K-State Q&A: Liberty Bowl reaction, Bruce Weber’s goodwill and Christmas movies
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
We have lots of great basketball and football topics to cover this week, so let’s get right to them. Thanks, as always, for your participation.
I don’t think it’s fair to suggest that K-State athletic director Gene Taylor is to blame for K-State’s slide down the Big 12’s bowl pecking order.
K-State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Texas tied for third in the Big 12 standings. There are no guidelines when it comes to breaking ties for bowl games, so there was no way to predict what was going to happen.
Had the picks been made entirely on merit, Oklahoma State would be in the Alamo Bowl and K-State in the Camping World Bowl, Iowa State in the Texas Bowl and Texas in the Liberty Bowl.
This was not a repeat of 1998, when K-State deserved a major bowl and ended up in San Antonio.
Maybe Taylor could have done something differently to convince the Camping World Bowl to select K-State instead of Iowa State, but I doubt it. The folks in Orlando wanted to select the Cyclones last year but weren’t able to because the Alamo Bowl surprisingly chose them instead of West Virginia. Iowa State fans have traveled in huge numbers to bowls the past two seasons and (I mention this because it has been pointed out to me a few times) there are three Camping World dealerships in Iowa and none in Kansas.
The Texas Bowl has never had Oklahoma State and barely showed interest in K-State last week.
What could Taylor have said to change their minds? I’m guessing nothing.
But whatever he told bowl directors had the Wildcats in the running for the Alamo Bowl. They appeared on track to spend the postseason in San Antonio when it looked like Southern California was going to represent the Pac-12 in that game. But things changed when Utah was snubbed by the playoff bowls and the Alamo Bowl had to select the Utes. All of a sudden, TV ratings became a concern and Texas was seen as the answer from the Big 12.
Had Utah played Oregon a little tougher in the Pac-12 championship game last week, K-State would probably be in the Alamo Bowl right now and you wouldn’t be asking me this question.
The best thing K-State fans can do now is support the Wildcats in Memphis at the Liberty Bowl and show the other Big 12 bowls what they missed out on.
The Liberty Bowl has actually grown on me, even though I gave it a low ranking last week. The game will be played in the afternoon on Dec. 31, which means no travel on Christmas and you can still go out on New Year’s Eve. Navy is also a unique opponent. Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium is still horrible, but I’m guessing this will be a fun game.
Why give out one MVP award when you can give out three?
Let’s break them down by offense, defense and special teams.
Offensive MVP: Skylar Thompson.
The junior quarterback came into his own under a new coaching staff this season, completing 59 percent of his passes for 2,191 yards and 12 touchdowns while also rushing for 402 yards and 10 touchdowns. He had lots of help from James Gilbert, Dalton Schoen and his offensive line, but he was the unquestioned leader of the offense.
Defensive MVP: Wyatt Hubert.
The sophomore defensive end was probably K-State’s best overall player this season. He made 12 1/2 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. Offensive coordinators had to think of creative ways to stop him and often devoted multiple blockers to his side of the defensive line. The extra attention he drew made life easier for his teammates.
Special Teams MVP: Joshua Youngblood.
Sorry Blake Lynch and Devin Anctil. As good as K-State’s kicker and punter were this season (and they were really good), Youngblood was too electric as a returner to ignore. The freshman receiver averaged 38.1 yards per return and scored three touchdowns on special teams.
In a good sign for the future, all three players are expected back next season. Let the competition for 2020 K-State football MVP begin.
There is always some concern.
Chris Klieman lost two coaches from his initial K-State staff before they even coached a game together. I didn’t expect Blake Seiler to leave for West Virginia or for Ted Monachino to leave for the Chicago Bears last winter, but they both did.
I could make a case for or against all 10 of Klieman’s current assistants being candidates for jobs at other places, but no one has suggested to me that any of them are looking to leave. So I won’t.
Here’s the thing to remember: K-State went 8-4 and exceeded expectations in Klieman’s first year as coach after losing two assistants. Continuity is a good thing, but it’s also sometimes overrated.
Oklahoma: Christmas Vacation.
The Sooners keep winning the Big 12 and this holiday movie never gets old. Lincoln Riley treats the rest of the conference the same way Clark Griswold treats his poor neighbors. Why didn’t we win the conference this year, Texas? I don’t know, Baylor!
Baylor: Elf.
Matt Rhule is a lot like Buddy the Elf. Everything turns out great for him in the end, despite dressing like a maniac.
Texas: A Christmas Story.
This movie has its moments and a large, devoted following. But is it really good enough to watch for 24 straight hours on Christmas Day? Ralphie and his family have always seemed a bit overrated to me, not unlike the Longhorns.
K-State: Die Hard.
