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Even though there were two Broncos selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft neither will be playing in Denver next season. John Elway and the Denver Broncos were extremely active as they traded their #25 selection to the New England Patriots in exchange for the 31^st pick in the first round plus the Patriots fourth round pick, #126.

Following that move the Broncos then decided to completely move out of the first round as they proceeded to trade their 31^st and 126^thpicks to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for the Bucs selections at Nos. 36 and 101.

The Broncos now have two second round picks, Nos. 36 and 57, along with three picks in the fourth round combined with one pick in the third round. One has to assume that Denver feels they can acquire players of equal talent in the second round as what they had to choose from late in the first. With their surplus of picks do not be surprised if Denver swings at least one more trade before the NFL Draft is over.

For even more comprehensive coverage of the NFL Draft, visit Mocking The Draft.

The AFC West had already seen a defensive player picked earlier in the night when Kansas City selected Memphis defensive tackle Dontari Poe and San Diego decided to follow suit. With the 18^th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Chargers took South Carolina defensive end Melvin Ingram who many people had predicted to go earlier in the draft.

Ingram appears to be a great fit for the Chargers as he started his career at outside linebacker for the Gamecocks before being switched to defensive end. In San Diego it is expected that Ingram will be moved back to an outside linebacker position. He showed the ability in college to rush the quarterback, something the Chargers desperately need, as he had nine sacks in 2010 and 10 sacks last season.

The major red flag most mentioned when hearing scouting reports of Ingram though is he has short arms which make many people think he will have trouble getting off blocks in the NFL.

The Chargers last year had trouble getting off the field on defense and with Peyton Manning now joining the division it was obvious they felt they needed help in getting to the quarterback.

For even more comprehensive coverage of the NFL Draft, visit Mocking The Draft.

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Well it appears that the relationship between Frank Martin and K-State athletic director John Currie was completely fractured as word has come down that Martin has accepted the South Carolina job. Despite the constant rumors of discord between Martin and Currie the move is still somewhat curious.

The Gamecocks won only a total of ten games last season and compete in a division with Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt and Missouri. Going from Kansas State to South Carolina can only be described at best as a lateral move for Martin.

Now that Martin has left K-State it will be up to Currie to try and make a home run hire to compensate for the loss. It is so early in the process that no one is quite sure of which coaches are or will be on Currie's shortlist. The name that constantly gets thrown out due to a prior relationship at Tennessee is Bruce Pearl but that would probably be considered a longshot.

This story is just getting started at Kansas State and the next few days should be interesting.

With it now being official that Frank Martin is leaving for South Carolina, a quote by Ron Burgundy from the movie Anchorman seems to be in order "Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean, that really got out of hand fast". This story went from simple rumors to an announcement in quick order.

With Martin now out the door, K-State athletic director John Currie should be taking stock of where the Wildcat basketball program is not only in the Big 12 but relative to the rest of the country, especially now that he needs to hire a new coach who could ultimately determine his fate at K-State.

To say that the K-State basketball program is in a different place now than five to ten years ago would be a giant understatement. Before the Bob Huggins & Frank Martin era began, the once proud K-State program had been driven into the ground by twelve seasons of mediocrity and/or failure by the combination of Tom Asbury and Jim Woolridge.

The lowest point for the program likely came in the 2003 season, when under Woolridge’s direction the Wildcats traveled to Kansas City to take on the UMKC Kangaroos in Municipal Auditorium. The final score turned out to be an embarrassing 93-52 thrashing at the hands of the now Summit League school. What may have been even more embarrassing than the loss is the fact that Woolridge continued to be the head coach at K-State for two more disappointing seasons. Fast forward to the present and it’s obvious that much higher expectations are in place with the program thanks to the hiring of Huggins first and then Martin afterwards.

So what are the positives and negatives associated with the K-State basketball program that a potential coaching candidate would see?

The first positive thing to mention is the fact that K-State is a member of a BCS conference, the Big 12, a conference that now finally looks to be on solid ground. This is vitally important as it guarantees a financial backing that schools in lesser conferences simply cannot compete with. In addition to the higher amount of money in place, a spot in a major conference guarantees a high level of exposure that allows a coach to show off his brand on a national stage.

Another positive that K-State can sell when finding another coach is their increased newfound commitment to the program. Last year, a groundbreaking ceremony took place on a brand-new, basketball-only training facility for the men’s and women’s teams. The facility is scheduled to be completed in 2012 and will provide new full-length practice courts, new locker rooms, new coaching offices that look down on the practice courts, meeting rooms, new weight rooms and a sports-medicine area with hydrotherapy. This new facility will give K-State coaches, whoever they are, a nice selling point to potential recruits.

