You got paid, so now what?

We're running a bit low on Kansas State-specific news today, but the football media seems to be coming out of its annual slumber. Bits of preseason prognostication are already in evidence, including this look at the best Big 12 games of the 2016 season from Berry Tramel at the Oklahoman. Considering the source, it's hardly surprising that Oklahoma dominates the list, but Kansas State's tilt against Stanford makes the top half, the first game not featuring the Sooner state to even rate a mention.

On a different note, it's been a year since the Power 5 schools voted to provide cost-of-attendance stipends to student-athletes. The Kansas City Star takes a closer look at these cost-of-attendance checks, and how athletes use their stipends. As expected, the amount of the stipends varies widely across the Power 5 conferences, but so does the manner in which funds are disbursed to athletes. For example, at some schools, the stipend is paid directly to the athlete who is free to use it as he/she wishes. At others, the stipend is deposited into the athlete's student account and the athlete only receives the balance left after room-and-board and book payments are made. For some athletes, the additional funds have been useful to pay for routine expenses as well as unexpected ones. For others, it's been more of an unexpected windfall, while still others have sent the money home to their struggling families (Blair Kerkhoff and Tod Palmer with contributions from Kellis Robinett, Jesse Newell, and Paul Suellentrop (Wichita Eagle)).