K-State Q&A: Football predictions, Jerome Tang’s roster and Big 12 realignment

I had big plans to start this week’s mailbag with my thoughts on Big 12 and conference realignment, but news is changing so quickly on the topic that I might as well save it for next Friday.

We know Colorado will be in the Big 12 next season. That’s good. Even though the Buffaloes haven’t been great in any sport lately, I really like Boulder as a travel destination. Colorado is also a brand name, and the Big 12 needs more of those.

Arizona could soon join Colorado in the Big 12. Or maybe not. Arizona State and Utah could also soon become Big 12 members. Or maybe not.

All I can really say, for now, is that it feels good to be sitting on the sideline during this round of realignment while other conferences worry about their survival.

The Big 12 is full of survivors. Things will shake out one way or another, and I will opine about them in the near future.

Until then, let’s dive into your questions about the Kansas State Wildcats. Thanks, as always, for providing them.

I don’t see the Big 12 ever becoming the Big 20.

But I also didn’t think the Big 12 would ever become the Big 16, and it seems like that is now within the realm of possibility. So who knows what the future holds.

When it comes to conference realignment, always expect the unexpected.

I suppose the path to 20 teams joining the Big 12 all depends on what happens in the Pac-12 and the ACC. Nothing has been decided (at least as I write this sentence), but let’s say Arizona, Arizona State and Utah decide to follow Colorado to the Big 12, which will make it a 16-team conference after Oklahoma and Texas leave for the SEC.

Would Brett Yormark push further West and invite Pac-12 castaways like Cal, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State to get to 20 members? Unlikely. The Big 12 would be better off with San Diego State than any of those schools, save for maybe Stanford.

But let’s say Florida State finds a way out of the ACC. I could definitely see the Big 12 extending a lifeline to the Seminoles. If that were to happen, then maybe Miami could tag along. At that point, why not also try for Louisville and Connecticut or North Carolina.

That scenario seems unlikely to me, because FSU will be gunning for the Big Ten or the SEC. I don’t even really like it if it were to happen. How would a 20-team conference work? Scheduling would be a nightmare, and winning the league would feel like the ultimate marathon.

I think it’s much more likely that we see the Big 12 move to 13 or 14 teams than 20. But that is at least one way I could see it happening.

Conference realignment has wounded some great college rivalries.

I don’t know that I would go all the way to say that it has made them extinct or will make them a thing of the past. But we have, unfortunately, lost some great conference rivalries over the past decade.

One question I made sure to ask teams at Big 12 media days last month was, “Who do you expect your rivals to be in this new conference?”

I’m not sure there is an answer for a team like Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have lived to hate on the Oklahoma Sooners for as long as both schools have existed. And now they aren’t playing against each other in football anymore. Who fills that void? You could make an argument for Texas Tech or TCU or K-State or KU, but there will never be venom there like you find with Bedlam.

UCF players told me they have targeted Cincinnati as their new rival. West Virginia is looking forward to playing the Bearcats, as well. But I have no idea about BYU. I guess they will have to learn to hate Colorado.

The good thing is a lot of schools have realized that they still need regional rivalries, and we are starting to see games like Kansas/Mizzou, Oklahoma/Nebraska, West Virginia/Pitt return to schedules as nonconference games.

This is also something that K-State doesn’t really have to worry about, as it gets to continue playing Kansas and Iowa State all the time. Colorado returning to the conference could also make for a fun rivalry. Too bad Nebraska isn’t coming back, too.

Never say never to anything weird happening with the transfer portal, but I will be surprised if Jerome Tang adds any new players to the K-State men’s basketball roster before the Wildcats leave for the Middle East next week.

There has been zero buzz about K-State and anyone on the transfer market. Tang has spent much more time trying to win over 2024 recruits like Patrick Ngongba.

If the Wildcats add any new players before the upcoming season it will probably happen in late August, right before the academic year begins.

K-State found a way to add Keyontae Johnson extremely late in the process last year, so anything is possible.

