans, don't be a jerk about this to them. This is not the fault of WVU fans. It's really not anybody's fault. This is big business...err, college athletics. It's also about going home. We all knew Huggins would have a hard time saying no to WVU if they came calling.

I feel worst for Bill Walker in this situation. He has wanted to play for Bob Huggins since 7th or 8th grade. Busted his butt to graduate high school early and get to college this year, instead of next year. Has now had to fight through a knee injury, and if he still wants to play for his chosen coach, he's going to have to transfer and sit out a year. If he transfers, he'll just be starting his college career by the time he figured on starting his NBA career. You can't please everybody in making your career decisions, but this is a particularly egregious case of stepping on others.

Now on to the rest of you (and given my hatred of generalizations, this doesn't pertain to every person in the following categories, but you get the idea)...

Fuck you Husker fans. Fuck you Jayhawk fans. If you want to kick us while we're down, fine, go for it. We'll bounce back. We've been there before. Remember Sirr Parker? Remember a motel room incident in Tempe? Remember Pervis fucking Pasco? We've already been through all that hell already. Losing a really good basketball coach isn't going to kill us. We're not gone forever. In fact, this is better than the Pasco Fiasco. At least now, we're getting really high expectations shot down, rather than dealing with just hoping to be a little better than mediocre.

For all you Husker fans throwing this at us, let's think back about 3 years. Seems to me you all dealt with a similar situation, except your AD manufactured your own little version of hell by firing a relatively succesful coach. About 200 coaching interviews later, Steve Pederson emerged with his first-choice candidate (insert rolling eyes). While you're thinking about all those good times, don't forget 5-6, the end of a 30+ year bowl streak, the nightmare in Lubbock, the split in your once proud fanbase, and the fact that the earth will crash into the sun before you're better than K-State in basketball. On top of that, go to the West Virginia message board to see what the rest of the nation thinks of you.

For all you Jayhawk fans laughing at us, let's think back about about 4 years, and a Sportscenter shot of Roy Williams leaving Lawrence in a maroon Town Car. Sure, you didn't want him, if he didn't want you. He wasn't that great of a coach anyway. He was a choker. He couldn't get the most out of his talent. He was tied to Dean Smith's apron strings. Bullshit. He ran your school. He castrated your former athletic director (and allowed boosters to pay former players). He could tell your WHOLE FUCKING STUDENT SECTION to shut up if he so desired. He was your king, and you were his fellators, if he so desired. Also, don't forget about Terry Allen, 11 years in a row, 64-0, lack of institutional control, aKademic fraUd, and first-round tournament losses to mid-majors.

In sum, thanks for the abbreviated memories, coach Huggins. I enjoyed having you as our coach. Good luck with the rest of your career, and good luck to West Virginia. I can't really say I'll be cheering for you, but I certainly don't wish you ill.

Thank God the Masters is on today. Now I have all that hatred out of my system and can go home and enjoy the tournament.

As the world turns...

Thursday has dawned, and still no official word on the coach Huggins situation. I still haven't been able to find official confirmation that West Virginia has even talked to Huggins, although I'm certain they have. No news on when we can expect a decision, either, although I'm sure we'll know by the weekend.

The one thing that scares me in this is Huggins' silence. It's not unexpected, but silence from a coach is a scary thing, considering what we just saw up at Creighton (more on that later). Everyone knew Dana Altman was getting interest from Iowa and Arkansas, and he did not come out and say there was no reason to worry, that he wasn't going anywhere. Certainly that approach is to be commended over telling a bald-faced lie, right Nick Saban?

Also, having lived (relatively) far from home now, I know how enticing the call of home can be. I'm sure Huggins would love to go back home, he's even said so. There's something about being back where you came from (assuming you like the place, which Huggins apparently does) and being able to see old friends and nearby family when you want to. As I understand it, Huggins' dad still lives in eastern Ohio, and one of his daughters goes to school in Ohio. He'd be a lot closer to them back in Morgantown.

Some are speculating this is about money, because at $800,000 per year, he's far underpaid. That's not it. He was born in Morgantown, played basketball there, was a graduate assistant there. This is about going home. Certainly if WVU offers him a lot more money, he's even more likely to go, but this isn't about money. Tim Weiser does need to step up and offer a lot more, to the tune of about a half-million more, though. Surely all that money we made from all the sellouts and merchandise sold gives us the ability to pony up that much, right?

The killer thing about this whole situation is we just have to sit around and wait, and sometimes deal with digs from other schools while we do so. None of us knows what Huggins is going to decide. On the one hand, he's only been with us a year, and has a lot of really good players that he's put a lot of time into coming into the mix next year. On the other hand, there's the chance to go home to his "dream job." Let's all remember this...even if he does leave, K-State basketball will go on. We have some good momentum from last year, and we've shown coaches they will be supported if they win.

***

I swear, everytime I blog about something, it turns right around. I said it looked like Gillispie was gone...he wasn't. I wrote that Altman was gone...well, he was, but now he's back. He says he's going to finish out his career at Creighton now. Well I damn sure hope he's planning on that, because he's not going to get very many offers in the future.