Another aspect that shows commitment to the program is K-State’s willingness to pay a strong salary for their head-coaching position. While his salary was not at the top of the Big 12, Martin was rewarded quite well at a reported $1.5 million per year due to a new contract he received in 2010. And the Wildcat administration seems to be willing to reward their head coach if reasonable levels of success are met. Assuming he were still around come April 1st, Martin’s agent would have begun renegotiation of his contract due to a clause in his contract that was met when K-State finished tied for third place in the Big 12 in the 2010-2011 season.

Another strong selling point for the Kansas State program, in addition to the previously mentioned items, is obviously the recent success experienced. In the past five seasons, the Wildcats have won 21 games or more each year and have reached the NCAA Tournament in four of those years, with one Elite Eight appearance. The wins on the court have also brought K-State fans back into Bramlage Coliseum, providing a strong home-court advantage.

As with anything, though, there are some negative aspects that a potential coaching candidate would have to consider. The main so-called negative that always gets brought up first is location. Usually this gets mentioned when describing the difficulties that a coach would face in recruiting players. This argument, while holding some validity, is not completely accurate as Martin proved that the right coach can reel in players no matter the location. The current Wildcat roster is made up of players from places such as Florida, Washington D.C. and New York.

One location detriment that a coach at Kansas State would definitely face is the lack of elite high school talent in the state. This is simply a fact as the state of Kansas does not produce many high-level Division One athletes on a yearly basis. Due to this, any potential coach at K-State needs to be able to go out and recruit nationally and be a good enough salesman to get kids to come to an area they may never have seen before.

The other issue with the state of Kansas and the lack of elite players is the fact that one of college basketball’s blue-blood programs is right down the road in Lawrence. If there is a top high school player in the state such as Perry Ellis, there is a high chance the player will go to KU. That may not be something that Wildcat fans like to hear but it is the truth. Any new coach who would come to K-State would be keenly aware that he has an uphill climb to be not only the top team in the Big 12, but simply in the state.

It now appears that another major red flag for any potential candidate who is considering K-State is the athletic director. All indications make it seem that John Currie is a micro-manager who does not seem to grant his head coaches the freedom they would like in their jobs. A new coach would obviously be a Currie hire so maybe in the future this would not be as much of an issue, but it may make the job less appealing to some coaches.

In the end the K-State basketball head coaching position is a very good job in a power conference but it isn’t necessarily a destination job for a coach. If the K-State administration does their job well and hires a coach who continues to keep the Wildcats winning, you can likely expect these same coaching rumors to come around again in a few years.

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If nothing else the Kansas State Wildcats should be well rested heading into their matchup of the opening round of the NCAA Tournament against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles from Conference USA. Coming off a disappointing loss to the Baylor Bears in their first game of the Big 12 tournament, the Wildcat have had a long wait until Thursday to finally be able to go out on the court and try to atone for their last performance.

The Wildcats enter as a #8 seed which as everyone knows is not the best thing in the world as a victory in the opening game sets up a date with the #1 ranked squad, in this case Syracuse. First thing on the agenda though has to be Southern Miss who enters with an overall record of 25-8. The Golden Eagles lost in the semi-finals of the Conference USA tournament but easily made it into the tournament as an at-large team.

They are led by former Iowa State head coach Larry Eustachy who has been at the helm in Hattiesburg since 2004. Their leading scorer, Neil Watson, comes straight out of Big 12 country as he hails from Kansas City, KS. He is one of three players for Southern Miss who average in double figures in points scored, the others being LaShay Page and Darnell Dodson.

The reality for K-State on whether they win or lose this game comes down more on how they perform than how well Southern Miss plays. The Wildcats have been through the rigors of major conference play and should be able to beat a team that lost to Marshall twice in their previous three games with the one victory being an overtime defeat of East Carolina.

The Wildcats will need to come out and play solid defense without fouling as Southern Miss likes to try and get to the free throw line often. Assuming Rodney McGruder plays up to his abilities and a few other contributors like Jamar Samuels and Jordan Henriquez show up this should equate to another first round victory for Frank Martin.

The Big 12 tournament championship will come down to two teams who both spent a good chunk of the season in the Top Ten of the rankings. Unfortunately for many fans in the Kansas City area one of those teams happens to be the Baylor Bears and not the Kansas Jayhawks. The other high ranked squad who will be facing Baylor in the finals is the Missouri Tigers who easily dispatched the Texas Longhorns in the nightcap by a score of 81-67.
In a mild upset in the first semi-final game at the Sprint Center the Bears withstood a typical KU second half run to earn a trip to the finals. The final score of 81-72 would make some think that Baylor won in a fairly comfortable fashion but that is anything but true. Unlike a typical Bill Self led team the Jayhawks came out somewhat lackadaisical in the first half on both offense and defense which allowed Baylor to build an eight point lead at the half. In the second half the Bears immediately jumped out to a 13 point lead and it looked like Baylor might cruise to an easy victory.
At that point the Jayhawks immediately went on a run to not only pull to even but at one point in the second half KU pulled ahead by two points. The final nine minutes of the game though were dominated by Baylor and specifically Brady Heslip who nailed three clutch three pointers to make sure Baylor advanced to the finals.
While the top seeded Jayhawks did not hold up their end of the bargain the Missouri Tigers definitely did. The Tigers were led by a barrage of three pointers from Kim English and Phil Pressey who each scored 23 points while going 8-11 combined from behind the arc.
The main topic following the game for the Tigers is the possible availability or lack thereof of senior Kim English for the final against Baylor. In the second half he sustained a quad injury which took him out of the game for a short time even though he returned later. By the end of the game he was sitting on the bench with ice on his leg as the outcome of the game was already determined.
So now the Missouri Tigers and their fans are one game away from winning the Big 12 tournament before they depart for the SEC. The last chance for fans of the Big 12 conference comes down to a Baylor squad which looks like they finally be reaching their potential at exactly the right time.
With the win tonight combined with a KU loss, the Missouri Tigers might possibly have moved themselves into a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. While the atmosphere inside the Sprint Center on Saturday may not be as crazy with Baylor reaching the finals instead of Kansas, everyone should expect a heckuva game between two schools who look like they both could make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament.

