It’s Farmageddon week and there’s no better way to kick off the second week of college football than with some early morning vittles. So this week we went with some biscuits and sausage gravy, but with a twist. We will make a meal and STUFF it in the biscuit before we cook it. It’s the only real way celebrate Kansas State and Iowa State’s farm bred rivalry. Let’s do this. Continue reading Football Feedings 2014 Week 02: Super Stuffed Biscuits And Gravy
I grew up in Kansas, but I’m no farmer. Shocking right? Well not really, but I have grown to love the rivalry that started all Great Plains rivalries. Yup, I’m talking about Farmageddon. It’s yearly tradition where Kansas State takes on Iowa State. It’s also very early in the year. It’s like getting up at the crack of dawn for the college football year’s day. There’s other games, too so let’s get started. Continue reading Pick It And Stick It: Morning Farm Time
Hey it’s another year of football for Kansas State and it’s a weird time to be a fan. Usually Kansas State comes in underpicked, underestimated, and just generally dumped on. Welp this year is different. The Wildcats ended the year strong with an even stronger win over Michigan in the bowl game. Now all of the sudden the pundits and spineless sports media are picking Kansas State to finish well.
It’s a weird feeling. If any fan, and team, watches and plays better with a chip on their shoulder, it’s Kansas State. So now it’s time to act like we’ve been there. Yes, we have, but that added extra juice of being the underdog is gone. What’s a K-Stater to do? I guess the best thing is to do what got you to this point.
For us fans, that means cheering loud and staying proud. Pretty easy. For the football team, that means Jake Waters tossing bombs to Tyler Lockett. That’s pretty easy, too, actually. It helps that there’s this sexy stats the pundits refer to that each returning Wildcat quarterback leads the team to 11 wins (minus the early Snyder teams). So Jake Waters has that going for him.
You know what else he has going for him? Collin Klein. No no, he’s not playing for the team again, he’s COACHING them. While you can’t teach those kind of running instincts, Collin Klein can at least give direction. And that’s exactly what he’s doing with Jake Waters. Dark horse Heisman right there. I expect Jake Waters to do great, great things this year. More so than Tyler Lockett, although he’s right up there.
The offense sort of has questions elsewhere. There’s a decent group of wide receivers coming back, even though Daniel Sams took off after losing the quarterback job. The running back situation will be a committee until someone shows up. I hope its fast. There’s a polarized set of experience on the offense line and I hope they gel fast too.
I’m not sure what’s up on defense. Ryan Mueller is the man on the defense line (and former St. Thomas Aquinas alum, like me). That’s about all I know. There’s a couple of JUCO transfers that will help out immediately and we’ll have to see what the team looks like when they take the field today. Chances are, they will be fundamentally sound but not the biggest and fasted. Just like the last couple of years.
So speaking of games, how do I see the Wildcats this year? After last year’s fist game turd, I expect them to punch the ball in quicker and grow a bigger lead in the first half against Stephen F. Austin and then let up on the peddle a bit. They won’t be vanilla the whole game. Not with what’s coming up next.
Right after that, it’s a brutal stretch. Farmageddon is next, then Auburn. Iowa State will be better on the offensive side of the ball now that they got Mark Mangino as the offensive coordinator. And it’s on the road. Even though it wasn’t close last year, it will be this year. Kansas State will win.
Auburn is the big tomato. At least it’s in Manhattan. I get the feel from Tigers fans that they are scared about this one. They should be. But for some reason, all of the hype surrounding Kansas State this year has at least alerted them to the danger that is the Wildcats. Which means the team will be ready. Will Kansas State be ready? Yes. Will they lose? Unfortunately, yes.
So what does the rest of the schedule look like? Let’s run it down. They come back down to Earth and beat up UTEP. Texas Tech is in Manhattan so that’s a Wildcat victory. That Oklahoma game is a toss up because they are getting overrated too. I’m going with a loss there. They will beat Texas and Oklahoma State in Manhattan. They will beat TCU and West Virginia on the road. They will roll Kansas.
So that leaves Baylor. On the road. Hey guess what? I’m going to the game! New stadium. Last game of the year. Will it be for the Big 12 title? I sure hope so. My guess is that it will have huge implications on the Big 12 title. That’s good enough for me. Because I just don’t think Kansas State can keep up with Baylor.
Which means I’m pretty much going chalk this year. Weak, isn’t it? That’s what happens when the hype matches where I actually think the team will be, which is about 3rd in the conference with 3 losses. Now what bowl game that will be, I don’t know. I hope it’s close to Austin so I can finally see the Wildcats in a bowl. But until then, I’ll keep cheering loud and staying proud. Go Wildcats!
