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I usually have a hard time finding things to entertain you on Wednesdays in the off-season unless something big's going on, but today we have a scattering of mildly interesting things to share. Hurrah!
Kellis Robinett touches base with D'Vonta Derricott and Terrell Clinkscales, and we finally get the precise answer we've been looking for in regard to their academics.
The 2014 Catbacker Tour Western Swing is underway, which means Wyatt Thompson invaded Dodge City and Garden City alongside B.J. Finney, Curry Sexton, Laton Dowling, Cody Whitehair, Will Spradling, D.J. Johnson, and Kara Guy and Jesse Johnson from the equestrian team. Kelly McHugh has some observations. Today they'll be in Scott City, tomorrow Colby, and finally they'll drop into Hays on Friday. If any of you get a chance to meet up with the tour and feel like writing a quick piece, feel free to let me know.
ESPN's pre-season FPI is here, and K-State ranks 44th. Tim Griffin at the San Antonio Express-News (and former ESPN Big 12 blogger) thinks that's a steaming pile, and even Jake Trotter (current ESPN Big 12 blogger) is looking at it a little sideways.
Probable bad news for Arthur Brown, as Fansided's Joe Soriano reports that Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta expects C.J. Mosley to "start right away". Soriano expects that to mean Arthur's a backup, though it's still possible he could move outside. That's really my hope, as my dirty Alabama bigamist tendencies make the idea of a Roll Tide/EMAW one-two punch in the Ravens defensive backfield entirely too exciting to ignore.
It's 100 days until the college football season starts (although it's 101 for us). CBSSports.com's Chip Patterson fires off 100 talking points to contemplate over those 100 days -- including reminding everyone to keep an eye on Tyler Lockett and marking K-State/Auburn as a can't-miss game.
Finally, before we get out of football, our pals at CougCenter inform us that Mike Leach will be doing an AMA on Reddit this afternoon at 5pm CT. As Jeff Nusser reminds us, the last time he did this he launched the "Bill Snyder is a sorceror" meme.
The disappointment continues, although it's more of a relative thing today. The All-Big 12 teams have been announced, and all K-State got was Ross Kivett on the second team and Tanner Devinny on the freshman team. And Kivett didn't even get a position; he's the utility player. But perhaps most galling is this: behind Kivett, the BatCats didn't even get a single player in the honorable mention list. The Big 12 coaches thought 62 players were better than K-State's second-best player this year.
Ouch.
On the bright side, Nixa captured the Missouri District 11 title last night with a 2-1 win over Kickapoo in eight innings (that's extra innings, if you didn't realize that). Why do we care? The winning pitcher, who went the distance and also mashed a single to left to lead off the eighth, was Wildcat commit Jacob Ruder. (Ruder didn't score the winning run because they have that courtesy runner rule.)
As expected, the season is now officially over for the Wildcats. The NCAA Championship field was announced, and K-State did not earn an at-large bid. It was still a fantastic season, though.