1. PETE HUGHES: After my criticism of him, because of underachieving this season, Kansas State went on to win the opener versus TCU. That is a lot of significant wins in their bag, though I'm not sure it will be enough to make the NCAA Tournament, and probably not. It does, however, likely prevent them from finishing in last place. They could finish as high as sixth in the Big 12.

2. JAREN KANAK: Instead of jumping on one of his few offers, he bet on himself and chose to wait out his process, fully believing that he was better than his offer sheet suggested. I knew he was right, but I didn't know if it would have the impact or work in his favor. It did. He's not just grabbing more offers, he's being extended scholarships by the likes of Nick Saban and Alabama. His Clemson offer should come his way when he visits the ACC program at the beginning of June.

3. BIG 12 MEDIA: The league announced earlier this week that they would be conducting in-person media days in the middle of July. Last year, due to Covid-19, that part of the offseason was removed and there was not even one in virtual capacity. So, everyone has an extra trip to Arlington, which will be a precursor for the Wildcats when they take on Stanford in the AllState Kickoff Classic. It will also be our first actual in-person interview setting since the 2020 Big 12 basketball tournament. For perspective, it was still called the Sprint Center and not the T-Mobile Center, yet.

1. NEBRASKA: Don't get me wrong. Kansas State has some culpability in Jaren Kanak leaving the state (though defeating the likes of Alabama or Clemson is not really a realistic expectation), of course, but the Huskers may have fumbled the recruitment more than anyone. There was a time where he absolutely had great interest in the program in Lincoln and may have even tried putting in the word to commit to Scott Frost and company. They'll likely regret slow-playing him the way they did.

2. ALLSTATE KICKOFF CLASSIC: As most know, K-State and Stanford will meet in September inside Jerry Jones' palace in Arlington for the AllState Kickoff Classic. The game is one of the more premiere non-conference games every season. However, this year, they're going to have some competition in a likely time slot that will be difficult to trounce. More than likely, the game will be in the same time slot as the Georgia versus Clemson showdown. The eyeballs may not be as great for the 2021 edition.

3. GARY PATTERSON: Not only has his success waned a bit over the past few years, he's taken up a peculiar recruiting strategy too that has involved much more risk. To be clear, it is still an operation that has helped them churn out top-end NFL Draft talent, lately, and Trevon Moehrig is just the latest example. But he did take Pittsburg, Kansas recruit Dylan Jordan a couple years ago, and everyone with any kind of knowledge knew that likely wouldn't shake out too well. It went as expected. After a situation in where Jordan induced some unnecessary drama into the team last offseason, he's since entered the transfer portal. It'll be interesting to see what program takes a gamble by adding the player with immense ability. It won't be Kansas State.