K-State Q&A: Preseason polls, family vacations and doubts about football in the fall
There was a moment during Kansas State’s final basketball game of the coronavirus-shortened Big 12 Tournament that I will always remember.
At some point in the second half of that contest, what was happening on the court no longer seemed important.
Maybe it was when some of my Twitter followers began asking why I was bothering to provide commentary about a 53-49 victory over TCU that at best briefly lifted the Wildcats’ spirits at the end of an otherwise dismal season. Maybe it was when Vahe Gregorian, seated to my right, suggested sports as we knew them were about to change. Or maybe it was when some fans, seated to my rear, suggested an official at the game must have had coronavirus “in his eyes” because he was doing a horrible job as a referee.
Or maybe it was all of the above.
Add it all up and there was a definite feeling throughout the arena that we were watching our last K-State sporting event for quite some time. Sure enough, college tournaments and spring sports were canceled the following day. That was a little more than four months ago.
I hope we haven’t reached that point in regards to playing football in the fall, but it’s starting to feel like we have.
The Ivy League, the Patriot League and the MEAC have already announced that they won’t play football this year. It’s easy to say those conferences are rushing to judgment or that they don’t care about athletics the same way we do here in Big 12 country, but that’s what everyone said when the Ivy League was first to cancel its basketball tournaments last March.
Turns out they knew exactly what they were doing. Other conferences tried to play their tournaments without fans but quickly abandoned those plans when the NBA suspended its season because some of its players tested positive for COVID-19. Eventually, every conference followed the Ivy League.
I see a lot of parallels between what happened then and what is happening now.
The Big Ten and the Pac-12 have canceled their nonconference football games. Just about every conference has postponed their media days. No one knows what to say about the prospect of fans at games, if they even take place. Positive cases are spiking across the country and many school districts won’t be starting the academic year on time.
Feels more like punting than going for it on fourth down.
Professional sports are back in the form of a weird MLS tournament in Orlando that features no fans and bad camera angles. The NBA and MLB are on track to start soon, as well. But even those leagues have had problems with their coronavirus “bubbles.” It’s going to be much harder for colleges to isolate their unpaid players for an entire season.
K-State and KU both had to suspend voluntary football workouts this summer. But the Wildcats have reduced their active cases down to two.
NCAA leaders have provided some guidelines and testing protocols that could be used if football takes place in the fall. Are they too little, too late?
The answer won’t be known for at least a few more weeks. Major football conferences will exhaust every possible option before canceling the football season or pushing it back to the spring. Don’t believe me? Go read this letter from Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard.
There is still hope. As more of us wear masks, maybe our country can start to beat this whole COVID-19 thing.
I want it to happen. My Facebook memories reminded that at this time last year I was in Arlington, Texas grilling K-State football coach Chris Klieman about how he planned to rotate running backs. Man, what I wouldn’t give to go back to those days.
I hope we can get back there soon. But it’s starting to feel like college football needs a Hail Mary to go forward with a normal season.
The common perception among K-State fans is that the Wildcats are perennially picked too low (or disrespected) in the preseason Big 12 football poll.
Is that reality?
Let’s go back and compare K-State’s position in some old preseason polls to where the Wildcats actually finished.
2019: Picked ninth and finished tied for third.
2018: Picked sixth and finished seventh.
2017: Picked third and finished tied for fourth.
2016: Picked eighth and finished fourth.
2015: Picked seventh and finished eighth.
2014: Picked third and finished third.
2013: Picked sixth and finished fifth.
2012: Picked sixth and finished first.
2011: Picked eighth and finished second.
2010: Picked third in the Big 12 North and finished third in the Big 12 North.
Big 12 media members obviously didn’t know what they were talking about in 2011, 2012 or 2019. Otherwise, though, their picks have been mostly spot on.
FYI: I never vote for the preseason poll, but I have voted for the AP Top 25 poll and I always vote for the all-conference team at the end of the season.
K-State exceeded preseason expectations five times, met preseason expectations twice and failed to meet preseason expectations three times.