Altman claims it was his ego and the money that caused him to temporarily go insane and move to Arkansas. I can understand the money part, he was apparently offered $1.5 million per year at Arkansas. But the ego? Talk about a sideways comeback. Creighton apparently isn't sufficiently prominent for his ego. I can understand that in some sense, it's a non-BCS program that has never made a Sweet 16. Hardly one of college basketball's elite. But when you're coming back to a fanbase you've recently jilted, I wouldn't say it was my ego that caused me to leave. It's whatever, though, I'm still happy he's back.

It also sounds like there might have been some other reasons for Altman's departure, although he won't admit they were a factor. I do believe Altman realized he actually wanted to stay in Omaha, and I'm hardly going to get worked up about two college kids smoking weed. That stuff happens everywhere, it's hardly unique to Arkansas.

I know this, I sure wouldn't want to coach anywhere the fans yell "whoo pig sooie" as their leading chant.

***

The greatest golf week of the year starts today, with The Masters tournament kicking off. I won't bore you by giving my uninformed thoughts on who is going to play well. Obviously Woods is the prohibitive favorite, and I'm sure the long-hitters will top the leader board. Whether you're a golf fan or not, though, turn the TV over to the tournament for a little while this weekend, and just enjoy the music CBS plays and the beauty of the course. There are few places more beautiful in the world than Augusta National Golf Club.

College basketball's silly season

The end of the college basketball season always fires up the coaching carousel, and now that K-State has a high-profile coach in Bob Huggins, we can expect to hear talk each spring of the programs who would love to lure him away from Manhattan.

That talk appeared yesterday when news broke that West Virginia coach John Beilein is talking to Michigan. Today, ESPN is reporting it's a done deal between Beilein and the Wolverines. Of course Huggins appears to be a natural replacement, having been born in Morgantown and playing his college ball at WVU. There's no official word out of Morgantown who the replacement is likely to be, but of course the early message board talk is focused on Huggins.

I'm not really worried about this for several reasons. First of all, the timing for Huggins is horrible. He's only been at K-State this year, and has a bunch of players he's cultivated for the last several years coming in next year. Leaving those guys high and dry would be a tough call to make, although not because Huggins is all that concerned about his media image. Also, the players coming in happen to comprise the #1 recruiting class in the nation, which gives Huggins a chance to have a contender in the Big 12 this year.

Of course, all this talk has brought up one subject that always gets me started. All fan bases have ignorant fans, and West Virginia and K-State are no different. Some of the talk the last day has centered on Huggins wanting to get out of "the middle of nowhere" to a place that's "nicer" than Manhattan. Unless you've ever been to Manhattan...shut the fuck up.

Manhattan isn't for everybody. If you like the fast-paced, congested city life, you'll hate the wide-open spaces and slow pace of a town of (almost) 50,000. It's more of a rural atmosphere, with an element of redneck thrown in. But if you're from West Virginia, you have no room to talk about rednecks. We see it all the time in the Big 12, the fans from Nebraska call the fans from K-State call the fans from Oklahoma rednecks (or fucking hillbilies, in Nebraska's case). K-State fans are just as guilty of it from time to time, but that doesn't change my overall opinion of all of it. The point is, every place has its positives and its negatives, and you're never going to convince me that you have some special knowledge about a coach or player that demonstrates they won't go to a certain place because of certain "characteristics."

Not to mention, Huggins doesn't appear to be having any problems recruiting to Manhattan. We even hear he likes it here.

***

Last night's national title game certainly lived up to my expectations of giving me a severe case of the yawns. Congrats to Florida on winning a second consecutive national title, that's an impressive accomplishment. Also, congrats to the players who passed up guaranteed millions to come back and have fun as a college athlete for another year.

Now, a word of advice to Joakim Noah. When your dad is a famous tennis player and your mom is a well-paid model, don't act like you're a hardened thug from the streets in your postgame interview. I'd try to describe it, but I'll just let the video speak for itself.



***

Surprising news out of Omaha yesterday, as long-time Creighton basketball coach Dana Altman left to take the head coaching job at Arkansas. I suppose my status as a casual Creighton fan (have family at the school, native Nebraskan, etc.) made me a bit blind, but I did not see this coming. Altman has always acted like he had it made in Omaha, and indeed he was the coach of one of the best programs among the non-BCS conferences in the nation. He had a beautiful facility in the Qwest Center, and he had a fan base who loved him for bringing their program back from the dead. I was actually more worried about the Iowa opening than Arkansas, because I didn't think Altman would go to Fayetteville. However, it's not as far from his Nebraska roots as I thought (about 430 miles from Omaha), and the Sows do have money and tradition, and they play in a major conference.

