SLATE: Alex Barnes and Dalton Risner descend on the NFL Combine

Our strongest advice for you today is to turn on the NFL Network immediately, as coverage is already underway of day one of the NFL Combine. Today happens to be the day for running backs and offensive linemen, and that means Alex Barnes and Dalton Risner are on the clock. That also means stories about the former K-State stars are popping up at local NFL city outlets.

Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com (or the Newark Star-Ledger, probably) has a piece on Risner and the possibility of him ending up on the same New York Giants line as fellow small-town Coloradan Nate Solder.

Tim Bielik of cleveland.com (or the Cleveland Plain Dealer, probably) reports that Barnes blew the entire RB field away on the bench press, and actually tied for the best mark period yesterday with 34. Jalin Moore of Appalachian State was second among running backs... with only 27. Wow, Alex. Wow.

At the Star, Alex Schiffer discusses the pitch Barnes is making to NFL teams.

Meanwhile, someone who’s not at the combine is getting some love as well. At our sister site Stampede Blue, SB Nation’s Indianapolis Colts site, Zach Hicks got an interview with Eli Walker, who’s hoping to be an undrafted free agent.

Basketball

Our own Luke Thompson hit you with Tournament Thursday yesterday, where he once again dives into what sort of seed the Cats are looking at now.

Pierson McAtee and Mike McGuirl were named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team yesterday, and the second team includes Barry Brown Jr. and Xavier Sneed. Not bad, guys. Not bad at all.

In yesterday’s Sports Extra, Corbin McGuire covers what got said in this week’s men’s basketball press conference. In today’s edition, McGuire checks in with Kayla Goth and Kali Jones and gets their thoughts on getting ready for the final home game of their careers.

Baseball

Weather already forced K-State to go invade TCU’s home field for their “home” opening series with San Francisco; rain yesterday created more chaos, delaying the series until today. They’ll play two starting at 3:00 this afternoon before concluding the series tomorrow.

Tennis

Can’t win ‘em all, no matter how many you’ve won in a row already. The 37th-ranked Cats (7-3) found that out the hard way yesterday, falling 4-2 at home to #31 Washington State (11-2) yesterday to end a four-match streak. Karine-Marion Job continued her winning ways, and was joined by fellow frosh Maria Ponomareva, but the Cougars were too much for the rest of the crew.

Tomorrow, the Cats face Iowa at 11:30, then afterward they’ll finally get to take on UMKC after last week’s weather cancellation.

Rowing

The spring season gets going tomorrow in Oklahoma City as the Wildcats participate in the Oklahoma Scrimmage. It’s not an actual contest, just a joint training session. They’ll head to California in about a week for a nine-day training trip which will include the Hornet Invitational in Sacramento, Calif. on March 16. They’ll be facing host Sacramento State, St. Mary’s, and San Diego State in that event.