Episode 85: Frogs O'War's Melissa Triebwasser

Our friend from TCU joins the podcast to discuss Saturday’s game and the similarities between the programs and coaches.

Episode 84: KMAN's John Kurtz

John Kurtz, the sports director at KMAN, generously took some time out of his busy schedule to tell Derek and I if we should be extra-worried about Kansas on Saturday (LOL) before discussing whether we can learn anything from K-State basketball's first three games.

Episode 83: Matthew Tennant of Our Daily Bears

Along with an analysis of Saturday's game, we delved deep into all the issues going on at Baylor after their appalling offseason scandal.

Episode 82: Joel Jellison

The football team’s getting a much-needed Saturday off, so Manhattan Mercury beat writer Joel Jellison joined us to talk basketball. He gave us a few reasons why K-State could beat the Big 12 coaches’ projection of 9th place, but also acknowledged that could be about right. Freshman Xavier Sneed and Isaiah Maurice could contribute right away, plus D.J. Johnson should be more helpful now that he’s back to 100%.

Of course, Kamau Stokes, Barry Brown and Dean Wade all bring back significant questions, and the biggest concern of all might be the man on the bench. We talked about Bruce’s future, notably what he needs to do to keep his job at Kansas State. He might want to learn a few things about recruiting from women’s basketball coach Jeff Mittie, who keeps luring top players to Manhattan. Listen to the end and you’ll hear Joel’s quick preview of Mittie’s team this season. Spoiler Alert: They should be good.

Be sure to read Joel’s work at The Mercury’s website and follow him on Twitter at Joel_Jellison.

Episode 81: Kyle Boone of Pistols Firing Blog

Yes, it’s true. Luke is gone this week. But I (clumsily) took over podcast hosting duties for the week and had fun talking with Kyle Boone about the Mason Rudolph to James Washington connection, Cowboy true-freshman phenom Justice Hill, Oklahoma State’s sneaky-good defense and special teams, the new 1945 National Champions and of course, Mike Gundy’s mullet and why he decided to rename the tight end position.

Kyle was a great guest, and if you enjoyed him here, you can catch him on Twitter @k_boonie or @TheOkiePokie or see any of his fine work over at Pistols Firing.

Episode 80: CyHawk

It must take a good sense of humor to be an Iowa State fan, or maybe it’s just a requirement to write for Wide Right Natty Lite. Seriously, check out their story on Bill Snyder’s quest to become the first person alive for all three Cubs World Series titles. Either way, Bracket and I were happy to welcome CyHawk to the podcast to help us break down the Cyclones heading into Saturday’s game.

Of course, we also assessed the early work and future prospects of first-year coach Matt Campbell, who will try to break the odd spell Bill Snyder seems to have put on ISU to let them get so close and yet so far from winning each and every year. Finally, we gave the two schools some great ideas for the trophy Farmageddon so richly deserves.

Be sure to check out the work of CyHawk and others at WRNL and you can follow him on Twitter at @CyHawkWRNL.

Episode 79: Ian Boyd

Excellent college football writer and Longhorns analyst Ian Boyd joined the podcast, and he told Derek and I why Kansas State's rushing game could be in for a big day on Saturday. But he's also expecting the Texas offense to do well with freshman quarterback Shane Buechele and its powerful running backs, led by D'Onta Foreman. Clearly, Jesse Ertz's status should play a huge factor.

Of course, we also took some time to talk about Charlie Strong, why he hasn't found more success, and his future with the program. It's safe to say Ian isn't particularly impressed, but he also acknowledged some of the unique difficulties for any coach at the University of Texas.

Be sure to check out Ian's work at SB Nation, Football Outsiders and Inside Texas, where he'll have a free game preview you'll want to read up later this week. You can also follow Ian on Twitter at @Ian_A_Boyd.