Ford has completely changed his team, or probably more importantly Marcus Smart has changed his team. They've gone from a decent/mediocre defensive team to one of the best in the country, specifically teams shoot really poorly against them (especially on 2PT shots) and they block a high percentage of shots. And teams have a really low percentage of assists to made shots, which could be somewhat random but has to at least be in part attributed to the defense.
Most importantly Ford probably has two pros on the floor most of the time, and in many games the 2 best players on the floor in Nash and Smart. I'm not sure Ford is a great coach by any means, but having really good players is the biggest part of being a good coach. I think the youth and lack of depth could be an advantage for us if we get a balanced game like the Florida game. Plus, they haven't played anyone as good as our top 3 opponents and they've only played true road game, losing to a mediocre Virginia Tech. Finally, they aren't a very good defensive rebounding game, which is by far the strength of our team on offense. Pace-wise, they play about like us, I'd expect a low to mid 60s possession game with 70 points being plenty to win.
If Angel and Tay are close to 100%, I think K-State wins. 68-63 Cats.
