Episode 78: The Oklahoman's Ryan Aber

Kansas State will try to continue its improbable two-game winning streak in Norman Saturday morning, so The Oklahoman’s Ryan Aber graciously joined Bracket Cat and I to discuss the matchup in this week’s podcast. He gave us an honest assessment of all the concerns with this year’s OU team and why it almost certainly already missed its chance to live up to expectations, from an injury-depleted defense and offensive line to a lack of firepower needed to make up for all the great players lost season.

Make no mistake, though, these Sooners are still very good, and Ryan believes they could keep getting better with playmakers like tailback Samaje Perine and Dede Westbrook returning to full health. Looking even further into the future, Ryan thinks OU could be poised for a resurgence thanks to some strong recruiting classes, and we even talked a little about expansion.

So have a listen, and don’t forget you can check out Ryan’s work at The Oklahoman’s website and follow him on Twitter at @ryaber.

Episode 77: Seth Jungman of Staking the Plains

We brought back Derek Smith and turned to the founder of Texas Tech blog Staking the Plains to try and learn more about why the Red Raiders consistently undermine one of the nation’s best offenses with one of its worst defenses. This year is certainly no different, and Seth offers some reasonable theories for the conundrum, but there are no easy solutions. He’s also worried the offense could take a step back without quarterback Pat Mahomes, who looks like a long shot at best to play on Saturday in Manhattan.

Despite the annual frustrations, Seth tells us why Kliff Kingsbury deserves some more time and doesn’t really fit the perception of hip, young coach bursting with swag. It’s not as if he’s on the verge of a breakthrough in his fourth season, but there’s still some evidence to believe it could happen eventually in Lubbock.

Finally, we made some predictions. They were not made with a lot of confidence. Don’t forget to check out Seth’s work at Staking the Plains, as well as this fantastic game poster one of his friends made for the site. You can also follow him on Twitter at @SethC_J.

Episode 76: The Smoking Musket's David Smith

We also talked a little about Holgo’s future and those of you who have listened to our podcasts with David before won’t be surprised to learn we got a bit off topic at times. Other subjects included David’s hatred of all things Virginia Tech, wondering what the hell Baylor is thinking, Bruce Weber, and even a brief mention of hockey. David also promised moonshine to any K-State fans brave enough to visit The Smoking Musket tailgate this Saturday (I can recommend this from experience) so if you want to take him up on that offer, just let us know in the comments. Don’t forget to check out the work of David and others, including their podcast, over at The Smoking Musket. You can also follow them on Twitter at @SmokingMusket or follow David at @smithfire13.