The Big 12 announced its preseason All-Conference team on Thursday and will announce its preseason poll on Friday. I’m sure K-State fans will play the disrespect card regardless of where the Wildcats will be voted, but the evidence shows preseason polls aren’t always wrong.
See what I mean?
I feel like I just tweeted something about Mike McGuirl making an important basket in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament.
I’m not a big fan of the Staycation. When I use my vacation time, I like to leave town and do something outside of my usual routine. As much as I love Manhattan, there’s not a ton you can do here right now. Swimming pools aren’t even open. This year, a Staycation was particularly unappealing, as the last four months have felt like a never-ending Staycation.
Luckily our first road trip as a family of six went really well. So I’m sure we will do it again next summer.
Vacations are a little more complicated now, because no one wants to pay for six plane tickets or stay in the same car for long periods of time. But we made it work by traveling southeast to Grand Lake in Oklahoma. The drive took five hours, or at least it would have if not for taking a few child-pleasing detours to parks and tourist attractions.
The drive didn’t feel all that long.
It was a different vacation than we were used to. There was no eating out. We brought all our own food and cooked it in a cabin that we rented. There were no grand excursions, other than to the swimming pool or the lake. There was very little interaction with people outside our family.
That’s a quite a bit different from past years when we took family trips to California, Florida, Texas and Mexico. We basically picked up our lives and moved them a few hours away. But it was a nice change of pace and we spent a lot of time outdoors.
Not sure if I will ever plan that exact vacation again, but it’s about as good as we could do during a pandemic.
Were there any surprises on the preseason All-Big 12 team?
Not really. Just about everyone that made the team received some type of honor from the Big 12 last season, which is normally how it goes with preseason polls.
At K-State, I think A.J. Parker has a chance to shine and earn a spot on one of the end-of-the year teams. Same goes for Josh Rivas or any of its new offensive linemen. Also keep an eye on Blake Lynch at kicker.
Darius Stills surprised me a little bit as Defensive Player of the Year, but I admit there isn’t a slam-dunk selection there.
I will be most interested to see who wins First-Team All-Conference at QB this year. Sam Ehlinger makes the most sense as a preseason collection, but he will have to beat out Brock Purdy, Charlie Brewer and Spencer Rattler.
Odds K-State plays a full schedule: 10/1.
Odds K-State plays a conference-only schedule: 5/1.
Odds K-State plays a spring schedule: 20/1.
Odds K-State plays next game in 2021: 3/1.
Odds fans can attend games in 2020: 5/1.
I think the question we all want to have answered this week is ... How is Professor Kellis holding up now that the Governor has delayed the start of the school year until after Labor Day? - Andrew B. via e-mail.
When I heard the news Wednesday that Governor Kelly was putting forth an executive order to delay the school year for three weeks, I felt a lot like Mark Watney (Matt Damon’s character) in “The Martian.”
There’s a scene in that film where he has been stranded on Mars for several months, and just when it looks like he is about to get rescued his friends at NASA send a message informing him that their mission has been delayed and he has to begin rationing the tiny amounts of food he has left on another planet.
Watney describes that moment as a kick to the groin.
I couldn’t say it better myself.
Though I completely understand why my two oldest sons won’t be returning to school on time in the middle of a pandemic, it’s still frustrating. Just when it looked like I could see the finish line, someone swooped in and moved the goal posts on me.
Professor Kellis hoped he entered retirement when the school year came to a close in May and his daily responsibilities as a home-school teacher seemed to end. But he will have to pull a Bill Snyder and return to the classroom for at least a little while in August and September.
Honestly, it’s not that big of a deal. If I found ways to turn Star Wars movies and video games into school work before (while juggling a day job) I can do it again.
I just hope kids everywhere, not just my own, can return to school in the near future. They deserve to be around their friends and learn from real teachers.
Until then, at least Professor Kellis will have more funny stuff to share on Twitter.
This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Preseason polls, family vacations and doubts about football in the fall."