It hasn’t been a good couple of weeks being a K-State fan. A lot is happening in the wide world of K-State sports, so another edition of Rapid Fire is called for. Let’s GO!

-K-State football is out of the Big 12 championship race and the college football playoff after losing 24-14 to Arizona State on Saturday. The loss dropped K-State to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the Big 12 with two games remaining. Another minor bowl game is likely in the cards for the Wildcats. While we all expected growing pains from this young team, it is nonetheless frustrating because this team had everything in front of them to make a run at a championship this season. Maybe next year.

-The boo birds were out at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday. I can’t remember the last time I heard the home fans boo the team. Maybe the Ron Prince years?

-Something is happening in the personal life of head coach Chris Klieman, but nobody seems to know exactly what it is. After the game on Saturday, Klieman mentioned the last two weeks had been very difficult for him. Rumors of a health issue that may cause him to retire prompted a reporter to ask Klieman about the rumor on Monday. Klieman replied “I don’t know where you got that from. I haven’t said that to anybody.” I found the response odd. Was this just a poor choice of words or is there something he is not telling us? A more appropriate response would be “I am not even considering that. I am committed to being the coach at K-State for the foreseeable future.” Perhaps I am making too much of it, but I found his answer a bit odd.

-Klieman also said he is encouraging offensive coordinator Conor Riley to start using Avery Johnson more as a runner, especially in the red zone. He used the term “cut him loose.” I’ve been saying this all season long. The fact that they haven’t done this so far is mind-boggling. Why wait until game number 11 to do this? What were they saving him for? Perplexing to say the least.

-K-State basketball has been a trainwreck so far. They lost their only real test of the season against LSU by nine points and struggled much of the game against Mississippi Valley State last night before pulling away in the second half and winning by 18. Missouri beat Mississippi Valley State 111 to 39. Mississippi Valley State was ranked dead last in the KenPom rankings going into the game last night. K-State has played a lot of poor programs in the non-conference over the years, but this was the worst of the worst. And they struggled.

-Two Million Dollar Man Coleman Hawkins has been disappointing, to say the least. Through four games he has shot 24% from the field and has averaged 6.8 points per game. That scoring average is good for 6th on the team. But at least he is second on the team in turnovers, with nine. Yikes.

-This team is hard to watch. It’s just as discombobulated as it was last season. I don’t know how Jerome Tang thinks he can build a basketball program with 10 new mercenaries every season that must figure out how to play together and win games. It has not worked so far except for his first season with Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson. That Elite 8 run seems like eons ago.

-The goal as an athletic director is to hire a head coach who can both recruit and coach Xs and Os. Bruce Weber couldn’t recruit effectively, but could at least coach a little bit. Jerome Tang is a much better recruiter but hasn’t shown he can coach the Xs and Os. The result on the court is about the same. This team looks much like Bruce Weber’s teams looked in the non-conference portion of their schedule. Not very good and not very exciting.

-Can this basketball team get it together by January? They’ve got some talent, but they have a long way to go. They were picked to finish 8th in the preseason poll. That still sounds about right to me.

-On a positive note, the K-State women’s team is ranked 10th in both the AP and USA Today polls. Texas and Oklahoma are ranked ahead of them, but they don’t have to contend with either. Iowa State is ranked 8th, and it looks to be a race between the Wildcats and Cyclones for the Big 12 title. But don’t count out West Virginia, TCU, and Baylor.

-K-State 28 Cincinnati 24.