After last night's epic win by Texas...
1. K-State (7-1)
2. KU (8-2)
3. Texas (7-2)
4. Texas A&M (6-3)
5. Baylor (5-3)
6. Nebraska (3-5)
7. Oklahoma (3-5)
8. Texas Tech (3-5)
9. Iowa State (3-6)
10. Missouri (3-6)
11. Oklahoma State (2-7)
12. Colorado (2-7)
For the time being, that is obviously a good thing for K-State. We now lead the 'beakers in the loss column and have the tiebreaker at this point. The Cats control their destiny, but that control can evaporate in an instant if they don't take care of business. That starts Wednesday out in Lubbock. For more on Texas Tech, check in with Seth C over at Double T Nation.
Ho-hum, Michael Beasley is your Big 12 Rookie of the week...again.
In the thoroughly meaningless AP and ESPN rankings, the Cats are now No. 18 and No. 22, respectively.
K-State's women moved up to No. 17 in the AP Poll with last weekend's win over KU.
In the RPI, K-State stands No. 32 in Pomeroy's rankings.
No real news on the severity of Dominique Sutton's injury. He's listed as day-to-day and the speculation is he has a partial tear of his MCL, which is basically the same injury Blake Griffin suffered when he missed two weeks. Let's hope he gets back soon, we will really need his defense in the next few weeks.
Pat Knight hopes to get his first win Wednesday night against K-State. I hope he doesn't.
Jason Whitlock is thoroughly confused by the Big 12 conference race at this point. This after his column yesterday when he said he thought college basketball's regular season was worthless and boring.
If you're going to read the Star, stick with Blair Kerkhoff. He has K-State atop his weekly Big 12 Power Poll.
Sticking with the power poll theme, the Omaha World-Herald's Lee "K-State Obsessed" Barfknecht has his power poll. He rates the Cats behind that school down the river, and has A&M ahead of Texas. In addition, he believes Michael Beasley is among the all-time greats and is exhorting Husker fans to fill the Devaney Center to see him play next week in Lincoln.
The Topeka Capital-Journal's Austin Meek notes K-State's depth will be severely tested this week, much like it was on Saturday against Oklahoma State.
I would be willing to bet Sutton won't play either game this week. What will be interesting to see is whether Frank Martin will bring Andre Gilbert back from his suspension. To this point, no charges have been filed, and from what I hear from those in Manhattan, it is unlikely any will be. If that is true, he has already sat out three games, which seems a pretty stiff punishment for breaking team rules.
It will also be interesting to see when Clent Stewart decides to make his return to the lineup. For my money, he is welcome to take all the time he wants, but given that he came back Saturday to be on the bench against Oklahoma State, I wouldn't be surprised to see him in uniform Wednesday down on the South Plains.
The TCJ's Kevin Haskin also wonders aloud if the new blood in Manhattan just might add some dates to the Wildcats' "banners" on the walls of Bramlage Coliseum. I just can't let myself start to think about that only halfway through the conference season. Every game is still important, and we still have a three-game stretch where we play Texas at home, go to Baylor, and go down the river to play the 'beaks. One game at a time.
BOTC favorite Bob Lutz ruminates on who might win the player of the year award, and finds it comes down to Beasley vs. Tyler Hansbrough. He has an interesting contradiction going on-- not that that's a surprise with Lutz --because his headline says, "Who's best? It's Beasley, and easily." Then the third sentence of his column states, "It's close."
Which one is it, Bob?
That's the news for today. We'll be back later tonight or tomorrow with a "Kicking the Tires" to get ready for Texas Tech...I promise this time.