Winners and Losers: Three ranked wins for Kansas State
KSO covers the biggest winners and losers in the world of Kansas State and college athletics.
Winners
1.) Nae’Qwan: Welcome to the NBA, Nae’Qwan Tomlin. The former Kansas State and Memphis forward is now a Cleveland Cavalier for at least 10 days.
2.) Titles: Not league titles. Not national titles. Coaching titles! K-State now has an associate head coach (Matt Wells), an assistant head coach (Van Malone) and a special assistant to the head coach (Nate Kaczor).
3.) State of Utah: We’re a little late to the party, but congratulations to the state of Utah. Some other results have rolled in since but both the Utah Utes and BYU Cougars were 2-0 against the Kansas State Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks after hosting both programs not long ago.
4.) Pitching: Five runs in three days. Pete Hughes and K-State will take that. The Wildcats received a terrific pitching effort in sweeping three ranked teams in a row – Arkansas, Michigan and TCU.
5.) Houston: For the second consecutive season, Kelvin Sampson and Houston have clinched at least a share of the Big 12 championship. And soon it will likely be outright.
Sources: Boise State will replace UNLV in the 2025 Maui Invitational.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) February 20, 2025
Rest of field includes:
Arizona State
Washington State
NC State
Seton Hall
Texas
USC
Chaminade
Losers
1.) Craig Smith: Speaking of the state of Utah, the Utes fired their coach Craig Smith not longer after wins over Kansas and Kansas State. Odd, but maybe a product of being the inferior product in the state thanks to BYU and Utah State (his former employer).
2.) Jayhawks: First, it was Bill Self saying the players and coaches needed to get away from each other. Then it was more losses and falling out of the Top 25. The Jayhawks have since won twice (albeit against Oklahoma State and Colorado), but it doesn’t feel like the invincible program of the past.
3.) Tournament chances: There was a glimmer of hope once K-State rattled off six wins in a row. Forget about it now after three more losses. It doesn’t help that Coleman Hawkins was so banged up that he was not as effective as desired and then had to miss the Arizona State game.
4.) Maui Invitational: Look at the field above for next season’s Maui Invitational. It’s brutal compared to past seasons. The best programs are Arizona State, NC State, Texas and USC? Ouch. NIL is even hurting the Thanksgiving tournaments that aren’t giving cash to the players like the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.
5.) Spring Games: A thing of the past? Seems like it. Maybe Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman was just ahead of the time. More programs are ending the tradition, including Texas, Nebraska, NC State, USC, Missouri, Ohio State, Ole Miss, Iowa, Arizona and Florida State. BYU, Minnesota and TCU ended it a season ago. Too many injuries and more exposure for guys to possibly enter the transfer portal. Want somewhat of a fix? Get rid of the stupid spring portal window.
