K-State Q&A: Avery Johnson and the ideal Big 12 plan for more conference realignment
I was planning on writing a short-and-sweet mailbag this week. My plan was to touch on a few pertinent Kansas State topics, such as Chris Klieman’s recruiting hot streak and Avery Johnson’s upcoming college announcement. Then I was going to kick start my Independence Day weekend by watching Will Smith save the world from aliens.
But then college realignment happened ... again.
Another summer, another power conference in panic mode. This time, folks in Big 12 country are watching from afar as the few fans who care about Pac-12 sports squirm while UCLA and USC are reportedly leaving for the Big Ten.
My first thought: This is a golden opportunity for the Big 12 to be an aggressor. For years, many a sportswriter (including yours truly) has opined about how great it would be if the conference could poach Arizona and Arizona State or maybe Colorado and Oregon or possibly Washington and Utah. If an uneasy partnership like that was ever going to happen, now is most definitely the time.
The Big 12 will soon look to sign a new lucrative TV rights deal, and their value will surely rise if the conference can add some of the Pac-12’s top remaining members.
Personally, I would love it if the Big 12 could find a way to add Colorado (Boulder is awesome), Arizona (warm weather and good basketball), Arizona State (Phoenix and decent football) and Utah (travel companion for BYU).
New commissioner Brett Yormark has got to at least try to make something like that happen.
My second thought: I hate this. We’re about to have two Los Angeles schools competing in the same conference as Rutgers and Maryland. What was wrong with the old Big Eight and Southwest Conference maps? I liked it when you could drive to every school in the league and there were real rivalries.
My third thought: It always stinks when schools have to explain why they deserve a seat at the P5 table, even if those schools are now Oregon State and Washington State.
My fourth thought: The Big Ten probably isn’t done expanding. The SEC could look to add more schools, too. Oregon and Washington will look for the same lifeboat as the LA schools. Who knows? Maybe that rumor about KU and the Big Ten will finally come true. In any case, the next wave of conference realignment will likely be made by (once again) the Big Ten.
My fifth thought: How silly was The Alliance between the ACC, Big Ten and the Pac-12? It seemed like a total nothing burger when it was announced last summer. Now it has been exposed as a complete joke.
My sixth thought: I don’t actually have anything else I want to write about this topic today. I was just in a zone there. Let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
My guess is K-State recruiting fans will get to see fireworks on July 1, July 4 and July 5, with the biggest bang of all coming last.
I hate to make predictions on this kind of stuff. If having four kids has taught me anything, it’s that youngsters (as Bill Snyder used to call them) can change their opinions on a whim for no apparent reason. The last thing I want to do is try to project where a teenage athlete I hardly know wants to play college football.
That being said, I am extremely confident that Johnson will become the first top-rated recruited in the Sunflower State to commit to the Wildcats since 2004.
It’s starting to look like a lock.
Washington landed a 2023 quarterback on Wednesday. The Huskies were a long shot to sign Johnson in the first place, but they can now be more or less crossed off the list. Oregon seems to be pushing hard for five-star quarterback Dante Moore and several recruiting experts think he will end up signing with the Ducks. As long as he remains in play, the timing doesn’t seem right for Johnson and Oregon.
That leaves K-State as the most realistic choice. By far.
Also: Dylan Edwards, who has been friends with Johnson “since we were playing in the sandbox,” recently committed to K-State and has been pushing his cross-town pal to do the same.
I think they’re both going to be Wildcats.
All signs also point to Donovan McIntosh, a 6-foot-3 and 170-pound defensive back from St. Louis, picking K-State over KU, Memphis and Nebraska on Friday. Not long afterward, don’t be surprised if Joe Jackson, a 6-foot and 180-pound running back from Davenport, Florida chooses K-State over Duke, Rutgers and others on July 4.
It could be a fun weekend for both fireworks and recruiting.
My heart says:
1. Avery Johnson
2. Will Howard
3. Jake Rubley
My mind says:
1. Will Howard
2. Jake Rubley
3. Avery Johnson
It’s possible Adryan Lara and Jaren Lewis could also factor into the equation, but I’m not going to hold my breath on them. It’s also possible Johnson picks Oregon instead of K-State, but I think it’s clear he wants to be a Wildcat.
