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Bowls feel alright; will K-State end streak?

Christian Petersen

It's time that I bring out a trusted, old favorite style of mine — a quick-hitter column filled with thoughts that may or may not have anything to do with the other. Carrying it on (as I plan to do weekly moving forward) is my personal hat-tip to the late Pete Goering, whose Topeka Capital-Journal columns I read religiously as a youth.

I hope I write them at a level that brings you the same satisfaction as I had reading Pete's.

-ck

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- Not sure what it is, exactly, but I think I love this year's bowl lineup.

- It feels like a good mix of "got it right" (Auburn v. Florida St.) and high-quality opponents (Michigan St. v. Stanford), to go with new blood (Baylor v. Central Florida) and nostalgia/names (Oklahoma v. Alabama).

- More than a few of the bowls won't be good games or well-attended, but that's always the case.

- You may have a beef somewhere, but I'm not complaining.

- Some Nebraska fans are complaining, apparently, that the Cornhuskers weren't selected to play Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

- Just for fun, is there any chance that Bo Pelini's "crazy" might have affected that possible selection for members of the BWW Committee?

- I know, absurd.

- Just like it was absurd the time I was told by more than one Miami reporter that Frank Martin wasn't ever seriously considered for the Miami job (when folks were just sure it was going to happen) in part because people who wound up on the future hiring committee witnessed his coaching style up close during the Orange Bowl Basketball Classic in 2010.

- It may not be a big deal to fans, but that stuff really can matter to suits, especially somewhat stuffy ones.

- Want to know if your friends' opinions matter regarding K-State's bowl matchup with Michigan?

- If they immediately dismiss KSU's chances against a 7-5 Wolverines team that dropped five of its last seven, and had its issues with stopping the run, I'd question that opinion. On the flip side ...

- Bill Snyder, 74, wasn't at retirement age the last time the Wildcats won a bowl game.

- That last win came in 2002 against Arizona St. in the Holiday Bowl.

- The BWW bowl is in Sun Devils Stadium, so ...

- Boom. Streak over. Right?

- Another streak that needs to end is the awful shooting put up by the men's basketball team this year.

- KSU is hitting 26.4 percent as a team from 3-point range, led by Marcus Foster's .340-clip (17-of-50).

- Only one player (Thomas Gipson) is hitting above 50 percent from the floor.

- There have been issues with this group, for sure, but as someone who has coached and been coached, scheme can only do so much.

- At some point, players have to put the ball in the net.

- Well, not all players.

- Some get to be Marshall Henderson.