I'm posting this from the flight headed back to MCO. I've done this trip before back in 2010 - it's a two-hour drive between Manhattan and the Kansas City airport.
Sure, it's a little hard to get to, but Kansas State is a solid trip. Maybe there's not much to do besides the "college town" bars and establishments, but there's something to be said about the town's passion for K-State and the actual game atmosphere.
The only "touristy" thing I did was make a short road trip to Abilene on Friday to see the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum. I've been to a few of these presidential libraries - the Reagan one in Simi Valley, CA is unmatched. But it's a fine way to spend a couple hours. I knew Eisenhower was obviously a well-known figure from WWII, but what I didn't know is that he was so popular on that alone, a group was already planning for an Eisenhower Museum (and preservation of his boyhood home) BEFORE he became president in 1952. They've been doing tours of his boyhood home since 1947. The museum, as they all do, chronicles every facet of his life with various artifacts on display and a few multimedia presentations with a lot of focus on the D-Day invasion.
I know many people choose road trips based on the tourism aspects (one reason why Boise State was a much more popular road game despite the distance) but I'd have to think this is one of the better trips from a "football game" perspective. K-State is a great place to watch a football game. Great stadium, atmosphere and fanbase.
I have a feeling I'll be saying that a lot in the Big 12. Most AAC trips, you wouldn't even know there was a football game going around in the city. Smaller fanbases and a community that is mostly ignorant of the program. Besides Houston, that's definitely not the case in the Big 12.
I know I'll be going to Kansas in two weeks, but I did take a 30-minute detour on my way to Manhattan to take a quick drive-by of the facilities. I'll have better perspective then, but it appears K-State definitely blows KU out of the water in terms of facilities. KU may close the gap soon with a stadium renovation that will begin construction after this season.
As for K-State, the stadium setting was much different than what I remember in 2010. They built up the facility the right way, instead of adding seats to add seats, they kept their capacity mostly the same (around 50K) while building up premium seating areas. There's obviously the main sideline tower with dozens of suites, but also two end zone buildings with a premium experience.
K-State has a true sports complex with all the facilities adjacent to one another. They have a quite large surface parking area, something I know we won't see at KU which has a stadium tucked into a residential area. Most people were tailgating "NFL style" in a paved parking lot - and it was actually pretty hot during the mid to late afternoon. Temps were close to 90 and felt hotter due to the sun and asphalt.
The stadium tower was really nice - and always a stark reminder how subpar UCF's Roth Tower really is. UCF absolutely must receive TDT money, otherwise it's going to be a long time until UCF could possibly afford to upgrade. UCF obviously never had the luxury of decades of receiving P5 revenue like K-State.
The media food I posted in another thread was pretty average though. They must be sponsored by a local dairy because they had a fridge full of milk and a freezer full of ice cream bars. That was an interesting touch though.
Stadium gates open two hours before the game. Most places it's 90 minutes. Students obviously rush in to grab their seats.
For the UCF fans that attended, were you sitting within the main UCF section in the end zone or elsewhere? For those in the main end zone section, and it was mostly parents up front, it only seemed like maybe 200 fans. Definitely not the numbers UCF had in Boise, which I think was at least 1,000 or more, which I guess was to be expected based on a recent Dungeon travel poll.
The stadium configuration was pretty good with four large video boards in each corner. That was elite. But one downgrade is I didn't see in-game stats posted very often. I think I saw something in the first half and then not again. UCF has done a pretty good job with that.
The in-game atmosphere - fans got loud when they needed to. I would say it was louder than Boise on some of those critical third downs. The students were situated behind the UCF bench on the sideline. That always benefits the atmosphere when students are screaming at the players.
A lot of in-game ads and sponsorships segments, which was to be expected. Sing-alongs included TWO Taylor Swift songs, which had a bigger participation within one demographic.
I really liked their pregame video showing all the strides they've made within their stadium and just growth the program - set to the Brooks & Dunn song, "House We Built." They played a lot of country songs during the game. As a matter of fact, scanning the radio from KC to Manhattan, it seemed 90% of the stations were country. I struggled to find a sports station with local programming, most were airing nationally syndicated shows.
Back to the game. For me, I think it was a little surreal just recognizing UCF is in the same conference as K-State and this isn't an OOC game. It's honestly been a while since UCF played in a full stadium in a real college town - maybe Michigan in 2016, which is a top five college football experience. Other OOC road trips since then, like Maryland, Pitt and Louisville, don't really compare to what you get at K-State and probably some of these other environments.
I think some of us, myself included, got a little drunk on our own Kool-Aid based on the small sample size vs. outmached opponents, plus all the K-State injury doom & gloom (which was overstated and in the case of Will Howard, somewhat inaccurate).