Coaching against Chris Klieman and the Wildcats football team is difficult when they play a different style than the rest of the Big 12. You know what else isn’t easy? Taking control of Nakatomi Tower
West Virginia: The Christmas Chronicles.
The Mountaineers are new to the Big 12. The Christmas Chronicles is new to Netflix. Neither of them are classics, but they’re not bad.
Kansas: Home Alone.
Did you know that Home Alone is the highest grossing Christmas movie of all time? That might never change, much like the Jayhawks’ dominance of Big 12 basketball. Bill Self is also currently defending his program against the NCAA. Will he as successful as Kevin McCallister was against the Wet Bandits?
Texas Tech: Miracle on 34th Street.
You could say Chris Beard has worked a miracle in Lubbock, Texas while turning the Red Raiders into a basketball power.
Iowa State: Jingle all the Way.
Farmageddon is one of the most underrated rivalries in college athletics. The current bickering going on between Iowa State and K-State reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad fighting over a Turbo Man doll.
TCU: The Nightmare Before Christmas.
The Horned Frogs went many years without a power conference before they found Christmas in the Big 12.
Oklahoma State: The Santa Clause.
Like Tim Allen, I think Mike Gundy would make a great Santa.
No one will be happy if this season spirals out of control and the Wildcats finish near the bottom of the Big 12 standings, but, if that happens, most fans will probably understand the circumstances surrounding this roster and trust that Bruce Weber will bounce back.
There are already some fans grumbling about K-State’s 6-3 start, which doesn’t feature a single quality victory. And that’s fair. The Wildcats could definitely be playing better with Xavier Sneed, Cartier Diarra and Makol Mawien back in the starting lineup. But it seems like most are showing patience.
Weber silenced his critics and boosted his job security in a big way over the past two seasons. Guiding a team to the Elite Eight and a Big 12 championship in back-to-back years will do that for a coach.
He’s earned the right to slip a bit after losing three transformational seniors in Barry Brown, Kamau Stokes and Dean Wade ... so long as the overall trajectory of the team remains high.
That isn’t currently a problem.
No matter what happens this season, it sure seems like the future is bright for Weber and K-State basketball. Antonio Gordon, Montavious Murphy and DaJuan Gordon are all contributing as freshmen. And Weber just signed an impressive four-player recruiting class that currently ranks in the top 25 nationally and looks like his best incoming group with the Wildcats.
If the young players on K-State’s roster weren’t showing any promise and Weber was struggling on the recruiting trail, the Weber haters would already be back. But there’s reason to expect better days on the horizon. He’s done enough to earn some goodwill.
It’s also worth pointing out this question might be premature. Though I no longer expect the Wildcats to reach the NCAA Tournament this season, it could still happen. Some of Weber’s previous teams have stumbled out of the chute, figured things out around Christmas and gone on to have fine years. There’s enough talent here for that to happen again.
Eight teams?
Dang, Jeff, I hope you have been good this year. That’s a big Christmas wish, even for Santa.
I have occasionally wondered what a four-team tournament might look like during the holidays in Kansas City. The best foursome would be K-State, Wichita State, KU and Missouri. The Wildcats would play the Shockers one year and then the Tigers the next, rotating those opponents with the Jayhawks.
It will never happen, but that would be a fun way to get those four teams together on the same court.
Adding four more teams into the equation could be an adventure. But we might as well swing for the fences and turn this into the best regional holiday tournament college basketball has ever seen.
I like the idea of bringing in two more Big 12 schools like Oklahoma and Iowa State and two more teams from other conferences like Creighton and Nebraska.
That would create some fun matchups and make for a heck of a good time at the Power & Light District. It would probably be a bigger deal for basketball purists than the actual Big 12 Tournament.
I have a feeling we will see them again.
There’s nothing stopping the Wildcats from mixing them in to their normal uniform rotation, and I suspect they will.
Back in the day when I was a competitive youth golfer I thought it would be cool to wear a visor instead of a hat at tournaments. I had a full head of hair then, so it worked. But every time I tried to make the visor happen I ended up flirting with last place.
Inevitably, I would blame the visor for my bad rounds, return the next day with a hat and play much better.
Why? No clue.
I also have no idea why K-State is 0-2 on the football field and 0-1 on the basketball court while wearing throwback uniforms that feature the words “Wildcats” or “Cats” written somewhere in script.
Their performance likely has nothing at all to do with the uniforms they wear.
Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that nobody writes in cursive anymore. Kids today grew up on phones.
If Weber decides to add a fifth member to the 2020 recruiting class, he has said he will try to land an extra big man.
I don’t know if he will look specifically for a center, though. He already has a back-to-the-basket player on the way in Davion Bradford. My guess is he would prefer someone who can play the stretch four like Dean Wade used to.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 5:00 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Liberty Bowl reaction, Bruce Weber’s goodwill and Christmas movies."