Hey! We’ve hit 100! What better time to talk about the BCS and the BCS National Championship! Oh we’ve got plenty to talk about as well, including a quasi-special announcement. Watch me talk about Kansas State, Jake Waters, Michigan, Holiday Bowl, Oregon, Texas, Mack Brown, Iowa State, Kansas, Mark Mangino, Florida, Auburn, Jamies Winston, and ESPN. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 100: BCS, Farewell
Okay the week is starting, we have a new NCAA basketball champion, and some more diamond like exercises are happening or something. Great, now on to college football. The big news of the week was Auburn’s allegations from ESPN, and Bo Jackson’s prompt fishing response. There some good drama there. Let’s play that out while we also play out news from Disney, Kendall Sanders, Texas, Texas A&M, Mark Mangino, Youngstown State, American Athletic Conference, The Big East, Paul Rhoads, Gene Chizik, and Iowa State. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 63: Bo Knows Fishing
Yeah I keep talking about it Spring practice and that’s about it. Another light week. Buckle up as I talk about Kansas, Mark Mangino, Youngstown State, Tulane, Texas Tech, Kliff Klingsbury, Boise State, Florida State, and Texas. Continue reading Purple Yeti Roar 58: March Into Spring Practice
Yup it’s time I wing them again. I don’t like making things ultra official and professional (note the website) and I will follow that same lack of format for another Pick It and Stick It Special. It’s Dart Board Predictions time! I don’t keep track so if you want to hit me up on the Twitterz (twitter.com/kccgd) or email ([email protected]) and let me know just how smart or dumb I am. So with that out of the way, let’s sharpen up the darts and start tossing. Get out of the way.
Once we thought we were safe, but anybody who knew their history and knew about the psyche of Missouri understood it was not over. And with that, Missouri last night gave chancellor Brady Deaton the power to pursue other conferences. They could be like Oklahoma and stay or they could be like Texas A&M and go. Time will tell. Although, they were first on the block last year so I’m pretty sure they are out the door. Nevermind the fact that Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights are officially equal in the Big 12, provided everyone commits to the league. Yup, so expect some announcements early next week about conference affiliation so they don’t bother with the actual games being played on the field. In the meantime, check out this week’s Crib Sheet:
Continue reading Crib Sheet: Here We Go Again On Our Own, Maybe
So the deed is finally done. Texas A&M and the SEC made it official. Now last week, we found out that the Big 12 was staying together. We also found out that Dan Beebe resigned, at the request of Oklahoma and some others. Connected sports guy Chuck Neinas was setup as the interim Big 12 Commissioner. What else? The 1st and 2nd tier television rights are on the table. That’s fine for Texas because the LHN is 3rd tier, noinch! The athletic directors all met and were saying they are committed to keeping the Big 12 alive. Although, it seems Missouri’s foot is still out of the door. Worse yet, the reason Oklahoma wanted the Big 12 to stay alive was because they couldn’t swing a deal with the Pac 12. So is it safe? I guess it is for now. I’ll be certain of it when somebody actually joins the conference instead of leaves it. Until then, here’s another installment of the Crib Sheet: Continue reading Crib Sheet: Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
Welp I’m finally settled down here as the KCCGD Express is powered down and unpacked. You know, people were saying that the heat is bad down here but I don’t mind it so much. It’s not July yet, but mid 90s in late April/early May is a new thing for me. And I love it. People were meant to wear less clothes. Now on to this week’s Crib Sheet:
This is another Monday where I get to talk about a game I saw on Thursday night. Last time was in Manhattan and this time it was in Lawrence. Things could not have turned around on a hard 180 degree twist for the Kansas State Wildcats. For the Kansas Jayhawks, unfortunately, things remained the same. I didn’t get a chance to take in the Lawrence like I did Manhattan, but the town and the game was great none the less. For a quick road trip in and out of Memorial Stadium, I can say that the memories will last a long time.
Continue reading Sunflower Showdown Didn’t Slow Down the Wildcats
We are knee-deep in some serious day job related stuff but fortunately we build the Crib Sheet piece by piece, day by day. Here ya go:
Man what a crazy roller coaster of an offseason for the Big 12. Who would’ve thought a year ago that the Big 12 would be rocked to its very knees and survive probably one of most weirdest advances in college football history. It was like a whacked out game of Axis & Allies. Welp Germany didn’t win and neither did the Big 10. So here we are going into what is the last season we will ever see for this 12 conference league. Who will come out on top? Roll dice to find out (er read below).
It’s been a real quiet week. Hey, the weather’s finally coming around and everyone’s outside doing stuff. What are we doing at the KCCGD headquarters? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We’ve been recovering since SXSW and it’s not time yet to do some cleaning. So we’ve been lounging and laying around soaking up some non conditioned air. We had just enough energy to pump out another Crib Sheet. So check it out while we take a nap:
The Crib Sheet returns! We’re in the first lull of the year as Spring Practice is right around the corner. The second lull is the summer, of course. We here at the KCCGD find many things to pass the time. Dodgeball for instance. It’s not exactly football, but it is alot of fun. We think that colleges should catch on to this trend and officially support dodgeball in their athletic programs. It can work. We all just have to will. DUCK! Here comes the Crib Sheet: