It's been far too long since a conference championship came back to Manhattan.  Actually, it's been five long years since 2003, when the Big 12 champions in football, volleyball and women's basketball resided in the pretty little town in the Flint Hills.

On top of the outright team championship, the incredible season has brought numerous individual awards, starting at the top with coach Deb Patterson, who was named Big 12 Coach of the Year.

Player awards also went out this week, with Wildcats Shalee Lehning and Kimberly Dietz named first-team all-conference.

As the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament, the women will play at noon, next Wednesday, March 12, at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.  I will still be en route to KC at the time, so get out to Municipal and support the women in my absence.