Time will tell if this was a good move for Altman, as he already showed once he couldn't handle the spotlight of a major college program, at K-State. Of course, he's older, wiser, a better recruiter and a better X's and O's coach now. I wish him the best. It sounds like the early front-runner to replace Altman at Creighton is Oral Roberts' Scott Sutton. This might be a good fit, as Scott is the son of former Creighton coach Eddie Sutton (yes, THAT Eddie Sutton), and at least in my opinion, Creighton would be a step up in money, exposure and opportunity from Oral Roberts.

The week in review, 4/1

Sorry the update is on Monday instead of Sunday. Got pretty busy yesterday with school after a great weekend in STL.

It was a little lighter week in K-State sports, but still plenty going on.

Baseball

Great weekend for the Bat Cats, as they took a winnable series off Texas Tech in Manhattan. In the past, it always seemed like Coach Hill's club was right on the verge of winning series like this, but just couldn't pick them up, so maybe this is a sign things will be different this year. This team's goal should be to make it to Oklahoma City for the conference tournament, as that would be a solid sign of progress in the program under Coach Hill.

Rainy weather Friday made for a double dip Saturday at Tointon. Things started off well as the Cats rallied for 3 runs in the 8th to take game one from the Red Raiders, but got ugly fast as Tech hammered Chase Bayuk in a 16-5 game that had to be ended after seven innings because of the 10-run rule.

Importantly, the Cats bounced back from Saturday's shellacking to take the rubber match Sunday with another eighth-inning rally to take the series. The win puts the Cats in a fifth-place tie in the Big 12 standings, updated below.

Oklahoma State 5-1
Texas 7-2
Missouri 4-2
Texas A&M 5-4
K-State 3-3
Oklahoma 3-3
Texas Tech 4-5
Nebraska 3-6
Kansas 3-6
Baylor 2-7

In midweek action, the Cats dropped their first game in more than a year to the #10 Wichita State Shockers, 8-3. Tough game to lose to an in-state rival, especially at home, but I'm not telling you anything new by saying the Shox are a good team and program.

K-State stays in Manhattan this weekend to take on the Mizzou Tigers. Mizzou stands third in the conference standings, having taken its first two series, over Nebraska and arch-rival KU. It'll take a hell of an effort to take the series off the Tigers, but if the Cats can pull it off it would be a huge springboard for the rest of the year.

Women's basketball

The women's improbable run to the WNIT semifinals finally ended last week after a triple-overtime loss, 89-79 at Wyoming. Good effort by the ladies in the postseason, and here's hoping everybody stays healthy for next year. Also, congrats to senior Claire Coggins on a good career with K-State, but I know a girl who locked you up good in high school.

Men's Golf

No action this week for the men's golf team, who returned to action today in Wichita at the Shocker Classic. The tournament will be played at Wichita Country Club, and a recap will be forthcoming next week.

Women's Golf

A disappointing finish saw the women's golf team fall from its seventh place standing after the first day of the Mountain View Collegiate to a 10th-place finish. Not a bad outing for a couple of the ladies, however, as both Michelle Regan and Katy Heffel earned top-20 finishes. The tournament boasted a solid field, with the Cats finishing behind four top-50 teams in Northwestern, Michigan, Denver and Indiana.

The ladies will travel to Norman, OK, for their next action this week.

Track and Field

Sadly, I missed a chance to catch the Track Cats in Houston this weekend as the team travelled to the Space City for the Bayou City Classic at Rice University. It probably should have been called the Rain City given the weather Saturday, as the event was delayed two hours by some ugly thunderstorms in the Houston area.

The Cats had a successful weekend, with the women collecting one event championship (Kaylene Wagner-high jump), while the men took three (Bryce Bergman-pole vault, Mike Myer-100 meter dash, Scott Sellers-triple jump).

Good luck to the Cats next weekend as they compete at the University of Oregon, on the track where legend Steve Prefontaine made his name for the Ducks.

***

I hate to say it, but I have almost no interest in watching the NCAA championship game tonight. A rematch of the BCS Title game? Yawn. Call me crazy, but I kind of like it when we get a little new blood in there. I like the story lines of the teams who the national media doesn't talk about 24/7.

Further, I hate to agree with Jason Whitlock on anything, but money is out of control in college sports (big news, huh?). So we have another national championship matchup between the schools who rank first (Ohio State) and fourth (Florida) in money spent on sports? The devil, you say! Money can buy a good college team, too? I'll be damned.

It just makes me that much more proud when a school like K-State (athletic expense rank: 59th) walks onto the same field as the big-money teams and shows that outworking and outthinking the competition can still work (right Texas?).

Oh, and to anyone reading this who's a fan of those teams and is thinking to yourself, "Oh, poor baby, whining about us having more money...", I say...unless you attended that school and put time, money and effort into supporting the sports programs, shut...the...fuck...up. If you just latched onto some team because they happen to be good, this bona fide alum isn't listening to one word you say.

So what do you do when two teams you hate are playing for a national championship? Cheer for a meteor on a collision course with the Georgia Dome.

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I'm really enjoying opening day in front of my TV. The Royals are on here in Houston, which is pretty cool. They're playing well right now, up 2-1 on Boston in the third. The rumor is they're not mathematically eliminated yet.