Bruce Weber said that the first time K-State played KU on the court, they didn't play with enough emotion. Weber said he didn't put enough stock into getting the guys mentally ready for a rivalry game, much like that of the Sunflower Showdown and that had a lot to do with their performance. Second time around, too much emotion and they were drained playing in Allen Fieldhouse.
Hopefully, third time is a charm for the Wildcats because this game Saturday carries a Big 12 trophy with it. A win over KU at the Sprint Center for the Big 12 title will decide, once and for all this season, who is the champion of the Big 12. No more sharing, that's so regular season. If K-State wins Saturday night, it will be the first time since 1993 that K-State lost both regular season games to KU but then won a title game.
Angel Rodriguez has mentioned the word "revenge" several times this week. He said it getting ready for Oklahoma State, he said it after they beat the Cowboys and then he referrenced it getting set for KU. The K-State players know that KU gets a lot of attention and by proxy, sometimes they don't get enough, despite an equally high national ranking and win/loss record. It is the double standard of playing basketball down I-70 from Lawrence.
The players from K-State and KU, to me, are interchangeable. What I mean by that is Elijah Johnson would make a great point guard for K-State and Rodney McGruder would be an amazing shooting guard for KU. Could you imagine both Ben McLemore and McGruder on the court together in the same uniform or better yet, could have imagined if Thomas Robinson got to mentor Thomas Gipson? Imagine the player Big Gip would be in his sophomore year?
This is the title game everyone was looking for, top seed vs. second seed, KU vs. K-State, and it will all go down in Missouri.... I wonder if that notion will hit the Big 12 officials. Missouri is no longer in the conference and yet we are settling the conference title in the state where no members reside. The Sprint Center will be the host of the tournament thru 2016, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said this week. But I'm not so sure they aren't shopping new sites since Mizzou is gonzo.
I think Wichita would be a good spot for it, and it would help the city grow, knowing that the tournament was going to be around for a while. If it moves from the Sprint Center, it's going back to Oklahoma City. The Bricktown area can support all the fans and there are a ton of hotels there. But Wichita would grow with the tournament and it would help put Wichita even further on the map. Oh, and it's in Kansas, where there are two teams playing in the Championship game Saturday night.