When Kansas State (21-9, 10-8) and Baylor (25-6, 12-6) tip off in the first game of the day it will represent the rubber match this season between the two schools. In an odd twist each school won on the other team's court as Baylor won early in conference play at Manhattan by a score of 75-73. The Wildcats then returned the favor last month by going to Waco and getting a much needed victory which helped take K-State off the NCAA tournament bubble.

The Wildcats have been led recently by All Big 12 second teamer Rodney McGruder who in the past five games has averaged over 20 points a game. His play combined with a strong late season surge from senior Jamar Samuels has taken K-State squarely off the bubble and now playing simply for a higher seed.

Baylor enters the game coming off a regular season ending loss at Iowa State which dropped the Bears down into the #4 slot behind the Cyclones. In that game Perry Jones III played over 35 minutes and grabbed 12 rebounds but barely got into double figures in points with 10. If the Bears want to not only beat K-State and make a run in both the Big 12 and NCAA Tournament they will need Jones to finally step up and have his play equate to ability.

For the game today it really comes down to how a few key players perform. The first is obviously Jones III for Baylor, if he scores only four points like his last game against K-State then you can be almost certain Frank Martin and his squad will be advancing. If he plays up to his talent level like he did in Manhattan then K-State will have to pick their poison between him in the post and leaving Brady Heslip open to drain down three pointers.

Maybe the second most important player on the floor will be K-State point guard Angel Rodriguez. Late in the season he has essentially been given the keys to the car and he has rewarded them with strong play down the stretch. When he plays smart and keeps the turnovers to a minimum while also chipping in a few three pointers the Wildcats can play with almost anyone. On the other hand when he throws passes that that frustrate the entire KSU coaching staff and fanbase it makes the Wildcats an average to subpar basketball squad.

If Pierre Jackson for Baylor can come out and force either Rodriguez or Will Spradling into some turnovers this would greatly tilt the advantage to the Bears. If the Wildcats are able to keep the turnovers under control and get set up in their offense they should be able to take advantage of their rebounding ability to score on putbacks.

As is usually the case with a K-State game it will be interesting to see if the other team can come out and match their toughness and rebound the basketball. And on the flip side, K-State does not have the overall level of basketball talent as the Bears so it will be key to see if players like McGruder, Spradling, Rodriguez and even Jamar Samuels can knock down some outside shots. Look for this game to quite possibly be the best of the day even though it's the first one.

The Big 12 tournament finally gets underway tonight as the bottom four teams in the conference face off for an opportunity to lose in the next round against Missouri and Kansas. Below is completely random list of things that I will be looking forward to seeing through the entire tournament. Let me know what things you will be looking forward to seeing.

Watching Keiton Page rain down three pointers for the final time

The incredulous look on Steve Moore's face every single time he is called for a foul

Royce White attempting free throws

Iowa State as a team possibly shooting 40 three pointers in a game

Markel Brown throwing down a crazy highlight reel dunk

Seeing if Perry Jones III shows up or not

Angel Rodriguez throwing a couple of passes that make Frank Martin about explode on sideline

Seeing how many, if any, Texas A&M fans shows up for their final Big 12 tournament

Checking out how many Iowa State fans make the trip to KC

Seeing how big the attendance is in general for Wednesday's opening round games

Watching J'Covan Brown if he gets on a roll shooting

The atmosphere inside and outside Sprint Center if Kansas & Missouri do actually meet in finale

Flip Pressey shooting some NBA range threes that make Frank Haith want to break something

Witnessing Tyshawn Taylor take over game right when KU needs it

Melvin Ejim getting at least one traveling call against him as seems to happen every time I watch him

Fans reaction to every foul call in a possible KU v Missouri matchup

Watching Marcus Denmon's final Big 12 tournament performance

The ticket prices for a Missouri v Kansas finale

Frank Martin's reactions on sideline, still entertaining every game

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