Happy October K-State Nation!
It is a great time to be a sports fan in the Sunflower State as the Royals won in dramatic fashion last night, the Chiefs had a big Monday Night Football win, Sporting KC continues to climb in stature as one of American soccer’s marquee teams and perhaps the most innovative of MLS franchises and all local universities continue their fall sports season. For us, that means two road volleyball matches, first against the Jayhawks tonight and then at Texas Tech this weekend, cross country action in Fayetteville, Ark., as coach Ryun Godfrey makes his debut in purple and, of course, Saturday evening’s ESPNU televised football game against Texas Tech at Bill Snyder Family Stadium at 6 p.m.
This week for me started with a Monday morning NCAA Administrative Cabinet meeting in Indianapolis followed by Tuesday morning meetings back in Manhattan and then a drive over to KC yesterday afternoon for a fun dinner with a group of passionate K-State basketball fans. After dinner, city-wide attention to the baseball game meant the roads were completely empty on my short drive over to the Overland Park Hampton Inn! Today I’ll be making some more visits around KC before driving back to MHK in time to watch tonight’s volleyball game on Cox.
Speaking of the postseason, has it been at all amusing to you to see the incredible media hysteria already focused on the new College Football Playoff era? Certainly an upside of all the CFP talk is that it reinforces the fact that college football has the most meaningful regular season in all of sports. Every weekend matters, and there have already been numerous thrilling games and a few “upsets” along the way that have fans talking and eager to see how the season will play out and who participates in the inaugural four-team playoff. The competition is especially intense in our own Big 12 Conference, from which One True Champion is crowned after our round-robin nine-game schedule, the only league of the five highly visible conferences in which everyone plays everyone.
On the other hand, a downside of the omnipresent CFP talk is that all the focus on the end result sometimes makes it possible to forget that 128 universities play football at the FBS level with thousands of successful and determined student-athletes working hard every day (10,880 students attend college on football scholarships when accounting for 85 per FBS institution), while millions of fans across the country are filling stadiums, enjoying the tailgating experience and marching bands and supporting their favorite schools each week.
We do need to enjoy the journey of the full three-month schedule and not get caught up in playing six degrees of Kevin Bacon or try to crown conference champions based on transitive property of who beat whom. For example, here’s one equation that has already happened that links together the five most visible conferences: Iowa State (Big 12) goes on the road and beats Iowa (Big Ten), Iowa beats Pitt (ACC), Pitt beats Boston College (ACC) and Boston College beats Southern Cal (PAC 12). After falling to the Cyclones, Iowa will face Indiana (Big Ten) this weekend, which beat Missouri (SEC), which then beat South Carolina (SEC), etc. Get the picture?
What does all this mean?
Tremendous parity among programs and incredible fan passion are among the factors making college football such a great sport! So, let’s remember to live in the moment and enjoy the journey with the next chapter beginning Saturday night with our 17th-straight sellout at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Like Coach Snyder says, when the season is complete we can look back and reflect on where we ended up and how we got there. But right now, our focus needs to be on just getting a little better each day!
Here are a few more updates from around the department.
Matt Green Takes Top Medalist Honors at Jack Nicklaus Invitational
The first Wildcat individual champion of the Grant Robbins era at K-State was crowned on Monday as sophomore Matt Green went wire-to-wire to win the Jack Nicklaus Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, as he shot 67-73-70 to win by two strokes. The win was the first overall by a Wildcat since 2012, while the Wildcat team made steady improvement in the tournament highlighted by a final-round score of 288, which was the second-best of any team during the third round. Congrats to Matt and the Wildcat golf team, which will continue action next week in Akron, Ohio. Click here for more details on Matt’s win.
Connie Jaffrey’s Title Caps Record Week on Links
Led by freshman Connie Jaffrey’s tournament title, which marks just the second time in school history that K-State has won a men’s and women’s individual title in the same week, the K-State women’s golf team finished in second place at the Johnie Ames Invitational in Columbia, Missouri. Connie’s title was K-State’s first individual title since 2007 and 11th overall, while her first-round 67 and Carly Ragain’s second round 67 tied for the second-best individual rounds in school history. Click here for our full release, and congrats to both golf programs on terrific weeks!
Basketball Season is Right Around the Corner
Many of you have probably seen the photos I tweeted recently showing the tremendous progress inside Bramlage Coliseum prior to the 2014-15 basketball season. Our fans will be amazed at the new lighting and sound systems, while the new videoboard currently being installed will be among the best in the country! Coaches Weber and Mittie are excited for the start of the season, and I know our fans are, too. Ticket sales have been terrific for both squads, and we encourage fans to act fast to reserve their seat in Bramlage for what promises to be two exciting brands of basketball for our two teams. Click here for more ticket information for both the men’s and women’s programs.
Upcoming Schedule
Coach Fritz and our 13-2 volleyball team will hit the road for their next two matches beginning tonight in Lawrence and then Saturday in Lubbock. I encourage our fans to make the short trip east to watch the Cats and Jayhawks at 7 p.m., tonight, but if you can’t, tune in on Cox Kansas or listen live at k-statesports.com. Our crowd and atmosphere Saturday night in Ahearn was terrific with more than 2,800 in attendance. And again, best of luck to Coach Godfrey and the cross country teams on Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark. We are thrilled to welcome Coach Godfrey to the Wildcat family, and he brings tremendous experience and success with him from North Dakota State, including a combined 30 conference championships in cross country and track and field!
Pro Football Update
Our own Darren Sproles and Jordy Nelson are two of the most exciting and prominent players in the NFL this season and both are coming off huge weekends. Jordy hauled in 10 catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns in Green Bay’s win over Chicago, while Darren moved into the Top 20 in NFL history for all-purpose yards with his 82-yard punt return for a score against the 49ers. I am proud of all of our NFL players currently playing or on rosters, and be sure and catch up on all of their progress each week at k-statesports.com in our NFL weekly updates. Click here for this week’s installment.
Have a great week, and we’ll see you Saturday night at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. It’s Fort Riley Day, and more than 500 soldiers and family members will be in attendance. For those who cannot make it to the game, fans are encouraged to donate their tickets to soldiers and their families and can do so by contacting the ticket office at Bramlage Coliseum.
Also for those who cannot attend the game, be sure and tune in to ESPNU for the television broadcast, or listen to Wyatt and Stan’s radio call along the K-State Sports Network, online for FREE at k-statesports.com or via our new TuneIn Radio app which can be downloaded for FREE to your smartphone or tablet. Just follow the K-State page within the app, and you will get the stream for free.
Thanks, as always, for your continued support of Wildcat student-athletes!
Go Cats!
John
