After a bad first 28 minutes, K-State forced an Arkansas fumble and scored a touchdown to cut the Razorbacks' lead to 19-9 at halftime. Everybody's thoughts should be with K-State defensive lineman Meshak Williams, who was carted off the field after a violent collision with teammate Emmanuel Lamur. Let's go get this one for Meshak.

Go Cats!

Who: K-State vs. Arkansas

What: 2012 Cotton Bowl Classic

When: January 6, 2012 | 7:00 p.m.

Where: Arlington, Texas | Cowboys Stadium (80,000)

Media: FOX | 1350 KMAN

For the first time since 2001, K-State will play its postseason football in the Cotton Bowl. This time, the venue will be Cowboys Stadium rather than the venerable Cotton Bowl, and the opponent will be the SEC's Arkansas, rather than Tennessee. Enjoy every minute, folks, as this is your last football for eight long months.

Go Cats!

For the first time since K-State won the Big 12 championship in 2003 and played Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, the Wildcats are back in a major bowl game. While a month ago we felt like it should have been the BCS game 500 miles southeast of Dallas, today we know there's nothing wrong with this matchup. Playing a fellow top-10 team rather than a school that was chosen only for its alumni base and TV viewership should make for a much more intriguing matchup. Plus, the game will be nationally televised on FOX and is the only game on in the primetime TV window tomorrow tonight.

K-State will meet the third-place team from the SEC West, the Arkansas Razorbacks. Ordinarily, being the third-place team in your division wouldn't seem like much of an accomplishment, but the SEC West is no ordinary division. Much like K-State, Arkansas' only losses on the season came to the two best teams in its conference in LSU and Alabama, who just happen to both reside in the Hogs' division.

Coached by Bobby Petrino, the Razorbacks are not your typical SEC team because they pass. And they pass well. Arkansas led the Southeastern Conference by a mile in passing yards, averaging 307.8 per game. Georgia was the next best at 244.7. BUT PAWWWWL, THEM NEWFANGLED PASSIN' ATTACKS WON'T WERK AGINST ESSS EEEE SEEE DEFENSES!!! IMMA HANG UP 'N' LISTEN. (All misspelling intentional)

In any event, Arkansas did find success with the passing game, as mentioned above. In the non-conference, the Razorbacks' only game of note was a showdown in Cowboys Stadium against Texas A&M, which the Hogs won, 42-38, after a wild comeback. Hmm, does that sound familiar? Other than the Aggies, Arkansas rolled to easy wins over Missouri State and New Mexico before a surprisingly close game against Troy. Arkansas wasn't particularly competitive against Alabama and LSU in its two losses, losing by 24 in both games, although they led LSU early before the Bayou Bengals got untracked.

Enough with the introductions. Hit the jump for more on the statistical matchups for both schools. For any Arkansas fans who happen by, we'll have information about K-State for comparative purposes, so the jump is worth it for you, too.

Continue reading this post »

Two hours hence, you'll get my completely unscientific look at K-State's matchup with Arkansas in the 2012 Cotton Bowl. But to give us more information on the opponent in that game, we enlisted the services of Stephen and John from SB Nation's Arkansas blog, Arkansas Expats. They came through with flying colors. In case you want to harangue me for what I said about K-State, you can see my answers to their questions here.

BOTC: Give us a player or two to watch on both sides of the ball for Arkansas. On offense, we've heard a lot about Tyler Wilson, so make sure to give us a receiver who Nigel Malone and David Garrett will have to keep an eye on.

AE: As you're surely aware, Arkansas is well-stocked with offensive playmakers, so there are plenty of options to choose from on that side of the ball. For starters, though, we'll call your attention to senior WRs Jarius Wright and Joe Adams. Wright is the Hogs' all-time receiving leader, and can be both a possession and big play guy, as demonstrated by his 281 yards racked up against Texas A&M. The shifty Adams is a threat to score any time he touches the ball...take this punt return against Tennessee, for example.

As a bonus, we'll also give you Chris Gragg. The junior TE hasn't received as many accolades as the heralded WRs, but he's become a valuable weapon for Tyler Wilson and will usually make a few big drive-extending catches per game.

On the defensive side, you'll probably hear Jerry Williams' name a lot. The senior LB has led the Hogs in tackles during all four of his seasons at Arkansas. DE Jake Bequette is another standout to watch.

BOTC: We saw Oklahoma State start slow after a month off. Has Arkansas' passing game needed time to get untracked this season, or do the Razorbacks usually come out firing on all cylinders?

AE: At various points, the Razorbacks' offense as a whole has needed time to get untracked. In mid-season games against Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, the Hogs' offense came out flat (their defense wasn't much better, by the way). They trailed A&M by 18 at halftime, were down 17-0 in the first half against the Rebels, and Vanderbilt had leads of 21-7 and 28-17 before the Hogs mounted a fourth-quarter comeback.

Arkansas came out of the game much more strongly the rest of the season, but you do have to be concerned about the effects of a more-than-one-month layoff. In last year's Sugar Bowl, the Hogs' receivers dropped way too many catchable passes. That could have been due mainly to nerves, but a similarly long layoff surely didn't help. In short, a sluggish start is definitely something we're worried about.

Hit the jump for more...

Continue reading this post »

K-State Football

Dr. Saturday's list of the best breakout players (freshmen and transfers) includes a certain K-State legacy who returned some kicks for touchdowns.

Over at goEMAW, ksu_FAN continues his tour-de-force in previewing the Arkansas Razorbacks. First, he has a thorough look, with video, at the Arkansas running game. Next comes the play-action passes, screen passes and goal-line offense. Finally, get a peek at what Tyler Wilson will do in the drop-back passing game.

College Football

Bill takes a look at what could happen if Dayne Crist and Jake Heaps transfer to KU. Crist has made his visits, but hasn't announced his decision.

College Basketball

Read this if you want to be infuriated. St. Joseph coach Phil Martelli won't release graduate student Todd O'Brien from his scholarship, so O'Brien can't play at UAB this season. O'Brien is out of eligibility after this season.

Rush The Court checks in on the Big 12.

KU lost to Davidson, 80-74, last night at the Sprint Center.

I'll admit, after reading all the crazy ballots that were submitted this week by coaches and Harris Poll voters, I'm more than a little weary of this process. And don't even get me started on the bowl selection committees.

But like a good blogger, I soldier on. Hell, I even got the ballot submitted on time this week. Aren't I just a wonderful enabler of a horrifically flawed and unfair system?

My Week 15 SB Nation BlogPoll ballot, again posted without comment, follows after the jump.

The waiting list for Week 15 comprises Cincinnati, Northern Illinois and BYU.

Continue reading this post »

This is probably going to be anticlimactic after word leaked earlier that the Sugar Bowl would select Virginia Tech, which almost certainly leaves K-State in Dallas for the Cotton Bowl. That's not a bad deal for a school that was picked eighth in the Big 12 before the year, but given that K-State is better on the merits than Virginia Tech and would sell at least as many Sugar Bowl tickets as VT, it's a bitter pill to swallow for K-State fans who were hoping for BCS bowl appearance.

In the national title chase, Oklahoma State gained ground on Alabama in the USA Today Coaches Poll, which is one third of the BCS calculation, but it probably wasn't enough. The Harris Poll results, which are one third of the BCS calculation, will not be released until after the BCS show.

The BCS standings will be released at 7:15 p.m., CST, on ESPN. Based on the results of the Coaches Poll and the Harris Poll, it looks like we will get a rematch of the Snooze of the Century in New Orleans.

College football everyone. The most awesome and most awful spectacle in sports.