Big 12 State of the Union: Kansas State
12 comments so far
January 24, 2008 by
Whenever I think of Kansas State and the emergence of their football program in the 1990’s I often recall Ed Stewart’s quote following the 1994 contest, “Nebraska is still Nebraska and Kansas State is still Kansas State�. Even though Nebraska would continue to dominate Kansas State for most of that decade, Kansas State was no longer the same laughingstock it had been in the 1980’s.
Their Big 12 title in 2003 was truly a once in a lifetime experience for their fans. You could have been born in 1935, lived a very full life and expired in 2002 without ever witnessing a Kansas State team that won their conference championship. The 2003 season seemed to be the culmination of more than a decade of program-building and ending a culture of losing. Then exactly one year later, the Wildcats had a losing season. And then another. And then they replaced the coach of a lifetime. Then they hired Ron Prince, stole a highly touted quarterback recruit from Nebraska, upset a good Texas team and went bowling. Then they had their third losing season in four years.
On the upside for 2008, the Wildcats will bring back most of their starters from 2007. They also have had a half dozen junior college players sign letters of intent to join them in the Spring to help patch some holes. Auburn comes off the schedule to be replaced with a road game at Louisville and they get Fresno State at home after losing the game in Fresno in 2007.
On the downside, they replace Baylor, Texas (a team they’ve beaten each of the past two seasons), and Oklahoma State on their schedule with Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and Texas A&M. Under Ron Prince, KSU hasn’t beaten Kansas, Nebraska, or Missouri home or away. They even lost to Iowa State in 2007. They will travel to face an improving Colorado squad in 2008. A 2-6 conference record does not seem improbable and it would be yet another step backward for a program that went 4-4 in 2006 and 3-5 in 2007.
In total, K-State has sixteen commitments to the class of 2008 from junior college players (after they signed eight a year ago). Seemingly all of the eggs are in one basket. That is, they have to win in the next two seasons because their heavy emphasis on junior college talent means that they will need to restart the rebuilding process again. They can’t plead for patience while players develop. Rather, they have to win soon and hope to build some recruiting momentum.
No, Kansas State did not remain the team they were in the 1980’s when Ed Stewart made his remark, but it’s not hard to picture them becoming that team again – and soon. They have to find the same magic they did in their upsets of Texas and sustain it for most of a season. Otherwise, they will be again sitting out bowl season, they’ll have built little foundation for the future and their boosters and fans may decide they’ve had enough of Ron Prince. The expectations may not be high for this team, but the stakes seem to be. They are at a turning point. Can they reclaim a place among the better Big 12 schools or are they going to become a bottom-feeding program again that’s clearly outclassed by the rest of the league?
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K-Stater Jan 24 08
If we only win 1 game, I hope it is against the Corn Cobs of Lincoln.....then you can kiss our a--!!!!
Darren Jan 24 08
Steve - great post. Your ability to objectively review the state of a conference foe is admirable. You lay out facts and ask valid questions. You are certainly better at it that I could be, especially regarding KSU.
And, "K-stater" - there you go affirming so many of my notions about the KSU fan base.
I'm trying to recover from being such a bile-filled Wildcat basher, and then you go and totally enable my habit like that. Come on, man! I'm in recovery here...
doombob Jan 24 08
Man, these guys sure scour the web waiting for posts on their team.
bnahusker Jan 24 08
I would bet that there are zero out of 118 other FBC teams that would accept a 1-11 record, as long as the one win was over KSU. One has to wonder what they put in the Kool-Aid in Manhattan. Damn, just when they were this close to having class.
Oh well,
Bob
Walter Jan 24 08
Kinda of like the story of a young Cornhusker fan born in 1900 and still alive today and still waiting for NU to Win a NCAA Tournament BBall Game. Better late than never I guess.
HuskerFan Jan 24 08
Yes, slam our basketball team on a football blog.
Your grasp of the internet is amazing.
Jason Jan 24 08
We have a basketball team?
Greg Morrow Jan 24 08
I couldn't pretend to have the same aggravated annoyance with with anyone associated with K-State, as I do with Buffy. (The audacity of Buffy, claiming they're our rival!:-) Almost approaches "animus," but not quite.
I've been almost "happy for" K-State, since the early '90's. To me, a coaching Mt. Rushmore would include one Bill Snyder (with Tom, of course).
So, in the present tense, K State could be regressing relatively, but they'd have to drop down BADLY, to get back to where they were pre Snyder.
I do recall some succes in '75 with Nolan Cromwell. I don't remember seeing Lynn Dickey, I think they had some succes back then, when they beat Nebraska in the late '60's.
OU7times Jan 24 08
Nolan Cromwell and K-State???????? Huh?
Scott Jan 24 08
Do you blame Bob Huggins for leaving?
It's nice to see K-Stater already circling their purple letter game for this year.
"Nothing to be proud of Russ."
OU7times Jan 25 08
I won't harp on the fact that Nolan Cromwell played at Kansas, not Kansas State. That being said, There is no doubt that KSU has fallen since being coached by Ron Prince. The win/loss record says so but if he is given 2-3 years, Coach Prince should bring the program back to 8 or so wins. He is tough to play for but Coach Mangino has run lots of players off by being tough to play for. Coaches Snyder, Mangino and Pinkel were given time to produce. Coach McCarney didn't get the benefit of one more year that could have made a difference. I just can't see Coach Prince being "run" anytime real soon. His 2 wins against highly ranked Texas teams were huge for him. Consistency will be key for Josh Freeman this season. One thing though, the Big 12 North has several "players" now and is much more a force than just 2 years ago. This factor could make some universities expect results sooner than later out of impatience.
mjm Jan 25 08
If I get to see 1 Big 12 school suck it up, it would be Kansas State. Just like Darren said, I don't want to dislike KSU, but there fans make it so darn easy.