SLATE: Kansas State football prepares for bye week in Lawrence

Finally, after wallowing in our misery for a week, blessed release is just over the horizon. Our palates will be cleansed and our spirits lifted by the annual curb-stomping of our incompetent, inept, and insufferable rivals over on the other side of the Topeka Hellmouth.

Football

Ken Corbitt reports on the offensive line stepping up against Oklahoma, and since it’s there and we’re here, he’s also got the 2018 K-State football schedule. The Cats open with three home games against South Dakota, Mississippi State, and UTSA before diving into Big 12 play. It’s the five-road-game Big 12 schedule next year, with trips to Morgantown, Waco, Norman, Fort Worth, and Ames. JOY.

Kellis Robinett writes about the chip some Wildcats have on their shoulders because the Jayhawks snubbed them in recruiting. Our question: why? That’s like ending up with Kate Upton but still being mad that the hygiene-challenged nerd girl in high school rejected you. In today’s Sports Extra, Corbin McGuire also discusses Wildcat feelings regarding the Sunflower Showdown.

There has been, as reported by Sam Mellinger, some concern in the offices at KU that if they can’t get their act together on the football field they might get left out in the next inevitable round of realignment. That, in turn, drew comparisons to K-State circa 1988, when the Big 8 was on the verge of giving the Cats the heave-ho despite a basketball program that was on level historical footing with the Jayhawks at the time. But as Grant McGalliard at DieHards notes, Bill Snyder is having none of that nonsense. (Even if it is true.)

While we’re trashing that school down the river, The Star’s Jesse Newell -- with some help from our colleague Bill Connelly -- asks whether this is the worst KU team ever. Not quite, but it’s close.

The actual ESPN article is an In$ider piece, so we’re not linking it, but Dean Straka at DieHards reports on the Kansas aspect: based on statistical models slicing apart the question of when coaches do and do not get fired, David Beaty is very likely to get canned in about a month.

Finally, at ESPN, Jake Trotter and Sam Khan have a slightly different vision of how many points Kansas will manage to score tomorrow, but they’re pretty much in lockstep agreement as to the question of by how many points K-State is going to win: 34 or 35. Considering the only other Big 12 game on which they agree on the winner is OU/Tech... yeah.

Basketball

The preseason USA Today women’s basketball coaches poll is out, and while K-State is not ranked, they did receive 10 points. That’s good for “36th”.

In men’s news, Jay Jenkins of the Virginia 247 site reports on a new point guard in Charlottesville. He’s a senior transfer from Rutgers by the name of Nigel Johnson. Sounds familiar.

Also, the student early-entry procedures for this season have been announced.

Soccer

It’s the season finale and senior night tonight at the K-State Soccer Complex as the Wildcats (6-10-1, 1-7-0) host Iowa State (2-12-3, 0-6-2) with last place in the Big 12 on the line. The Cats need only a draw to avoid the cellar. Five Wildcats will be honored, the most prominent of which is starting goalkeeper Miranda Larkin. She’ll be joined by seniors Jade Anderson, Kelcy Fiser, Jaclyn Means, and Abby Sieperda. The game airs on Cox Kansas and KStateHD.tv, with audio on 101.5 KROCK.

Golf

The men’s team wraps up its fall schedule with a trip to Greensboro, N.C., this weekend for the Bridgestone Golf Collegiate hosted by UNC-Greensboro. Other major competition at the event includes Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Northwestern, and Virginia Tech. The tournament starts with 36 holes beginning at 8:30am Saturday, with Sunday’s final round starting an hour later.

Cross Country

The first Big 12 championship of the academic year is this Saturday in Round Rock, Tex. K-State’s harriers will attempt to put in a good performance, with the men starting their 8k race at 9:00am, and the women’s 6k at 10:00. Coverage is only via a subscription to a sport-specific site, so whatever.