Episode 30: "Derek Smith's final Podcast" with special guest Luke Thompson

It's a bittersweet time for Bring on the Cats with Derek Smith moving on to a full-time sportswriting position in Junction City as the site continues to grow and expand, due in no small part to his hard work and irreplaceable contributions. But we've also got a long list of up-and-coming young writers eager to provide you with the best Kansas State coverage possible. We discuss all of that and more — we still can't tell you some of our most exciting news just yet — with Luke Thompson, the newest reporter for Fox Sports Midwest.

Luke grew up in Kansas as a huge fan of the Wildcats and figured he'd follow the rest of his family to Kansas State until the chance to go to one of the nation's best journalism schools at Mizzou became too good to pass up. It worked out well for him and his career, from an internship at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch until now, but you'll want to hear how he's kept his passion for Kansas State athletics alive and well.

If you're interested in coverage of the Rams, Blues and Mizzou, be sure to follow Luke on Twitter and read his work on Fox Sports Midwest's website. More importantly, everyone should subscribe to the Junction City Daily Union for just $5/month to read Derek's coverage of Kansas State and other area sports.

Episode 29: "Bringing back the unholy alliance" with Bill Connelly

SB Nation College Football Study Hall's Bill Connelly (perhaps better known as simply "Bill C) has had a bit of a rocky relationship with some K-State fans since his statistical analysis claimed Kansas State "got lucky" in 2011. But did you know the models say the 'Cats were just about equally unlucky in 2013? This is part of the reason Bill tells Derek and Ahearn Alley K-State could easily be a 9-3 team in this week's podcast.

We also talk about the value of Kansas State bringing back solid returners in nearly every position group, and why Bill believes replacing John Hubert shouldn't really be a big concern. The same goes for Ty Zimmerman defensively — now that the 'Cats have some nine months to prepare for his absence.

Finally, we had to ask Bill how he felt about DGB potentially getting to play at Oklahoma this year, and why the Sooners should probably be Big 12 favorites regardless.

I'd highly recommend reading Bill's big preview of Kansas State before listening if for some reason you haven't already, and you can check out all of his other great work on the Study Hall site. If you're not following SBN_BillC, you're not doing college football Twitter right, and for even more of his outstanding analysis you can check out his books.