Preseason honors for Wildcats

Happy Friday! Let’s just jump right into it, shall we?

The coronavirus pandemic is still dominating the news, including in the sports world. The biggest question remains whether the college football season will actually happen.

— A fall season of college football seems unlikely. The Big Ten and Pac-12 have both announced a conference-only season, as has the Big East. The Ivy League and Patriot League have both cancelled the entire fall sports calendar, as have a number of conferences in Division III.

— The Big 12, SEC, and ACC conferences have tabled decisions about the season until late in July. Whether this just pushes the inevitable decision out a few weeks or whether it buys time for these conferences to come up with a mutual non-conference scheduling plan remains to be see.

— But maybe this will give the sport some much-needed time to reconsider its priorities? The potential cancellation of an entire season has brought many of college football’s fault lines into sharp focus, including its inability to organize around a uniform message or structure, the hypocrisy of expecting student-athletes to suit up and play when other students may not even return to campus, and the vast income disparity in the sport. Maybe it’s time for college football to rethink its fundamental structure.

— Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor was on CNN on Wednesday. While he noted that the Wildcats were making progress towards resuming workouts, he did not rule out the possibility of suspending activities again.

— Speaking of Kansas State and COVID19, former Wildcat Michael Beasley has tested positive for coronavirus and will not return to the NBA bubble.

There’s some actual sports news in Manhattan too.

— 16 athletes from the Kansas State men’s and women’s track teams earned All-Academic honors from the USTFCCCA this past week. Sophomore Alex Ferguson and high jump specialist Taylor Smith did it with perfect GPAs too.

— The Big 12 announced its media preseason all-conference team. Tight end Nick Lenners (listed as a fullback on the all-conference roster) and return specialist Joshua Youngblood represented Kansas State on offense, while defensive lineman Wyatt Hubert was the lone Wildcat on defense. All three ended the 2019 season as first team All-Big 12 selections, but none has featured on the preseason list before.

— Kansas State men’s basketball earned the NABC’s Team Academic Excellence Award this week for its stellar work in the classroom for the 2019-20 season. Kansas State was one of four conference schools to earn the distinction, joining Oklahoma State, Texas, and West Virginia.

Have a good weekend and stay safe and healthy!