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SLATE: Kansas State in the Elite Eight. That’s great!

WNIT tonight, baseball AND tennis at TCU, track and golf also on the road.

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One more win and a 54-year drought ends.
One more win and a 54-year drought ends.
Adam Hagy-USA TODAY Sports

So. How ‘bout dat?

Suddenly, and deservedly, Bruce Weber is a hero. An eternity of being jacked by Kentucky is over. And amazingly, despite a basketball history which has only seven other teams reaching the Elite Eight more frequently than K-State and in contradiction to the sense of aimlessness many feel surrounds the program, two of the Elite Eight appearances which your benevolent despot actually remembers have occurred this decade.

It’s a good morning.

We’re going to get right to the links, because oh holy bejeebus there’s a lot of them.

Local media:

Kentucky media:

  • It might surprise you to see takes like this coming from our sister blog A Sea of Blue, but here we are: Jeremy Chisenhall, offering three takes, can’t figure out how Kentucky even survived the first half.
  • At least one Kentucky player isn’t blaming the refs, which we have to confess is a welcome change from the usual blue-blood mantra. The Lexington Herald-Leader’s Jerry Tipton reports that Hamidou Diallo disagreed with a call here and there, but knows Kentucky just got beaten. (Of course, Calipari sort of whined about the physicality, but, see, that’s why they called over fifty fouls, John.)
  • Also from Tipton, Kentucky players also know they lost because they can’t shoot free throws.
  • The LHL’s John Clay offers three takeaways from the Kentucky loss, including the observation that K-State effectively took Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of the contest.
  • P.J. Washington is taking the blame on himself for Kentucky’s exit, reports Jon Hale of the Louisville Courier-Journal.
  • From Ray Glier, special to the LHL: K-State had a plan. They executed it, and only afterward did they explain their evil plan to the defeated hero. No Bond villain, Bruce Weber.
  • Fletcher Page of the Courier-Journal with a recap and a game ball for Xavier Sneed.

National media:

Oh, some other stuff going on, too.

Women’s Basketball

It’s the round of 16 in the WNIT tonight, live from Bramlage Coliseum. K-State (18-15, 7-11 Big 12) hosts the Cal-Davis Aggies (27-6. 14-2 Big West) at 7:00pm. You can catch the game on KStateHD.tv, but we really really think you should get to Bramlage if you can. Indiana drew 5500 the other night, and we should beat that just because.

(We’re not linking K-State’s press release on this because it’s full of errors which would be avoidable if anyone was paying attention, most notably the wrong date and opponent. But here’s the PDF game notes, which are accurate.)

Baseball

Believe it or not, conference play begins today as the BatCats (12-9, 0-0 Big 12) visit 20th-ranked TCU (11-7, 0-0 Big 12) in the opener of a three-game set at 6:30pm. Tonight’s game is PPV only via TCU’s website, but Saturday at 2:00pm you can tune into FOX Sports Southwest if you get it, and Sunday’s 1:00pm game will be on FOX Southwest Plus. Audio for all three games will of course be available on KStateHD.tv.

Track and Field

K-State’s track team is in San Antonio this weekend for the UTSA-hosted Roadrunner Invitational, and things got off to a good start yesterday as Nina Schultz swept the first four events of the heptathlon to take a commanding lead. It’s a three-day meet, with the rest of the combined events concluding starting at 10:00am today, followed by the commencement of the regular field events at 1:00pm.

Tennis

K-State, ranked 31st, embarks on a weekend road trip today. The Wildcats (11-4, 1-1 Big 12) visit TCU (9-6, 0-0 Big 12) tonight at 5:30pm; at noon Sunday the Cats will visit Texas Tech (10-3, 0-0 Big 12).

Golf

Both the men and women are in action today, as the men host their first tournament since the 2013 Jim Colbert Intercollegiate this weekend: the BIGHORN Invitational at the Canyons Course in Palm Desert, Calif. No, we don’t know why K-State is hosting a tournament in California, but that’s okay. The first round teed at 8:00am today, with the second round in the afternoon and the final round tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the women are on the course at the MountainView Collegiate Invitational at MountainView in Tucson, Ariz. That event just started at 9:00am, and will span three days, one round per session.

Other

Our pal Nathanael Rutherford at Rocky Top Insider has put together a full timeline of the text messages released as part of an open records request in the wake of John Currie’s termination at Tennessee. This is crazy, crazy stuff.

Also, be prepared for a special offer soon, as there should be a special t-shirt celebrating last night up for sale very, very soon. Here. On this very site. Sort of.