FAQ: The Longhorn Network

Feb. 19, 201312:12 p.m.


With Kansas State’s next basketball game at Texas set to be televised on the Longhorn Network, Wildcats fans naturally have questions about how and where they can watch it.

The game won’t be available in many mainstream formats (No DirecTV or Dish Network) but the Longhorn Network is carried by major TV providers Cox Cable (channel 272) and AT&T U-Verse. It can also be found on Verizon and Grande Communications.

On twitter, some have asked if the game will be available on ESPN3. It will not. I spoke with Rob Carolla, the Big 12′s Director of Communications for basketball, this morning, and he confirmed that the game will be televised exclusively on the Longhorn Network. He said it is up to each school to decide how to distribute games that are played on its third-tier TV network, and the only institutions in the Big 12 that allow their third-tier games to be shared on ESPN3 and ESPN Full Court are Kansas and West Virginia.
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Fiesta Bowl Countdown: From now on, Nigel Malone isn’t taking chances at the goal line

Dec. 30, 20129:36 a.m.

If Nigel Malone has the chance to score a touchdown against Oregon, he says he won’t drop the football until he runs through the back of the end zone and an official asks him for it.

Even then, he might be hesitant to part with the pigskin.

That’s the kind of caution he vows to show the rest of his career after the humiliating play he made against Texas. If you don’t recall the gaffe, here’s what happened: He intercepted a pass near the sideline in the first quarter and saw nothing but open field between him and the end zone. But as he approached the goal line, he became overconfident and dropped the ball an inch short of paydirt. Officials originally awarded him a touchdown, but took it away after a lengthy review.

“I’m pretty sure I crossed it. The line was behind me before I let the ball go. But it is what it is,” said Malone, a senior cornerback. “I know next time I won’t make it close. I’m going to give it to the ref. I might bring it back to the sideline.”
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Looking ahead to gameday: at Texas

Aug. 10, 201110:16 a.m.


Editor’s note: In preparation of the upcoming football season, K-Stated will look ahead to all 12 games on the Wildcats’ 2011 schedule. Next up, Texas A&M

There’s a pretty easy way to look at the Big 12’s new round-robin schedule: It’s a positive for the old south division teams and a negative for the old north division teams.

If you’re a team like Texas, you’ve got to like the idea of playing Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State and Missouri on a yearly basis. If you’re a team like K-State, you’ve got to hate the idea of playing Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas, Baylor and Texas A&M every single year.

Or … do you?

While the first paragraph of this blog is true for most teams in the new-look Big 12, it could be viewed the opposite way by the Wildcats and Longhorns.

Coming off three straight wins over Texas, an amazingly easy 39-14 romp in Manhattan last year and an all-time record of 6-5 against the Horns, K-State may be the only team around that will look forward to playing Texas year-in, year-out.

The Wildcats will see if they can keep their winning streak going in Austin this November. Read More »

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Postgame: K-State 39, Texas 14

Nov. 7, 20105:17 p.m.

At one point during its 39-14 victory over Texas, Daniel Thomas said one of the Longhorns’ defensive backs began complaining of boredom.

That pretty much sums up what happened Saturday night. The Wildcats ran the ball so effectively and often that Texas cornerbacks and safeties had little to do. The plan caught the Longhorns by surprise and K-State easily picked up its sixth win of the season and became bowl eligible.

Here’s a deeper look:

THE GOOD
1. Collin Klein added a whole new element to K-State’s rushing attack. The sophomore quarterback made the first start of his college career and rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. He made good reads throughout the night, and his speed was a nice complement to Thomas’s bruising running style. Read More »

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Gameday Preview: Texas at K-State

Nov. 6, 201010:58 a.m.

Coming into the season, this looked like a very compelling game.

After dropping its last two games to Kansas State, it seemed like Texas would have revenge on its mind today in Manhattan. And with a traditional Big 12 powerhouse coming to town, the Wildcats would have the chance to pick up a statement victory.

The game is still compelling enough to be televised nationally at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, but it isn’t the match up everyone expected. The Longhorns (4-4) are struggling like never before under coach Mack Brown. The Wildcats (5-3) have lost two in a row.

Still, bowl implications mean the game is still important for both sides.
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When will Nebraska, K-State meet again?

Oct. 10, 201010:19 a.m.

