And so it ends for Kansas State

Ah well...

My dream scenario for Kansas State fans to be able to rub it into Kansas fans' collective faces fell just short of the Final Four.

I now have to figure out which Final Four team I can find a totally petty reason to root for.

Monday. I'll figure that out on Monday.

Let's Go Kansas State!

I still can't name a single player on the Kansas State Wildcats basketball team... yet I am still rooting for them.

And after their double overtime win against Xavier last night a wonderful thing happened for K-State fans:

They are now favorites to go to the Final Four.

With Butler's win over top ranked Syracuse (two other teams that I don't know the starting 5 for), Kansas State is now the top ranked school in the West Region.

Now I am sure Syracuse thought they were going to beat Butler, so K-State can't take them lightly... but if a #2 seed can beat a #5 seed then my Schadenfreude fueled scenario would come true.

Kansas State would be a Final Four Team while Kansas, the #1 team in the country, couldn't even make the Sweet Sixteen.

And if they make the Final Four, they wouldn't have to face a #1 seed from the Midwest as Kansas has been knocked off... so it isn't outlandish to see Kansas State in the Championship game...

And if they can beat Kentucky or Duke...

OK, I am getting ahead of myself. BUT for all of you Kansas State fans out there, savor this. This could be YOUR 2004... that year where your team was better than the big bad "always better than you and you are sick of hearing of it" powerhouse.

Unleash the prick within!

I think I am going to root for Kansas State to get to the Final Four

Yup... Sully Baseball will endorse Kansas State to win big.

Now let me make it perfectly clear, I can't name a single player on the Kansas State team.

I have no financial stake in them making the Final Four because I didn't fill out a bracket this year.

Up until 2 minutes ago, I didn't even know they were called the Wildcats.

And as I type this sentence, I am not sure where the school physically exists in Kansas.

So why do I want them to win?

Because here's a little thing you need to know about your pal Sully: I can be a bit of a prick sports wise.

Oh I am a hell of a nice guy in real life. I am a good friend, a thoughtful neighbor who is involved with the community, a caring father, a faithful husband and a dependable coworker.

But in sports, I love a little Schadenfreude. It's not enough to win... you have to stick it in the eye of someone else.

Maybe it was all of those years seeing the Red Sox flop a la Wile E. Coyote and hearing it from Yankee fans, but I have developed a taste for watching other fan bases squirm.

Which brings us to the Kansas State Wildcats. They are a good team evidently. They are a 2 seed in the tournament and ranked #7 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN polls (a fact I did not know when I started writing this post.)

So it isn't like I am pulling for Northern Iowa to go all the way. Kansas State has a shot. And I am positive the fans at KSU (do they call themselves that?) would be thrilled for further victories.

But as of right now, they can rub another fan base's nose in it. The #1 team in the country is Kansas. And they didn't make the Sweet 16... and Kansas State did.

I am sure Jayhawk fans have rubbed it into Wildcat fans' noses for quite some time.

The Jayhawks have made 13 Final Four appearances and won their conference 53 times. They've made it to the title game 8 times (including 2 in the 2000s) and won three National Titles including 2008.

They are one of the marquee programs. Even I know that!

Kansas State has made a grand total of 4 Final Four appearances. They went 12 years between NCAA Tournament appearances between 1996 and 2008.

They will never be THE team in Kansas... except maybe this year.

Maybe, just maybe, in a year where the Jayhawks were supposed to make it to Indianapolis to play for the title, the Wildcats fans will have something to cheer about.

And trust me, Wildcat fans would love a National Title and also love that their cross state superiors face planted in the second round.

That is, if their fans are as big pricks as I am.