Finally!

The year 1993 marked the beginning of the end of dominance in Kansas State basketball history. Not only was that one of the final years of head coach Dana Altman, but it was the last year the Wildcats advanced to play in a conference championship game (a loss to Missouri). Tonight, after 17 years of, well, “doom”, the Kansas State Wildcats will return to the conference tournament finals to face the University of Kansas in the Big 12 championship game.

The Wildcats advanced by beating the 20th ranked Baylor Bears. Similar to the first meeting between the Wildcats and the Bears, the game was close throughout and went to the wire before a winner was decided. The game was up for grabs until Mr. Clutch, Jacob Pullen hit a huge three-point shot which allowed K-State to take a 7 point advantage. Baylor never gave up until the final whistle blew, but clutch free-throw shooting as well as good passing kept the Wildcats from throwing this one away. Baylor proved that they have been overlooked this year and they made a definite statement to the selection committee. If Baylor doesn’t get a high seed in the NCAA tournament at this point, something is very wrong with the system.

The fact that K-State hasn’t been to the conference championship game since 1993 got me thinking about some things. What was going on back in good ol’ 1993, you ask? Here are some random events:

• I was three years old and on my way to one of the first basketball games of my life
• The Buffalo Bills became the only team in NFL history to lose three consecutive super bowls
• Kim Campbell became Canada’s first ever female prime minister
• The movie “Unforgiven” won the Oscar for best motion picture
• The republic of Macedonia was admitted into the United Nations
• Monica Seles (professional tennis player) was stabbed in the back by a rival’s fan.
• Pierre Bérégovoy, the French Prime Minister, committed suicide
• The Chicago Bulls won their third-straight NBA title

What does all of this mean? It means nothing, essentially, although it does seem a bit odd to imagine the Bills and the Bulls in the playoffs. The significance of the Wildcats making it to the conference title game, regardless of the result of the game tomorrow, is an amazing accomplishment for a team who just five short years ago wasn’t even talented enough to receive an NIT bid. What head coach Frank Martin has done here is absolutely remarkable. The Wildcats play with a passion that hasn’t been seen at this university in a very long. Win or lose tomorrow, Wildcat Nation is here to stay and I am confident in saying that we are going to be back for a while. Though it is very cliché, I have to quote the words straight from the mouth of former K-State president Jon Wefald from the 2006 Texas Bowl, “We are K-State, and we are back!”

EMAW!