Episode 24: Ian Boyd previews K-State's Spring Game

The spring game is nearly upon us, so Derek Smith is back on the podcast to join me and guest Ian Boyd, one of the many quality football writers you should check out on sbnation's main NCAA football page. He's very optimistic about the prospects of Daniel Sams at wide receiver, and perhaps even more so after seeing some practice clips Sams posted to his instagram account.

Ian says Jake Waters will likely still be called upon to run the ball a fair amount, and we also address the question of how capably DaMarcus Robinson might be able to fit in at running back for the 'Cats. Offensive line play may be improved but remains a question mark, and as usual, K-State's defense will rely on some unknown juco transfers. Luckily, as Ian points out, that's been a winning formula in the past.

We also took a look around the Big 12, from the Oklahoma and Texas spring games to the possibility of TCU and West Virginia stepping up as dark horses next fall. Be sure to give Ian a follow at @Ian_A_Boyd, and you can also see what he had to say about K-State's 2014 recruiting class at insidetexas.com.

Episode 23: Joel Jellison wraps up basketball

Kansas State men's basketball beat writer Joel Jellison of The Manhattan Mercury made his first appearance on the podcast back in November, when he warned of a possible loss to Northern Colorado and cautioned against setting expectations higher than a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 finish or NCAA tournament appearance. He also told us about a freshman named Marcus Foster who looked like he just might have the potential to be the top scorer for a offensively challenged team.

This week, Joel returned to evaluate those prescient predictions, as well as some other storylines from the season he didn't see coming. That included Jevon Thomas' struggles to become anything other than a liability on offense, and the impressive growth of D.J. Johnson as K-State generally covered up its weakness of not having enough size. Of course, we took a final look back at the careers of fiercely competitive seniors Will Spradling and Shane Southwell, plus the sometimes pleasant surprise of KU-killer Omari Lawrence.

Naturally, the future came up in our discussion as well, and Joel said the pieces seem to be there for significant improvement, even if it's not yet clear where they all fit. Stick around to the end to hear Joel's take on whether the BatCats will turn things around in time to save a frustrating season.

Be sure to follow Joel on Twitter at @Joel_Jellison and check out his full coverage, along with sports editor Josh Kinder, at The Mercury's website.