My countdown to the NCAA Tournament has begun, baby. We're T-minus 300 days and counting until the 68 teams are announced for the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The Road to the Final Four culminates on April 4, 2011 in Reliant Stadium in Houston.One of the 68 teams should be the K-State Wildcats, who I think have an excellent shot at de-throning Kansas for supremacy in the Big XII. I'm on record now that K-State WILL win the Big XII in 10-11!Two pre-season polls -- CBS and Fox Sports -- have the Cats No. 5 in their polls. Perhaps a little high in my books as if I had a say, I'd pencil them in around the 8 or 9 slot.Main Man Matt can talk all he wants about KU's tradition, best venue in college basketball, best coach. AFH is great and Bill Self is a dandy, but the Little Apple boasts some excitement now as well.2010-11 is the year of the Cat, baby. With 76 percent of their scoring back, the Cats look to better what was a record-setting 29-win season in 09-10 which ended with the Elite Eight loss in the West Regionals.Abe Lincoln look-alike Jacob Pullen brings his 19.3 points per game back for his senior season. Curtis Kelly and Jamar Samuels combined for 22 points ppg. And if Wally Judge continues to improve inside as he did toward the end of the year, wow how good is that?It will be tough to replace the shoes of Denis Clemente, whose give-it-all attitude helped carry the Cats in the 2OT thriller over Xavier in the Sweet Sixteen. Luis Colon...gone but in steps Freddy Asprilla, who hopefully matured some this year at Cloud County CC.The Bram is no longer called Bramlage Mausoleum. Purple passion is back as evidenced by the nation's largest average attendance increase among Division I teams in 09-10. They flocked to the Bram in numbers not seen since the building opened 22 years ago. An early January game this year against North Dakota was at high noon on a Sunday. Students were on break, high noon? Hello, the church crowd hasn't gotten home yet! And they still sold out and every seat had a fanny in it!They're winning away from home, too. Frank Martin's Cats were 15-5 in away/neutral site games this past year. In years past, that record would have been reversed.The Cats will be tested in their schedule. Their conference road swing among Southern schools include A&M, Texas (oh wait a minute, K-State owns UT don't they?) and Oklahoma State. The positive is Baylor plays at Manhattan this year.Add that to a non-conference slate that includes Duke at the Sprint Center, Florida on a neutral court in the Sunshine State and a return trip to Washington State and the Cats will be tested early and often.Talk all you want about the Frank Martin Stare! Hey, this is what the Cats have needed. The Hawks have had their way with K-State winning, I don't know, 400 of the last 405 or some ridiculous figure, in this series.Mental toughness is what K-State's needed. Martin's brought that to Manhattan. Just remember, Jack Hartman was known for some pretty vicious looks in his day 20-30 years ago. All he did, baby, was win!Should be a fun year for hoops in these parts. Every Man a Wildcat, baby!
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