Don’t expect Kansas State and Nebraska to play a football game against each other anytime soon.

With the Cornhuskers on their way out of the Big 12, scheduling unknowns and hurt feelings will put an end to their rivalry with the Wildcats for at least a few years.

I asked K-State athletic director John Currie last month about the possibility of continuing the series as nonconference opponents, and he said he had a long list of priorities that ranked higher than wondering about that.

Earlier this week football coach Bill Snyder said he wouldn’t be opposed to facing Nebraska again at some point, but he wouldn’t anticipate it happening in the near future.

But they have to meet somewhere down the line, don’t they? The schools are less than three hours away from each other, and fans regularly attend games at both locations. According to USA Today and The Oklahoman, Nebraska is open to facing Oklahoma in nonconference play. Why not K-State?
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Looking ahead to Gameday: Texas

Aug. 27, 201010:11 a.m.

GARRETT-GILBERT-TEXAS-QB

Editor’s note: In preparation of the upcoming football season, K-Stated will look ahead to all 12 games on the Wildcats’ 2010 schedule. Next up, Oklahoma State.

When Ron Prince was fired by Kansas State during the 2007 football season, two fan bases were pleased.

Wildcats fans looked forward to the return of Bill Snyder, and Texas fans said adios to the coach that never lost to Colt McCoy.

Regardless of what Prince did during his other 35 games as K-State’s football coach, there is no denying that he was a thorn in the Longhorns’ side.

In 2006, he picked up a signature 45-42 win over Texas on the way to an appearance in the Texas Bowl. In 2007, he guided the Wildcats to an eye-popping 41-21 blowout victory in Austin.

At Big 12 Media Days, I asked a few Texas players if they had any thoughts as to why K-State was able to take those two games, and they shrugged. Read More »

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Looking ahead to Gameday: at North Texas

Aug. 18, 20109:38 a.m.

ToddDodge
Editor’s note: In preparation of the upcoming football season, K-Stated will look ahead to all 12 games on the Wildcats’ 2010 schedule. We start at the end with North Texas.

The opponent isn’t a member of the Big 12 Conference, the game is on the road and it will be played the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Nothing about this matchup is ordinary.

Nonetheless, it is the final game of Kansas State’s football season. So the Wildcats will head to Denton, Texas to play in a game with possible bowl implications on the line in a stadium that seats 30,500.

By then, the Wildcats could be tired of road games. They start the season with four games at Snyder Family Stadium and one in Kansas City, but end with trips to Missouri, Colorado and North Texas.

They could find relief in Denton, though. The Dallas metroplex is one of K-State’s largest alumni bases, and the Mean Green are expected to be one of the worst teams in the nation.
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Scheduling strategies differ in new Big 12

Aug. 11, 20104:35 p.m.

Scheduling photo

At his annual preseason media day news conference last week, a reporter asked Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder why he canceled a future home-and-home series against Oregon.

His answer was robotic.

“My feelings about scheduling,” Snyder responded. “That hasn’t changed. I still feel the same way — right, wrong or indifferent — that I always have.”

Snyder’s feelings about scheduling (if you need a refresher) are to play as many nonconference games as possible at home against beatable opponents. Traveling to both UCLA and Louisiana-Lafayette last year was not at all his cup of tea.

With the help of athletic director John Currie, he has added future games against Texas-San Antonio and Central Florida. Expect more games of that caliber to show up on future Wildcats’ schedules. Not just because they please Snyder, but because Currie believes extra home games will be needed when the Big 12 becomes a 10-team conference and switches to a nine-game format.

Other coaches and athletic directors across the league are also talking schedules these days, but no two opinions are exactly the same. K-State and Kansas appear to be scheduling light, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops is thinking about doing the same and Texas just added Notre Dame.
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Texas downplays revenge factor

July 28, 201012:58 p.m.

One of the comments I’ve seen popping up in season previews of the Texas Longhorns is that they are looking forward to having Kansas State back on the schedule.

Writers have dubbed the game, which will be played Nov. 6 at Snyder Family Stadium, a revenge match. The Wildcats defeated the Longhorns in each of their past two meetings, and were the only Big 12 team Colt McCoy was unable to beat during his stellar career.

So I’m sure there are some on Texas’ roster who want the chance to knockoff K-State. But not as many as you might think.
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