SLATE: Basketball schedules finalized

The Big 12 has finalized its conference basketball schedules for 2021-22 for both the men and the women, thus completing the season schedules for Kansas State.

The men kick things off on November 4 with an exhibition against Benevolent Despot Mother’s beloved Pittsburg State Gorillas before hosting Florida A&M and Nebraska-Omaha. That’s all the tune-up they’ll get before heading to Kansas City to face Arkansas and either future conference rival Cincinnati or Illinois. Then it’s home games against North Dakota and Albany, a trip to Wichita for a “neutral” site game against the Shockers, and back home again for the Big 12/Big East Battle game against Marquette and a visit from Wisconsin-Green Bay. A trip to Nebraska leads into a two-game homestand over the holidays against McNeese State and Morgan State to close out the year.

The conference slate kicks off on New Year’s Day with a trip to Oklahoma. The rest of the month sees Texas, TCU, Texas Tech, and Kansas coming to Bramlage while the Cats visit West Virginia, Texas, and Baylor before ending the month in Oxford to face Ole Miss in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. In February, K-State hosts Oklahoma State, Baylor, West Virginia (on Valentine’s Day for Big Monday), and Iowa State; they’ll visit TCU, the Cyclones, the Cowboys, Kansas, and Texas Tech. The regular season concludes on March 5 as the Sooners pay a visit.

As for the women, a Halloween night exhibition against Washburn opens the proceedings, followed by another exhibition against Pittsburg State on November 5. The ladies will then host Central Arkansas before hosting the opening portion of the Preseason WNIT, facing Tennessee-Martin, Western Kentucky, and North Carolina A&T. They’ll conclude their WNIT action at North Carolina State. Home games against Abilene Christian, Northwestern State, and North Dakota State follow before the Cats head to South Carolina for the Big 12/SEC Challenge. They’ll remain on the road for two more games, taking on Nebraska-Omaha and South Dakota State, before returning home to conclude the non-conference schedule against Oregon and Illinois-Chicago.

The Big 12 season kicks off on January 2 as K-State once again opens their campaign against Baylor at home. The rest of January includes trips to Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Texas Tech, and Texas while Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma, and TCU come to town. The exact opposite occurs in February and the first week of March, with the regular season concluding on March 5 at TCU.

Football

Two items from Chris Murray at Nevada Sports Net: Jay Norvell coached alongside Christopher Vaughn at Texas back in 2015, so he already knows Deuce Vaughn pretty well. Meanwhile, in the present Nevada is a favorite Saturday despite being on the road and collecting a million-dollar payday. The interesting bit of information from that article: Nevada is 3-1 against Cal since moving to FBS.

Cross Country

The cross country teams open the 2021 season at the Cowboy Jamboree in Stillwater on Saturday, and D. Scott Fritchen checks in with super-senior Noah Stevenson ahead of the event.