Ubben had a good question come up in the mailbag over at the Big XII Blog so I thought I would pass it along;
Matt in Austin, Texas, writes:Hey David, [insert generic compliment to increase chances of this getting posted]. What do you think about K-State's bowl prospects for next year?
David Ubben: [insert generic thanks for compliment after posting], Matt. Flattery aside, I don't feel great about K-State's chances. I'm not ruling them out, but without Daniel Thomas and adding a ninth conference game, it's going to be a tough road for the Wildcats. There's a lot of excitement about the Brown Brothers, but I'm going to wait until they show us something concrete on something other than a high school field before I start buying into the idea that they're going to carry Kansas State at all, much less carry them to a season better than last year.
You never know what you're going to get with juco players, so there's a lot of potential in a guy like Justin Tuggle who's played at this level before back at BC, but there are so many other teams in the Big 12 that are more established and set up for success next year than Kansas State. I think they'll be about the seventh or eighth team in the Big 12 next year. They'll probably be better than Iowa State and Kansas, but anything beyond that will be overachieving a bit, unless Tuggle and the Brown Brothers exceed everyone's expectations a la Oklahoma State in 2010 with Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon.
While I agree with Ubben that expectations are high for the Brown brothers, I personally feel that he really is overlooking other talent that is either new to the team or returning. I really like our receiving corps and with a better QB which both Sams and Tuggle will offer this opens up quite a few more weapons than last year. Who is to say that Hubert won't step up either? The Defense is still pretty sketchy, but Zimmerman should improve. Hartman and Harold. It might just be me, but I think K- State might end up being a suprise.
