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Winners and Losers: Nobody hotter than Kansas State SS Maximus Martin

On3 imageby:Derek Young•about 9 hours•

DerekYoungKSO

Maximus Martin 2025
Maximus Martin/Kansas State Athletics

KSO covers the biggest winners and losers in the world of Kansas State and college athletics.

Winners

1.) Maximus: Five home runs and 12 RBIs in one weekend? Yes, that will play for Kansas State shortstop Maximus Martin. Is it a hot streak or is he the next big star in Manhattan?
2.) Moment: Unfortunately, the parents of David N’Guessan couldn’t make it from the Netherlands to the United States in time for Senior Day in Manhattan. Instead, he was walked out by all of his K-State teammates in what was a very cool moment that brought a tear to his eye.
3.) SEC: There won’t be a conference sending more teams to the NCAA Tournament this year than the SEC. Heck, it probably won’t be close. In what has been a sport dominated by the Big 12 for several consecutive seasons, it was not that this year. They didn’t take a giant step back, but they didn’t stand as tall this year.
4.) Business: My question for the Kansas State baseball team after admirable stretches against the tougher parts of the schedule was whether or not they’d return home and take care of business against the lesser opponents on the schedule. They did just that with a dominant sweep of William & Mary over the weekend.
5.) Drake: An outright Missouri Valley regular season title followed by the tournament crown. It was a sensational season for first year head coach Ben McCollum and Drake. Did they happen to upgrade over Darian DeVries once he left for West Virginia? I wouldn’t want to play the Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament.

Losers

1.) Nebrasketball: The streak of not winning an NCAA Tournament game ever will likely continue in Lincoln. Nebraska couldn’t even clinch a spot in the Big Ten Tournament.
2.) Collapse: We went from thinking the K-State women’s basketball team could win the Big 12 to them potentially not even hosting. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament to West Virginia, and that was on the heels of losing three of their final regular season games.
3.) ACC: Not only is the end near for the ACC as we know it after the settlement agreement that will help Clemson, Miami, North Carolina and Florida State exit in a handful of years, they only have three locks for the NCAA Tournament in Duke, Clemson and Louisville. The others – the Tar Heels, Wake Forest and SMU – will be holding their breath on Selection Sunday.
4.) Senior Day: Getting blown out always sucks, but Kansas State head coach Jerome Tang made sure to stress how bad it does when it’s Senior Day.
5.) Indiana: Who will be the coach for Indiana next season? They still don’t know, but Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68 recently reported they were told no by all of Brad Stevens, Scott Drew and Dusty May. So, they’re moving down the list pretty quickly, and the belief is that they will not choose Chris Beard. Heck, they may make the NCAA Tournament now and outgoing coach Mike Woodson joked that he’s leaving too soon.

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