Happy Birthday, Sunflower State!
Make that, Happy 150th! And I bet I know how you're going to celebrate! Yep, I heard there was going to be a party Saturday night. Last I heard only 16,300 invitations were mailed. Unfortunately, the guest list only includes the fans of the Crimson and Blue.
But it is fitting that Kansas and Kansas State renew its storied basketball rivalry in the building that has seen many classic battles in its seven decades of housing Jayhawk basketball. Allen Fieldhouse will be the site of Saturday's 6 p.m. matchup that has lost some of its luster since K-State is off to a 2-4 start in Big XII Conference play. Yet when two rivals square off, you never know what will materialize.
My first KU-KSU memory was staged in the Phog. Ed Nealy, a protege Jack Hartman-type player from Bonner Springs, calmly stepped to the free-throw line with one second left and KU leading K-State by a point. With arms waving behind the basket, Nealy ripped the cords on both charity tosses to send the Wildcats home with a victory.
Tomorrow's game probably won't be decided with one second left. In fact, I've already paid off a bet to a KU buddy of mine. I fully expect KU to win tomorrow and again in Manhattan on Valentine's Day. KU is the better team, although the gap is narrowing between the two programs. Hey, I remember a 90-45 shellacking in this series just a few years ago.
For the first time since 1991, the Sunflower Showdown will be played on Kansas Day. Add the Sesquicentennial to the mix as well as the ESPN College GameDay crew and you have yourself a Kansas-type party in the making.
"That was on purpose," Big XII senior associate commissioner Tim Allen told The Wichita Eagle on Friday. "Having the game that day for Kansas Day was a very natural, easy, yea-let's-do-that fit. Everyone was excited about it."
Allen should know. He grew up in Chanute and graduated from K-State before taking a job in the Big Eight Conference office when it was located in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
Allen was one of the Big XII officials who pushed for ESPN to send its GameDay show to take part in the Kansas Day festivities. GameDay's first segment is at 9 a.m. Central Saturday.
ESPN, according to The Wichita Eagle, informed the Big XII it wanted to broadcast two games in its marquee, primetime Saturday slot. ESPN said it wanted those games to take place in Lawrence and Waco.
When the league schedule was announced and Jan. 29 fell on a Saturday, the league recommended KU-KSU. ESPN gave its blessing for KU-KSU in addition to another primetime game tomorrow with Texas at Baylor.
Also, the KU-KSU women play at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bramlage Coliseum.
"When we found out the dates, we said this is the day we want," Allen told The Wichita Eagle, "because it means something special to the state. It was one of those things that was on our radar, and then it all fell into place."
ESPN director of programming and acquisitions Nick Dawson told The Wichita Eagle that ESPN tries its best to oblige requests from a conference like the Big XII.
"It may be hard to grab national viewers just because of something like that, but that was certainly a factor in why the Kansas-Kansas State game is on the date that it is," Dawson said.
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