Congrats to KU on a great season. I typically cheer for KU, as long as K-State isn’t playing them.

I appreciate your kind thoughts on the subject. We’ve seen a lot of classy responses and comments on Rock Chalk Talk from both the K-State and Missouri fans around SB Nation. I completely understand anyone from those sides that would be happy to see us fall, but understanding that it doesn’t make this team horrible is what can sometimes be missed by rival fans. Hell at the moment it’s tough for our own fans to come to grips with that.

As Bracket said winning the whole damn thing takes a lot. Personally I NEVER set out with the expectation of winning it all. I will say though, I did feel this team needed to make the Final Four or they would be judge harshly.

Good luck to you all the rest of the way…and I guess we’ll get an early jump on football coverage this year.

I think Denver will agree that there are some KU fans who need to learn humility. I know too many KU fans who were more than happy to gloat about how crappy KSU was and I’m thrilled to run it in their faces.

Also, as much as I despise Collins, Thing 1 & 2 and Morningstar, I still respect Self and what he’s been able to do year after year. It is staggering to me how Self has been able to keep KU so good, while teams like Florida (after back to back national titles!) and North Carolina fall on their faces.

I mean they kept acting like it was k-state basketball from a few years back…they seemed to forget that Wooly wasn’t coaching no more. Yeah sure KU has gotten the better of us a lot even considering how much we’ve improved over a few years but this a brand new world and next years basketball sunflower showdowns are going to be the best ones yet I think.

the KU – UNI upset. (I have seen it NIU on here a bit – isn’t that Northern Illinois, not the University of Northern Iowa)

I watched as much of the 2nd half as CBS was willing to broadcast on their TV channel. At every moment I was expecting KU to find a way to pull it out… it wasn’t until I saw many/most/all of the KU players and faithful crying in disbelief that I knew they would not win. Initially, I was just shocked – only shocked. Then it became more complex and I submit that some KSU fans had similar reactions.

I was sad for the Big 12 and the conference’s heaviest hitter exiting early. In a year without a serious PAC 10 contender and the Big East flopping to this point in the tourney, the Big 12 is staring a great opportunity in the face. I am always a Big 12 fan second only to being a KSU alumni/die-hard.

I was happy for UNI – they played hard and have all season (at least, I saw it that way in the 2.5 games I saw them play this season). They didn’t play dirty, they were not trash talking, and they never gave half-effort on any play.

I was hoping that Frank’s men would take in the lesson to be learned – any team giving whole effort can beat a faster, bigger, stronger team giving zero-to-half effort on a given night. BYU is less athletic, less multi-dimensional, and not as deep as this KSU team – but anything could happen and I was hoping this game would send that message home. Play hard in every game when it could be your last if you don’t (and often even if you do).

I feel sympathetic (Dec 5, 1998 will never be long ago enough) for my relatives that are KU faithful, the positive kind with whom I can exchange jabs – in the name of humor and sportsmanship – over KSU triumphs and defeats in the head-to-head. Denverjhawk, warden11, and some other KU-SBnation’ers – you fit in here as well.

Lastly and unfortunately is how happy I am about KU losing this game. It will feel very familiar and quite similar to how it was after the Bucknell and Bradley tournament games. For every Denverjhawk or warden11 (and other SBnation KU supporters etc) I have met at least one Jayhawk with simple ugly hatred for Kansas State that has been directed at me or our athletic teams.

I threw out my bracket (well, at least my research bracket – not my entered-in-bracket-challenges gut-pick bracket) since it had KU winning it all. But in the end, it really is only a bracket.

(Here’s hoping our Wildcat faithful can maintain civility in the following days when choosing if/when/how to gloat about this past weekend’s games – KSU still has four more games I would like to see us win…)