While I named KU coach Mark Mangino a "BOTC Enemy of the State" on Thursday, another blogger was busy naming him a Real Man of Genius.  Good stuff from EMAWKC*** over at the Three O'Clock in the Morning blog.  Check it out for a little K-State and a lot of everything else.

***For those who don't know, "EMAW" stands for "Every Man A Wildcat"

Rivals has published its Big 12 baseball preview for the 2008 season.  (H/T to Double T Nation)  Of interest to K-Staters, Rivals picks K-State to finish seventh in the 10-team conference, while tabbing outfielder Byron Wiley and pitcher Daniel Edwards as preseason all-conference picks.

Those of you who read this blog back when it was K-State Cat Zone know that I will be keeping a sharp eye on the Bat Cats this spring, and hope to see them pick up the school's first-ever NCAA tournament appearance this year.

Apparently there was a little confusion this week about whether our game against Xavier was a neutral-site game or a road game.  The game was played at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, which is not Xavier's home court.  Because of the way the game was handled, it will be a neutral-site game, which hurts our RPI.

Currently, Ken Pomeroy has us 83rd in his RPI, and has the Xavier game listed as a road game.  I emailed him to see if that will change, and will post any updates when I receive them.

Pomeroy has the Big 12 ranked fourth among all conferences.

RealtimeRPI has the Cats at 90th and also lists the Xavier game as a road game, although their "at" designation applies to all our other neutral-site games.  RealTime also has the Big 12 in fourth place, which is probably about where it will stay with the non-conference season winding down.

If you're interested in following a little Big 12 basketball today with the Cats idle, here's a guide:

That team down the river is administering a severe road beatdown to Boston College (Pomeroy #72) right now.  Don't bother.

At 1 p.m., Texas Tech will be squaring off with UTEP (Pomeroy #117).  I don't think there's any media for that one, but it will be interesting considering how up-and-down the Red Raiders have been this year.

Oklahoma takes on the Rice Owls (#226) at 2 p.m.  No media, nor any other reason to check that one out.

In the best conference matchup of the day, Texas takes on the underrated St. Mary's Gaels at The Drum in Austin (5 p.m.).  Unfortunately, no television for this, unless you're unlucky enough to live in Texas and get the Longhorn Sports Network.

Mark Turgeon's Texas A&M Aggies stay at home to take on LSU (#194) at 7 p.m.  That one's on ESPNU, and I'll be at a house tonight that gets that channel, so I'll be checking out that channel.

Iowa State continues its stretch of totally worthless games by playing North Dakota tonight in Ames.  I would give an RPI ranking for UND, but it's a Division II school.

Finally, Baylor gets a good home test against Arkansas (#87).  Tip is 7:30 p.m. at the (Will) Ferrell Center.

Have a great weekend, Wildcat fans.