I think this question comes down to three factors.
1. Is Howard capable of making a big leap as an upperclassman?
He has been underwhelming as a starter thus far, but he is also very young. Collin Klein was far from impressive as a sophomore but evolved into a Heisman finalist as a senior. It’s too early for me to give up on Howard, as he will have a major experience advantage in 2023.
2. Can Rubley live up to his recruiting hype? He hasn’t been able to rise above third string since he joined the Wildcats, but there’s a reason why LSU and so many other schools wanted him coming out of high school. Maybe he will be the guy if he hits his stride.
3. Will Johnson be ready immediately? He’s got all the talent in the world, but it’s rare for a freshman to start at the Big 12 level when they’re less than a year removed from senior prom.
No matter how it shakes out, I suppose it’s a good thing for K-State that it will have quality choices at quarterback.
Brett Yormark is really more of a fish sandwich. Or maybe a spicy chicken sandwich with pickles and special sauce. Or maybe he’s even one of those impossible burgers with no meat.
I say that, because he is not a traditional hire.
Yormark has very little experience in college athletics, which makes him very different from what the Big 12 has grown accustomed to during the Bob Bowlsby era.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It’s too early to tell.
But I do like the bold and creative message that the hire sends to the rest of college athletics. The Big 12 is ready to think outside the box in a time of change.
The Big 12 needs someone who can navigate conference realignment (again) and negotiate a lucrative TV rights package that will keep the conference on the same financial footing as the ACC and the Pac-12 without Oklahoma and Texas. Sadly, there will be no staying within shouting distance of the Big Ten and the SEC.
Can Yormark pull off such a deal? The CEO of Fox Sports shared a glowing statement about him when the Big 12 officially announced the hire. That’s encouraging. Yormark once helped negotiate a TV deal for NASCAR. He used to run the Barclays Center and he is coming from Jay-Z’s ROC Nation. He’s the cool alternative to a traditional college insider.
Maybe he can poach some of the best remaining Pac-12 schools and solidify the Big 12 as the nation’s No. 3 conference.
I’m really not sure how it will work out, but it’s a move that is probably worth the gamble. Just like straying away from a traditional burger at a restaurant.
K-State views this as an either/or issue.
It will allow fans to purchase alcohol throughout the stadium and drink their expensive beverages while watching games from their seats with a strict no re-entry policy ... or ... it will limit alcohol sales to certain areas of the stadium while allowing fans to come and go freely to drink beers in the parking lot.
I don’t have a good explanation as to why the Wildcats have drawn that line in the sand. But that is their mindset.
Personally, I think it is a big mistake not selling $8 beers throughout the stadium. Fans like to drink beer while they watch football. Why not provide it to them and make oodles of money?
Some will say alcohol sales have no place in college sports, but there haven’t been any problems with them at basketball games inside Bramlage Coliseum.
I went to a Royals game earlier this month, shelled out $25 for two drinks (one for me and for my wife) and I had no desire to continue drinking at that price. Intoxication seems like less of a problem when teams sell booze rather than limit it.
Alas, K-State fans have convinced AD Gene Taylor that they prefer to drink their beers in the parking lot. So that’s the policy.
I’m all for celebrating July 4 on the first Friday of the month instead of whatever random day of the week our Independence Day falls on.
July 4 is my favorite holiday of the year. I enjoy drinking tasty beverages, smoking red meat, swimming and launching fireworks into the sky.
Manhattan is a great place to watch fireworks, by the way.
Nothing is going to stop me from partaking, but it’s disappointing when July 4 comes on a Tuesday and you’re expected to work the following day. It’s kind of like the day after the Super Bowl.
If we always celebrated Independence Day on a Friday, we are ensured a long weekend and we can spend Saturday and Sunday watching The Sandlot or the Independence Day movies.
This weekend I will be mixing things up a bit. I’m heading to Austin, Texas to spend some time with my parents and hang out with high school friends.
It should be a good time, so long as my kids don’t drive me crazy on the drive.