But it is probably time to start making plans for a roster of 11 scholarship players next season.

A full roster of 13 scholarship players would be better, but remember the Wildcats kept three of their dudes on the sideline with redshirts last season. They really only used 10 guys. So they will end up with more available players than they had last season no matter what happens.

While I could see both Collin Klein and Joe Klanderman receiving interest from other schools at the end of another successful season for Kansas State I don’t necessarily think Northwestern will be calling.

It seems to me that Northwestern needs to hire someone with head coaching experience who has a perfect track record when it comes to hazing and player treatment.

Those Wildcats need to hire a coach with a spotless record. Think Ed “Straight Arrow” Gennero from the classic football movie “Necessary Roughness.”

This feels like a great spot for a retread coach who is looking to get back in the game like Mack Brown before he landed at North Carolina.

That being said, I do think Klein and Klanderman are desirable coordinators.

If K-State has another strong year on defense it won’t surprise me at all if a Big Ten school gives Klanderman a look. He is from Wisconsin and played at Minnesota State. Whenever he looks to move on, it would probably be for a job north of here.

Klein was red hot on the coordinator market this past offseason. Notre Dame made a well-publicized push for him, while Alabama and Texas A&M also reached out to express interest.

Personally, I don’t see him leaving for another coordinator job. If he wanted to do that he could have already left for Notre Dame. He wants to be a head coach, and if a team in the Mountain West or the American comes calling he may have to seriously consider it.

That could happen if K-State wins another Big 12 championship.

All I can really say about this topic is that K-State has taken sports gambling very seriously since it became legal in the Sunflower State last summer.

The athletic department has made it very clear to everyone who plays and works for the Wildcats that they aren’t allowed to place bets on anything. No college football. No NFL. No MLB. No NBA. Nothing.

Whenever I bring up things like point spreads and over/unders to K-State employees I’m usually met with responses like, “I don’t pay attention to that stuff because betting on sports would void my contract.”

Have any K-State athletes broken the rules and bet on sports? Maybe. I have no idea. But there is no scandal happening like what we are currently seeing with Iowa and Iowa State.

Jennifer Aniston comes to mind.

Ironically, I never really liked the TV show Friends. So I’m not quite sure how that happened. I guess I just knew she would star in some good movies later on.

Let me give you two answers on this one.

I predict Ben Sinnott to lead the team in touchdown receptions and I predict DJ Giddens to lead the team in touchdown runs, especially if Will Howard is not available as a choice.

Sinnott should be one of the best tight ends in the Big 12 this season. He caught 31 passes for 447 yards and four touchdowns last season, and he is only going to get better. He is extremely close friends with Howard and he is a red zone target.

Their touchdown connection should be strong.

When it comes to rushing, give me Giddens. He is a powerful runner who found the end zone six times last season while playing behind Deuce Vaughn. His touchdown numbers should rise now that he will be splitting time with Treshaun Ward.

It’s starting to feel like conference commissioners wait to see my vacation schedule before they make realignment moves.

News of Texas and Oklahoma looking to flee the Big 12 broke while I was visiting family in Austin a few years ago.

The Big Ten announced it was going to start looking at expansion options while I was a friend’s bachelor party a few years before that.

Colorado returned the Big 12 while I was riding down water slides with my kids in Palm Springs, California last week.

I showed the Colorado news to my wife when I was checking my phone that evening and she said, “Happens every time we go anywhere.”

Not coincidentally, all of these getaways were in late July. Perhaps it would be wise for all of us to start planning on conference realignment to happen that time of year.

As for Jerome Tang’s recruiting video on a boat, that was most definitely planned in response to a similar video that Ngongba posted on his social media while he was with Tim Duncan.

I find it impossible to believe that Tang and his coaching staff were at the lake and he was wearing a Tim Duncan jersey by complete coincidence.

Now, they may have already planned on going to the lake as a staff and simply decided to do this while they were there. But they most definitely wanted to recreate the video for Ngongba. It shows how much attention to detail Tang puts into some of his recruiting pitches.