SLATE: BREAKING: JOHN CURRIE REPORTEDLY FIRED BY TENNESSEE

Hey, it looks like John Currie might land Mike Leac—

Oh, no. He’s been fired, according to a report from KVLT Channel 8 in Knoxville.

You know what? We’re not even going to comment. We’ll let you all have your fun in the comments.

We apologize for the absence of yesterday’s Slate. The responsible parties have been sacked banned from the company holiday party, which come to think of it is probably a reward because all we can afford this year is Milwaukee’s Best.

Basketball

For the second time in a week, K-State’s women had a shot at a ranked opponent. For the second (well, actually third) time in a week, Kayla Goth was on fire.

And for the second time in a week, K-State came up short, losing a 73-59 decision to #19 Missouri in the Big 12-SEC Challenge last night in Columbia. JT provides your recap of the loss, while Tashan Reed does the same over at Rock M Nation and Eric Lee reports for the Missourian.

Meanwhile, Wednesday night the men game away with a win, albeit an uninspiring one. AMS reports on what could have been a loss if not for Dean Wade, while Ken Corbitt at the Capital-Journal and Kellis Robinett at the Star/Eagle also provided coverage.

The next Wildcat action is on Sunday afternoon when the men visit Vanderbilt for a 1:30 tip.

Football

First things first: don’t miss this week’s Bring on the PodCats, where once again Luke invited Nick Leckey and didn’t invite his own boss. Grrr. He’s not invited to the holiday party either.

Bill Snyder penned a letter to the Collegian thanking that portion of the student body that stuck it out to the bitter end last weekend rather than bailing early.

The Big 12 announced its post-season all-conference teams and individual awards, which AMS brought to you yesterday. K-State placed four players into five spots on the first team, three on the second, and five received honorable mention. You’ll recall that the linebackers were supposed to be the weak spot on the entire team, but lo and behold both starters in the 4-2-5 scheme (Jayd Kirby and Trent Tanking) received honorable mention.

K-State did not, however, earn any individual awards. Will Geary, D.J. Reed, and Skylar Thompson all received votes toward same, and Geary was probably jobbed in the defensive lineman of the year voting as his stats were, across the board, superior to Poona Ford ‘s. We’re so mad about this that we’re not inviting AMS to the party now.

Still, despite Texas claiming three awards they remain three behind K-State on the all-time list. The Wildcats have had 32 players receive individual recognition over the 21-year history of the conference, second only to Oklahoma’s 39. (If you’re wondering about Nebraska... believe it or not, they only earned 13 the entire time they were in the league.)

Tim Griffin at DieHards writes about how Bill Snyder still really wants 12 teams to go along with the championship game he’s super happy about having back. Asked about who’s going to win tomorrow, Snyder offered the bland and obvious analysis for which we all love him; if you like defense, pick TCU, if you like offense, pick OU, and either way he wouldn’t predict the winner.

Kellis Robinett spoke with (most of) the directors of potential bowl destinations to get a finger on the pulse of where K-State will end up. Much depends on tomorrow’s game between Oklahoma and TCU; if you’d like to see K-State finally play in a Florida bowl game, that’s just more incentive to root for our purple buddies down south.

Randy Peterson at the Des Moines Register is also performing the mental gymnastics necessary to get the Cyclones into Orlando. Of course, we bring his article to your attention because he included a sentence worthy of critique: “Kansas State fans didn’t even fill Bill Snyder Family Stadium last Saturday.”

Oh, Randy. You in trouble now.

Track and Field

Today’s Sports Extra sees Corbin McGuire touching base with senior sprinter Keiteyana Parks about her experiences as one of two Big 12 athletes attending the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum a couple of weeks ago in Washington, D.C.