Omaha Blog: Loose Kansas State Ready For Action

March 21, 2008

by Bryan Holmgren

Round Two of my Round Two previews: Kansas State and Wisconsin. Apologies to George Mason, but are the Cats the best 11-seed ever? Time will tell. Perhaps tomorrow. More bloggings from the Omaha...

My basic rule of thumb when it comes to picking NCAA tournament teams - pick like a girl (no offense ladies). I've won countless pools (three) in my life by suspending what sports knowledge I have (not much) and sticking to three simples laws:

(1) I never pick any team that I actually like. For example, I've never once selected KU as my national champion. It's never once come back to haunt me. I've never picked K-State, either. Mostly because it's been a while since I last had the chance. Point being, if the Hawks, Cats, Shockers, etc win and it messes up my bracket, I don't care. If my team loses... well, at least I still have some consolation. It's win-win (or lose-lose... hmmm).
(2) I try to pick at least one somewhat significant upset per region early, but by the time the elite eight roles around, my bracket is safer than Virginia Beach. There's a reason the top seeds are seeded higher - they have a better chance of winning, which gives me a better chance of doing likewise (and you wonder why a majority of the people out there end up out-smarting themselves?).
(3) When in doubt I pick against the Big 10 team.

It's not that I don't respect the Big 10. They've had a national finalist in two of the last three years and are usually a pretty decent bet to land at least one in the Final Four. But for some reason the stumbles seem to outweigh the triumphs in my mind. Last year #2 Wisconsin loses to UNLV in the second round. The year before #2 Ohio State takes an 18-point beating at the hands of 7^th seeded Georgetown... also in the second round. This has all the makings of a curse. Or at least K-State hopes it is. Which makes for a nice segue into our K-State/Wisconsin preview.

The Kansas State Wildcats are loose. We can only assume after last night's dismantling of USC that they've regained some confidence. This is a group playing with the house's money, and they're wasting little opportunity to have fun, even in what is and will only increasingly become an uptight set of surroundings. The players spent much of the interview session today joking around and laughing. That's nothing new with this team, really. A few of the guys had a contest to see who could draw the best portrait of Jacob Pullen on the wipe-off board in their lockerroom. Andre Gilbert took an opportunity to make fun of the KWCH sports microphone, calling it the oldest he'd ever seen. "It looks like a musket."

*** Brief aside - Clearly he does not know the proud history of our microphone. Many of you may have noticed that the mic we use in our field reports has been in an increasingly spartan state of disrepair over the last couple of months. The Eyewitness Sports team, on average, finds a way to break a mic flag (those big plastic things with our logo on it) at least once every two or three months. The latest came on our Orange Bowl trip to Miami when the airport baggage crew snapped the thing into pieces somewhere in transit. Our management, which had perhaps grown tired of shelling out for new flags, decided to let us continue with it as is. A couple of the side panels fell off over the next few days, meaning we had to make a special effort to keep the lone remaining panel facing the camera. Finally the thing bit the dust entirely, leaving only the microphone itself. Make fun of it all you want Andre Gilbert. This brave microphone has been through many a war. Management - If you're reading this - we really could use a new mic flag for the musket.

*** Back to the breakdown. Two possibilities: K-State will stay loose, avoid the pressure and knock off Wisconsin tomorrow. Because they don't know any better. Or K-State will be too loose, fall back into old habits, and bow out in the Round of 32. That's why this tournament is fun.

*** One more story about our microphone- Yesterday during KU's post-game interview session, Brandon Rush snuck up behind Richard Smith, stole the microphone, and proceeded to stick it in Sherron Collins face. Collins, who was focused in on whatever question he was answering, didn't even notice. So Rush began softly jabbing Sherron in the chin. Without looking up, Collins pushed the thing away and continued talking. Rush, undeterred, moved it right back up there. He probably would have beaten Collins over the head with it, had Sherron not finally taken notice.

NOTES:

*Wisconsin players were asked how to stop Michael Beasley. They seemed more than a little amused at the question.

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