Winners and Losers: Ben Sinnott sets Kansas State records

KSO covers the biggest winners and losers in the world of Kansas State and college athletics.

Winners

1.) Mittie: The Kansas State women’s basketball team is off to a hot start. K-State is currently 6-1 (after being knocked off by Iowa in the rematch) with wins over two ranked opponents (including the Hawkeyes. Jeff Mittie has a very, very good team.
2.) Common sense: With there not being enough six-win teams this season, common sense has prevailed and both Jacksonville State and James Madison will be allowed to go to a bowl game this season.
3.) Sinnott: In the loss to Iowa State Saturday, Kansas State tight end Ben Sinnott was a bright spot. The junior tight end had a career high 10 catches and a career high 139 yards. He also set the K-State tight end record for single game receptions, single season yards and single season touchdowns. Sinnott needs one more touchdown to break the Wildcat record for most career touchdowns by a tight end.
4.) Crowd: I was really impressed with the crowd at both the Kansas State men’s basketball game Wednesday night and football game Saturday. For the day before Thanksgiving, the crowd at the basketball game was electric. It was also impressive to see the amount of people who braved the snowstorm in Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
5.) DJ: Quietly, K-State running back DJ Giddens has had a very good second season in Manhattan. He has rushed for over 1,000 yards and became the third fastest Kansas State player to do so. The Junction City native is also No. 3 all time in rushing yards for a sophomore.

Losers

1.) Defense: Saturday was one of the worst defensive efforts for K-State in a very, very long time. Iowa State ran less plays than total points scored in the game. The Cyclones would have averaged over 15 yards per play without the kneel downs that closed the contest.
2.) Texas A&M: The whole coaching search at Texas A&M was bizarre. It was leaked out Mark Stoops would be the next head coach in College Station. In fact, he was telling everyone that would listen. However, that reversed course before the night ended Saturday night because of all the dissent from Aggie fans. Mike Elko has since been hired.
3.) Huskers: Nebraska entered November 5-3 and ended the season 5-7. I was a junior in high school the last time the Cornhuskers went to a bowl game. I had yet to enroll at Kansas State.
4.) Corvallis: To be honest, I just feel bad for Oregon State. Not only were they left out of conference realignment (or consolidation), but they couldn’t keep alum Jonathan Smith home. He is the new coach at Michigan State.
5.) TCU: It feels just like yesterday when they were falling to Kansas State in the Big 12 title game in Arlington. They would actually go on to compete for a national championship last season as well after defeating Michigan in the national semifinal. They’ve followed that up with a disaster of a year. The Horned Frogs became the first team since Texas in 2010 to go to the National Championship Game one season and not make a bowl game the next year.