The Octagon of Dumb (AP)--First it was Kansas Football's BCS Orange Bowl Victory in 2008, a victory that Kansas State football has never experienced in its 13 year 'decade of dominant' history.
Then three short months later, the Kansas basketball team won the National Championship by defeating Memphis in overtime.
Throw in a few years of Ron Prince and it's been a tough several years to be a Kansas State Wildcat. It's never easy when your rival is outshining you in just about every way possible. Kansas State fans have been waiting for "their turn" in the spotlight, and all the waiting has finally paid off.
"It's the greatest feeling in the world," said senior Jacob Pullen. "Honestly I'm kind of in shock right now. I don't know what to say. I'm just overwhelmed."
Kansas State was picked preseason Big 12 Champions by the league's coach's last week, ahead of rival Kansas at number two. The first national coach's poll was released the other day, and Kansas State was picked number three nationally, ahead of rebuilding rival Kansas at number seven. The two major victories by the Wildcats over their in-state rivals has the entire town in party mode. Aggieville reported a substantial spike in business over the past few nights as students, farmers and even players and coaches celebrated the school's achievement.
Coach Frank Martin plans to hand out championship rings before their first game of the season versus powerhouse Newman University in the Octagon of Dumb on November 2.
"The players have worked awfully hard, and to have their hard work pay off like this, well, it's just great," said a teary-eyed Martin. "I can't tell you how proud I am of these kids."
Kansas State will also unravel 3 new banners which will be presented during halftime of the Newman game. A Big 12 Preseason Champion, A Preseason Final Four banner, and a "2010-11 Preseason Ranked Ahead of Gay U" banner.
"It will be quite a night," said Martin. "We'll have some former players come back and give speeches at halftime. We just really want to make this a special, special night to celebrate all the hard work."
Kansas coach Bill Self was puzzled when he was asked what he thought of Kansas State's championship.
"They're celebrating what?" he asked. "Well as far as I know, preseason rankings don't mean anything. We've won the conference the last six years in a row, and a couple of those years Texas was picked to win it. And if I remember right, we won the league by four full games last season. I think Kansas State is going to be fantastic, and I picked them to win the league, only because I can't vote for my own team. But whether they can make up four games after losing Clemente, I guess we'll see. It might be a little premature to hand out rings and start hanging banners, though."
He later added, "We will wait until we win the league before we hang any banners."
As for Kansas State, they won't let the rest of the country's indifference spoil the party.
"We are champions now, and no one can take that away from us," said Pullen. "All we can do now is look ahead to next season. We're not satisfied with just one. We want another. We want to keep hanging banners and keep winning championships. If we can win it again next season, I've already told the team I'll come back for the weekend from the European Developmental League and talk at halftime while retiring my jersey at next year's opener. I'll do it."
Frank Martin voiced similar aspirations.
"What we've done at Kansas State is build a program. And we're in it for the long haul, or at least until I get a call from a real school in a real town, I'm in it for the long haul."
"It was a great run!", said Frank Martin to his players in the locker room after Thursday's practice. "We've made some memories together after the Elite 8 that we will never, ever forget. Our fans will never forget it. We will never, ever forget this preseason! Congratulations on your hard work! You earned it! Now, go take some deserved time off! You've done your part, you've proven you're the best to the entire country! I'll see you back here Nov. 2 for the Newman game, as champions!!"
