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BracketCat's countdown continues with #80, TE Cody Small. Also, don't miss Ahearn Alley's Bring on the Podcast chat with The Smoking Musket's David Smith. If you haven't voted for a mascot team, this is your chance. Keep your eyes peeled for BotC's coverage of the FIFA World Cup. Here's your preview and open thread, courtesy of our Benevolent Despot. There may be more later, and this is possibly more excitement than you can handle.
Sean Frye, writing for Bleacher Report, looks at the four most improved players for next season, and Nino Williams shows up again on a list predicting the best 6th men for the upcoming season. Meanwhile, K-State unveiled the complete schedule for the 2014-2015 season, which includes 11 teams that made the postseason last year. The season begins with an exhibition against Washburn followed by a home game against Utah State a week later.
ESPN's Big 12 Ultimate Road Trip continues, and in Week 13, they pick another K-State game, this time at West Virginia. Speaking of WVU, athletic director Oliver Luck says the Big 12 is happy with ten teams, but also reveals how, at the height of Realignmentpalooza, he reached out to other athletic directors to forge a new conference from the leftovers of the Big East and Big 12. This conference would have featured two six-team divisions: West (Baylor, KU, K-State, Iowa State, TCU, Louisville) and East (UConn, Cincinnati, Rutgers, West Virginia, South Florida, UCF). I, for one, am glad this never panned out. That conference does not look like much, and based on current evidence the West would pretty much run away with the thing, and the F+/- seems to agree. Meet Shelby Osborne, the first female defensive back in college football. She'll be playing for Campbellsville, an NAIA school in Kentucky in the fall. In yet another case of we-already-discussed-it-at-BotC, Kevin Trahan reminds us that college players get a lot of stuff, but that's irrelevant to the O'Bannon case. Meanwhile, USAToday recaps the third day of the trial, which included a series of questions to economics expert Roger Noll from Judge Wilken. Finally, here's a candid interview with former Wildcat Ben Leber for the Halfkorean.com website. With specific reference to K-State, he talks about how he never had any NFL aspirations until he saw his K-State teammates get drafted and how, faced with the threat of losing his scholarship, he was forced to temper his academic aspirations. The interview is long-ish, but worth the read. Also, #FAMILY:
SBCC's Lucas Benanati, a relief pitcher, has accepted a scholarship to K-State. He was a key contributor in what turned out to be SBCC's finest baseball season ever.
The NCAA Championships for outdoor track and field are underway. The University of Oregon's Daily Emerald covers the events photographically. In first day action, K-State senior and first-time decathlete Devin Dick finished 2nd in the shot put event and 6th in long jump, but a 13th place finish in the high jump (and a possible injury), along with a poor showing in the race events has pushed Dick down the board. The other K-State decathlete, Reinis Kregers, consistently finished outside the top ten in events held so far. Shot putter Ryan Hershberger finished in 9th place. Meanwhile, on the women's side, Erica Twiss finished a disappointing 16th in the long jump. Sara Savatovic was 7th in the hammer throw. In better news, sophomore runner Sonia Gaskin has qualified for the 800m finals. The championships continue through Saturday. Updated results are available HERE.
K-State's lack of a soccer team means the world's greatest sporting event is relegated to the "other" section here at the Slate. But never mind that. Not only does Jon Morse totally have your back, but the mothership has all your FIFA needs right here! Not only is SB Nation's coverage of the World Cup suited to every need, but the graphics interface is super slick, and you should not miss it. SERIOUSLY. Closer to home, the Collegian profiles the US men's national team, and notes that we may have the best goalkeeping trio in the tournament. U-S-A! U-S-A!! U-S-A!!!