SLATE: We’re still floating

It turns out that when you whip the tar out of the #5 team in the nation, people have a tendency to notice. That includes people with ballots, as Kansas State was rewarded for their 48-41 win over Oklahoma with appearances in both the AP (#22) and Coaches (#25) polls yesterday.

JT moved the Cats up to #2 in his weekly Big 12 power rankings yesterday, while the Oklahoman’s Berry Tramel moved them back up to #3, noting that K-State has both the best non-conference win in the Big 12 this year and the best conference win.

The Cats prepare now for a trip down the river for what could end up being the first relevant meeting between K-State and Kansas since 2008, when Kansas came in at 5-3 and the Cats were 4-4.

At the Mercury, Ryan Black writes about Eric Gallon II and the post-game reaction to his brutal injury, while Kellis Robinett gives out his grades and game ball over at the Eagle. Spoiler: since playing Oklahoma is an honors class, the Cats pulled a 4.5 GPA.

(I think Kellis was too hard on the defense, honestly.)

Also at the Oklahoman, Ryan Aber points a finger at one big problem with Oklahoma’s game plan Saturday: only six carries by the Sooner running backs. Indeed, the last time someone other than Jalen Hurts had a carry for Oklahoma was their first offensive play in the second half.

At the Norman Transcript, Tyler Palmateer ponders what exactly it was that K-State did to surprise the Sooners. Nobody seems to have an answer.

Baseball

Yes, there was baseball this weekend. The BatCats hosted Oral Roberts in a 12-inning exhibition, which the good guys won 9-0. Eleven pitchers combined for the shutout, striking out 17 Golden Eagles, while the offense scattered the damage around.

Fall work will end in two weekends with the intrasquad Fall World Series November 8-10.

Soccer

Senior day could have gone better. For the third straight game, the Wildcats (3-12-2, 1-7-1) gave up multiple goals in a shutout, falling 3-0 to the visiting West Virginia Mountaineers. The linked recap contains extensive quotes from all the departing seniors, so click the link and say farewell to Mike Dibbini’s first recruiting class.

In today’s Sports Extra, Corbin McGuire also reports on that departing class and what they’ll ultimately mean to K-State soccer after they wrap things up with their final game on Thursday in Lubbock.