WHAT KANSAS STATE WON. The Wildcats' eleventh win ties a school record for wins in a season and delivers K-State its first conference championship – and BCS bowl bid – since 2003.
From here, they'll be moving on to the Fiesta Bowl, most likely against Oregon. Just as importantly, the championship brings KSU full circle, matching the peak of Snyder's first go-round as head coach in just the fourth year of his second.
With a rested team on a mission, everyone seems to like K-State's chances this week. Conventional thinking would say this is a game KSU can, and should, win. We've built up a lot of positive karma over UT over the years, beating Mack Brown 6 times in 8 attempts. Saturday would be Win #7.
Despite the history heavily slanted in KSU's favor (the only two games they beat KSU Vince Young was running the show), Brown and Snyder have remained close personal friends throughout the years. Together, the two form the league's most tenured coaches, Brown having started in 1998, Snyder, 1989.
Even as early as August of this year, Brown was not excited about the prospect of playing KSU.
"Nobody wants to end up at Kansas State in December," he said. "That is not a slot everybody is working to get, I'll tell you that. That was not a positive option."
Nevermind the fact the Wildcats have won each of their past four meetings with Texas. Brown wants to get in and get out.
"I called coach [Bill] Snyder and said we wanted that at 10 o'clock in the morning," Brown said. "He said, 'We only play at night in December. It's really tough to get our lights to work until December, and then they work really well.'"
We have consistently had Texas' number in game management, big plays, play calling, adjustments, and for whatever reason, we have always looked more disciplined, better coached, and at times, more athletic. How a team with the recruiting resources and athletes that UT appears to be bringing in each year doesn't just run through KSU each and every time they face each other is one of the BigXII's greatest mysteries.
Even Ron Prince got the best of Brown in the two years he faced them. Now THAT's saying something as the UT games were the only signature wins of Prince's time in Manhattan.
So, will that trend continue? I believe it will.
Though this team has not faced this kind of adversity since the 2011 OSU loss in Stillwater, I am confident the time off was exactly what was needed to properly process the Baylor loss and correct the mistakes that were made, get healthy, heal a few physical and mental bruises, and come out hitting on all cylinders.
It's hard to believe this is the last time we'll see Klein, Brown, and Harper on the field, but Saturday's Senior Night should prove to be another magical chapter in the Bill Snyder 2.0 era, live and in living color on national television.
The Salute Podcast has another great broadcast to discuss this weeks game. Love these guys and appreciate their efforts each week. They also list out this years Senior Class on Defense for your review prior to Saturday. Very good discussion on the Heisman race as well.
The UT game discussion comes at the 44 minute mark if you want to skip right to it.
In response to Monday's discussion on the SEC and conference realignment, Dennis Dodd writes why staying at 10 is actually in the BigXII's best interest, even in the face of all of the other realignment discussions going on.
One industry source estimated Big 12 schools will be cashing checks for $30 million-plus in the first year of the playoff beginning in 2014. The total now stands at approximately $20 million per school. Beginning in 2014, the Big 12 will begin taking in $40 million per year from the alignment with the Sugar Bowl (previously Champions Bowl).
I think we can all agree this game Saturday has the potential of being the most important regular season game in the history of K-State.
Yes, I know I've said this a lot this season. Each game has carried that extra bit of magnitude just because of the journey we are on. Games in any championship run we've made, whether it was 1997, 1998, 1999, or 2003, had the same type of feel that every game was the next biggest game ever. To that end, any time KSU has a realistic shot at a National or BigXII championship, there are defining games during the course of those seasons.
Let's look at seven (7) games that might be under the same consideration for the MIRSGOAT (Most Important Regular Season Game Of All-Time):
1997 @ #3 Nebraska (L): As the only loss on the schedule in 1997, this game was huge. A win in Lincoln here would of the first one in 30 years, and looking back, a win here would have put KSU in the National Title game. Unfortunately, #17 KSU lost and ended up winning out, facing Syracuse in the what was then the Bowl Alliance.
1998 #11 Nebraska (W): With an undefeated season on the line, a 9-0 record and a #2 ranking, the Cats faced the #11 Huskers in Manhattan in a monster matchup. We all know KSU went on to get to the championship game, only to lose and get knocked all the way down to the Alamo.
1998 @ #19 Missouri (W): After defeating the Huskers the week before, this game became the biggest game in KSU history because it allowed us to clinch the conference and move to 11-0.
1999 @ #7 Nebraska (L): With a #5 ranking and a 9-0 record on the road to Lincoln, a win here would have again put in the conversation for a national title. The Huskers crushed KSU and knocked us into the Holiday bowl.
2012 @ #6 Oklahoma (W): With a #15 national ranking, a win here over the conference favorite and all-time leading yardage QB for OU opened the door for a run at a conference championship and possible national championship. This win served as a the catapult that put Klein in the Heisman discussion and allowed KSU to snap OU's win streak under Stoops over ranked teams at home.
2012 @ Baylor (L): With a #1 BCS ranking for the first time in school history, an SI cover, a consensus frontrunner for Heisman, a candidate for National Coach of the Year, and a 10-0 record, a win here puts KSU in the drivers seat for a shot at the national title. KSU lost and all of that disappeared.
2012 #18 Texas: With the national title dream crushed, KSU still must win here to win it's 2nd Conference Championship. This game now becomes even more special in the regular season because of the new format (no Championship Game). So by it's very nature, this becomes the most important regular season game of all time, because by winning it, we win a championship.