I didn't think UCF's defense was elite just because they held Boise in check (except for the RB) and shut down Villanova, but I thought they could do enough to at least slow a team down and get off the field at least a few times. The fact K-State was able to consistently march up and down the field was disappointing - I really felt the tide was turning early in that third quarter when UCF got the lead and was poised to get the ball back - could UCF score again to make it a two-possession game? But there was the late hit called on Drop and the tide definitely shifted.
Linebackers have been an issue for a while. It's arguably been the weakest position on the team. UCF has not been able to recruit a freshman that's ready to play a significant role and this year's transfer portal crop seems to be underperforming.
I know UCF would have preferred Antonio Grier (transfer commitment from usf last December that flipped to Arkansas to join T-Will). He could have seamlessly stepped into a starting role at UCF while playing for his original LB coach. It would have been the perfect setup for him. I'm sure NIL played a role, but in retrospect for a guy looking to make the most of the end of college career, maybe not a great decision. Once UCF got to the spring, I think the pool was a lot more competitive.
It is surprising though that two guys who were part-time starters at traditional "powerhouse" schools - LB Rian Davis (UGA) and CB Fred Davis (Clemson) - haven't been able to make an impact at UCF. I know Davis had an injury prone career and wasn't considered a primary starter, but he did start in two games last year for the National Champions. And Fred Davis was a starter early last season at Clemson until an injury.
I didn't really know what we'd get out of Timmy McClain. He did make some plays, but obviously didn't handle pressure very well with some of his decisions, particularly running backward. Whether it was slow substitutions or a lag in communicating the plays, it was surprising to see the offense take so long to get the play going, which obviously led to the delay of game issues as well.
I think I'm also a little surprised by lack of a Dungeon meltdown (I'm mostly caught up, but haven't read all the threads yet though). As others have said, I guess it's because UCF is already in the Big 12. Everything seemed "do or die" in years past. For UCF to continue on an upward trajectory, they needed to win the conference and high-profile OOC games. A game like this would have hurt a lot more in terms of a missed opportunity.
While it's crystal clear K-State has the better team - I'm very anxious to see how UCF fares against more middle of the pack Big 12 teams starting next week with Baylor. If UCF shows up on a field with Oklahoma (or Texas if they played them) and were outclassed, that would be expected. But UCF needs to win some of these games vs. Baylor, WVU, Oklahoma State, etc.
Generally speaking, on paper, UCF's recruiting and transfer classes have been mostly on-par with a lot of these Big 12 teams, K-State included (though give them credit having an experienced team that won the Big 12 team last season). It had usually been expected that UCF would "out recruit" teams like this - Xavier Townsend going to UCF instead of Iowa State for example.
UCF has had two recruiting cycles knowing they're going into the Big 12 and on paper one of the better transfer classes. The expectation should be no worse than middle-of-the-pack in the Big 12, not treating 2023 like a "happy to be here" transitional year.
Obviously, NIL will continue to be important. UCF has a smaller large donor pool compared to these generational Big 12 programs. While you'd think a school in the middle of Florida should have recruiting advantages over one in the middle of rural Kansas, NIL may have something to say about that.
I did find it interesting that UCF's strength coach came from... Kansas State.
As you know, Gus has some interesting media policies, one of which was Sunday coordinator availability. It can't be any other time during the week. Last year, UCF staff (not Gus) understood that it would be difficult for the media who attend road games to always be back in time for Sunday, so there was a strong belief that the policy would change. We obviously don't have charter flights. I booked most of these Big 12 road trips in the spring. Unless I was flying back at 6 a.m., like the WESH guys were doing (they thought they had to get back to cover Messi and drove in the middle of the night and got no sleep), there was no way to get back to Orlando in time. Keep in mind there is a two-hour drive from Manhattan, to Kansas City. So no, I won't be there for the Addison/Hinshaw interviews today which is really frustrating. I hope to get at least audio though.
I won't have time to edit a Sights & Sounds video until Monday. Hopefully there's enough interesting footage there.
Despite the outcome, still a special experience. I wonder when UCF being in the BIg 12 will start to feel natural. It might take a few years since there will be so many first-time visits with what will now be a 16-team league.
For those who were at the game, how were your experiences?
Sure, it's a little hard to get to, but Kansas State is a solid trip. Maybe there's not much to do besides the "college town" bars and establishments, but there's something to be said about the town's passion for K-State and the actual game atmosphere.
