Sunflower Showdown Preview
Posted on 13. Feb, 2009 by Corey in NCAA Basketball.
Cover of the Kansas State Student Newspaper
Bramlage Coliseum and Allen Fieldhouse are separated by only 88 miles on Interstate-70, but yet Kansas State University and Kansas University fans can be heard yelling at each other loud and clear. With 53.6 seconds remaining in KSU’s Wednesday night win against Texas Tech, the student section broke into a “Beat KU,†chant, a chant that has not stopped since. On Saturday afternoon at 2:30 Central Time the Wildcats and the Jayhawks will take the floor for the second time this season, and 266th overall, 115th in Manhattan, in the storied history.
Last season Kansas State broke a 24-game win streak by the Kansas in Manhattan, defeating the Jayhawks 84-75. The Wildcats will look to make it two in a row by handing Kansas their second conference loss in a row.
At 7:00 AM Friday Morning students who held a ticket for the game were asked to come to Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium to attend the student raffle, where numbers were selected to correspond with where students were allowed to stand in line for entrance to the arena. All student tickets are general admission, so it is first come first serve when the doors open. Watching the KSU student’s race down the bleachers to secure a spot for the game is an event to see in itself. Head Basketball Coach Frank Martin kicked off the festivities by drawing the first 50 numbers randomly from a hat. Throughout the day Wildcat players and coaches delivered coffee, donuts, and pizza to the students waiting in line.
The University has set up a special page on their athletic website to give students information about the lottery and the camping out process for the game.
There may be spring weather across the state of Kansas, but on Saturday afternoon there will be a blizzard in Bramlage. The Kansas State Athletic Department has asked fans to please wear white to the game. The KSU Foundation will be selling “K-State Proud†t-shirts to help raise money for the students and is encouraging everyone to wear them to the game. You can order yours online today.
A Kansas Jayhawk billboard on Interstate-70 near Paxico, Kansas also fell victim to the instate rivalry. In purple paint, the letters “EMAW†have been placed on top of the Rock Chalk sign. “EMAW†stands for “Every Man a Wildcat,†a traditional saying around the Manhattan Campus.
There are many great NCAA College Basketball Rivalries across the country. Duke-North Carolina, Cincinnati-Xavier, The Big 5 in Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Saint Joseph’s University, Villanova University, and La Salle University), and Pittsburgh-West Virginia are a few of the best. But there is no doubt that Kansas State-Kansas rank up there with any of those. This is one game that you should not miss.
