Episode 11: Nicole Auerbach of USA Today

Bring on the Podcast is back for the final episode of 2013, featuring esteemed USA Today college basketball reporter Nicole Auerbach. She gives us her thoughts on just how good the Big 12 is this season, some reasons to believe in the potential of this K-State team, and tells us why draft prospects like KU's Andrew Wiggins and Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart shouldn't be the league's only national storylines. We couldn't agree more.

We began, though, with some discussion on the Buffalo Wild Wings bowl, since Nicole graduated from the University of Michigan. Don't worry, after covering the team during the Rich Rod era, she definitely wasn't one of the delusional ones.

Episode 10: David Ubben previews the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl

Another bowl season is upon us, so we brought back our favorite Big 12 blogger, Fox Sports Southwest's David Ubben, to talk about K-State's matchup with Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. Other subjects include an appetizing Cotton Bowl, the absurdity of the Heisman, and why you won't be able to get away from Ubben this basketball season.

As always, Derek Smith joined me, Ahearn Alley, for a long overdue Bring on the Podcast. If you want more and aren't familiar with our archive, past podcasts can be found on iTunes as well as here in the hub on the website. Enjoy listening, and stay tuned for another exciting national guest coming on to talk Big 12 basketball before conference play starts Jan. 4.

Episode 9: Joel Jellison of the Manhattan Mercury

The Manhattan Mercury's main basketball beat writer joins us to take an in-depth look at what to expect from the 'Cats on the hardwood this season, starting with Friday's game against Northern Colorado.

Of course we can't completely ignore that Kansas State football has won two games in a row and may be playing as well as we've seen all season. But that was just a small portion of this week's Bring on the Cats podcast.

Instead, Derek and I talked mostly basketball with Manhattan Mercury writer Joel Jellison, who told us what kind of results to expect and gave us some solid breakdowns of the new faces, as well as the returners. We even looked into the future a little and got some thoughts on the transfers already in Manhattan as well as a couple early commits.

Episode 8: KnowDan of Wide Right Natty Lite

Farmageddon looms just three days away, so naturally we invited our friends at the great Iowa State blog Wide Right Natty Lite to join us for this week's podcast. They sent over KnowDan, who spoke with us about Saturday's game, the state of ISU's season, the chances of Baylor running the table all the way to the national title game, and what an ideal Farmageddon trophy would look like. Enjoy!

Episode 7: WVUIE97 of the Smoking Musket

As some of you may recall, I was fortunate enough to go up to Morgantown for last year's Kansas State game, where I was invited to an excellent West Virginia pregame tailgate by some of the good folks at The Smoking Musket. One of them was the blog's manager, WVUIE97 or Mark in real life, and since West Virginia is visiting Manhattan this weekend, it seemed like a good time to catch up.

Regrettably, neither Mark nor any of his fellow bloggers are making the (admittedly quite long) trip, though of course I won't be there either. But along with fellow podcast regular Derek Smith, we had what I hope you will find to be an enlightening discussion on West Virginia's individual and team abilities, many of which seem to vary considerably from week to week.

We also spent some time talking about the ridiculous schedule WVU has faced and how they're feeling about life in the Big 12 in their second season. In case you were wondering, Derek and I were invited to The Smoking Musket's podcast, but sadly were unable to participate.

Episode 6: Peter Pope of Our Daily Bears

This week on the podcast, Derek and I welcomed pbpope of Our Daily Bears, who told us all about just how scary good Baylor's offense is, why he didn't expect a big dropoff after RGIII, and who might stop the Bears from winning the Big 12 (HINT: Not K-State). We also discussed Saturday's game and the ways in which the 'Cats might give themselves a chance, or at least not get completely embarrassed.

Be sure to check out the newest Our Daily Podcast — featuring a segment with Derek and Ahearn Alley — later this week. We'll be off next week for the bye, but expect more podcasting in two weeks prior to the West Virginia game. Enjoy!

Episode 5: Josh Kinder of the Manhattan Mercury

On this edition of the Bring on the Cats podcast, Manhattan Mercury sports editor and Friend of BOTC Josh Kinder assures us we aren't the only ones with some serious concerns about Kansas State's woes this season. We took the purple glasses off for this one, but there is some good news: The rest of the Big 12 doesn't appear to be that good, either.

Episode 4: David Ubben of Fox Sports Southwest

Big 12 savant and Friend of BOTC David Ubben of Fox Sports Southwest joined Derek Smith, Jon Morse and myself for a podcast prior to Kansas State Big 12 opener at Texas this Saturday. He answered some questions about the key storylines (note since this was recorded Tuesday Mack Brown had not yet made it official Tyrone Swoopes would be playing) and what to expect, as well as some thoughts on the Texas coaching situation.

We also discussed the Big 12 as a whole and learned why Ubben has given up trying to get his name pronounced right on the weekly Big 12 coaches teleconference. If you get bored or are short on time, be sure to skip ahead to the final 45 seconds to hear Ubben's prediction for the game. I think you'll like it.