It's less than two months to kickoff now, and BracketCat counts us down with a doubleheader: the enigmatic Osvelt Joseph at #47, and at #48, fullback Konnor Cook, the younger brother of last year's great hero, Kody Cook.
The Basketball Tournament featured a reunion of former Kansas State players taking on other former college and professional players in Chicago this weekend. The Purple and Black squad took the first game in the Midwest Regional by beating The Region, but with key players injured and a severe lack of depth, the team fell to Pedro's Posse, a team featuring Mike Bibby and Jason Williams among other famous names. Our own Gracey Terrill reported live from the event.
From former players, we move on to current players. Whatever promise existed before the 2015-16 season, it was largely lost to injury and the failure of certain players to live up to their potential (among many other things we can lay at Bruce Weber's feet, that is). Big man Dante Williams sat out the season as a redshirt, while senior guard Carlbe Ervin never managed to find his game as he battled injuries. Now they're both back and eager to contribute (Ken Corbitt, Topeka Capital-Journal).
The OU Daily's Derek Peterson previews the Sooners' 2016 clash with Kansas State, noting that although Oklahoma has a sizable lead in the overall head-to-head record, the Sooners have not beaten the Wildcats in Norman since 2009.
Speaking of Oklahoma, the team is the consensus pick to win the Big 12 title this season, but as Bruce Campbell notes, the media has never picked the winner correctly (Enid News & Eagle). Jason Kirk essentially echoes the premise, noting that most college football favorites don't win the conference (except for Ohio State because LOL B1G).
ESPN's Brandon Chatmon continues to predict the season. He has the Wildcats in 8th place, but also expects Kansas State to knock off TCU in Week 14.
Meanwhile, Kellis Robinett decided to stop playing Pokemon Go and answered some questions for the K-State Q&A instead (Wichita Eagle).
On the last two days of competition at the NACAC U23 Championships in El Salvador, former and current Kansas State track and field athletes put in a decent showing. This included a couple of top-five finishes for Akela Jones (4th, 100m hurdles) and Shardia Lawrence (4th, triple jump).Jones also took second place in the long jump event, although her wind-assisted leap of 6.74m matched the first place jump of Quanesha Burks and set a new meet record. Burks' second-longest jump was ahead of Jones, putting her in first place.
On the first day, Jones won the high jump event with a mark of 1.91m, shattering the meet record. Teammate Ifeanyichukwu Otuonye took first in the long jump with a leap of 7.88m.
Twenty years from now, we may well remember 2016 as the year that the world collectively lost its mind. There is so much anger, grief, and bitterness in the world today, and so much more sadness too. I think we have run out of platitudes and cliches to describe our own feelings and perhaps also the willingness to make sense of it all. At the end of the day, much like Pandora and her box, all that remains is hope. Tomorrow is a new day. I wish you peace.