K-State Sports Bracket - And the Winner Is...

Bill Snyder.

Of course it's Bill Snyder. You knew who was winning this thing when we introduced it three weeks ago. We even split him in two for this competition to try to slow him down. Snyder II (2009-present) fizzled out in the second round, but Snyder I (1989-2005) rightly breezed through the tournament field. His victory margins were so large, Geno Auriemma thinks our bracket needed more parity. After posting earlier round victories with 98%, 96%, 93%, 89%, and 93% of the respective votes, Snyder dismantled Tex Winter in the final round by a score of 94%-6%.

Poor Tex probably deserved better. There's an argument to be made that Winter has had more of an impact on his sport than Snyder has. Had this vote been held among general sports fans, Winter may well have won. But among K-State fans? Snyder resuscitated a lifeless football program and turned it into a perennial power. The turnaround profoundly effected K-State Athletics, of course. But it also had great influence on the direction of the university and the city of Manhattan, in ways that we may not fully understand. Snyder's eventual successor could win a handful of national championships and still be less revered than our silver-haired savior.

So, yes, we all knew how this would end. But the action in the middle was interesting in its own right. Michael Bishop squeaked by Collin Klein in their head-to-head matchup with 51% of the vote, a result that reflects how the Purple Nation is still divided on our greatest ever quarterback. Other interesting like-on-like matchups included Tyler Lockett over Jordy Nelson, Mitch Richmond over Rolando Blackman, Nicole Ohlde over Kendra Wecker, and Wyatt Thompson over Stan Weber. You can click on the image below for a full recap of the results.

Click to embiggen. - jeffp171/Bring on the Cats

So, the suspense is over, and Snyder has taken his rightful place as champion. Thanks to everyone who participated.