For those Jayhawk fans that claim that Mangino has their program in a waaaay better place than when Terry Allen paced the sidelines in Lawrence, let's examine the facts and see what they tell us...
Why Mangino is Better than Allen- Reason #1: Mangino beat K-State
Maybe...just
maybe K-State had better teams in Manhattan when Allen was at ku than during Mangino's two wins. Let's run with that...
K-State's records (and ku's result) during Allen's tenure:
1997 — 11-1 (L 16-48)
1998 — 11-2 (L 6-54)
1999 — 11-1 (L 9-50)
2000 — 11-3 (L 13-52)
2001 — 6-6 (L 6-40)
K-State's records (and ku's result) during Mangino's tenure:
2002 — 11-2 (L 0-64...how embarrassing)
2003 — 11-4 (L 6-42)
2004 —
4-7 (W 31-28)
2005 —
5-6 (L 3-12)2006 —
7-5 (W 39-20)
Notice any discrepancies on K-State's side between the Allen tenure and the years K-State lost to Mangino? I thought so. Facts are facts.
- Reason #2: Mangino has taken ku bowling
Now we get to broaden the scope from K-State to the entire Big XII, the North division in particular...
During Allen's tenure, 1997-2001:
During Mangino's tenure, 2002-2005:
The above doesn't yet include the 2006 season, with K-State at 4-4, NU 5-2, Mizzou 4-4, Iowa St. 1-7, and CU 2-5. In other words: abysmal.
- Reason #3: Mangino is "competitive" even in losses
See: Reason #2's explanation.
So you see, while it can still be argued that Mangino has brought in better talent to ku than Allen did (which I would agree with), to say that ku's program is light years ahead of where it was under Allen can readily be exposed as somewhat of an illusion with a little research.