The only "touristy" thing I did was make a short road trip to Abilene on Friday to see the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum. I've been to a few of these presidential libraries - the Reagan one in Simi Valley, CA is unmatched. But it's a fine way to spend a couple hours. I knew Eisenhower was obviously a well-known figure from WWII, but what I didn't know is that he was so popular on that alone, a group was already planning for an Eisenhower Museum (and preservation of his boyhood home) BEFORE he became president in 1952. They've been doing tours of his boyhood home since 1947. The museum, as they all do, chronicles every facet of his life with various artifacts on display and a few multimedia presentations with a lot of focus on the D-Day invasion.
I know many people choose road trips based on the tourism aspects (one reason why Boise State was a much more popular road game despite the distance) but I'd have to think this is one of the better trips from a "football game" perspective. K-State is a great place to watch a football game. Great stadium, atmosphere and fanbase.
I have a feeling I'll be saying that a lot in the Big 12. Most AAC trips, you wouldn't even know there was a football game going around in the city. Smaller fanbases and a community that is mostly ignorant of the program. Besides Houston, that's definitely not the case in the Big 12.
I know I'll be going to Kansas in two weeks, but I did take a 30-minute detour on my way to Manhattan to take a quick drive-by of the facilities. I'll have better perspective then, but it appears K-State definitely blows KU out of the water in terms of facilities. KU may close the gap soon with a stadium renovation that will begin construction after this season.
As for K-State, the stadium setting was much different than what I remember in 2010. They built up the facility the right way, instead of adding seats to add seats, they kept their capacity mostly the same (around 50K) while building up premium seating areas. There's obviously the main sideline tower with dozens of suites, but also two end zone buildings with a premium experience.
K-State has a true sports complex with all the facilities adjacent to one another. They have a quite large surface parking area, something I know we won't see at KU which has a stadium tucked into a residential area. Most people were tailgating "NFL style" in a paved parking lot - and it was actually pretty hot during the mid to late afternoon. Temps were close to 90 and felt hotter due to the sun and asphalt.
The stadium tower was really nice - and always a stark reminder how subpar UCF's Roth Tower really is. UCF absolutely must receive TDT money, otherwise it's going to be a long time until UCF could possibly afford to upgrade. UCF obviously never had the luxury of decades of receiving P5 revenue like K-State.
The media food I posted in another thread was pretty average though. They must be sponsored by a local dairy because they had a fridge full of milk and a freezer full of ice cream bars. That was an interesting touch though.
Stadium gates open two hours before the game. Most places it's 90 minutes. Students obviously rush in to grab their seats.
For the UCF fans that attended, were you sitting within the main UCF section in the end zone or elsewhere? For those in the main end zone section, and it was mostly parents up front, it only seemed like maybe 200 fans. Definitely not the numbers UCF had in Boise, which I think was at least 1,000 or more, which I guess was to be expected based on a recent Dungeon travel poll.
The stadium configuration was pretty good with four large video boards in each corner. That was elite. But one downgrade is I didn't see in-game stats posted very often. I think I saw something in the first half and then not again. UCF has done a pretty good job with that.
The in-game atmosphere - fans got loud when they needed to. I would say it was louder than Boise on some of those critical third downs. The students were situated behind the UCF bench on the sideline. That always benefits the atmosphere when students are screaming at the players.
A lot of in-game ads and sponsorships segments, which was to be expected. Sing-alongs included TWO Taylor Swift songs, which had a bigger participation within one demographic.
I really liked their pregame video showing all the strides they've made within their stadium and just growth the program - set to the Brooks & Dunn song, "House We Built." They played a lot of country songs during the game. As a matter of fact, scanning the radio from KC to Manhattan, it seemed 90% of the stations were country. I struggled to find a sports station with local programming, most were airing nationally syndicated shows.
Back to the game. For me, I think it was a little surreal just recognizing UCF is in the same conference as K-State and this isn't an OOC game. It's honestly been a while since UCF played in a full stadium in a real college town - maybe Michigan in 2016, which is a top five college football experience. Other OOC road trips since then, like Maryland, Pitt and Louisville, don't really compare to what you get at K-State and probably some of these other environments.
I think some of us, myself included, got a little drunk on our own Kool-Aid based on the small sample size vs. outmached opponents, plus all the K-State injury doom & gloom (which was overstated and in the case of Will Howard, somewhat inaccurate).
I didn't think UCF's defense was elite just because they held Boise in check (except for the RB) and shut down Villanova, but I thought they could do enough to at least slow a team down and get off the field at least a few times. The fact K-State was able to consistently march up and down the field was disappointing - I really felt the tide was turning early in that third quarter when UCF got the lead and was poised to get the ball back - could UCF score again to make it a two-possession game? But there was the late hit called on Drop and the tide definitely shifted.
Linebackers have been an issue for a while. It's arguably been the weakest position on the team. UCF has not been able to recruit a freshman that's ready to play a significant role and this year's transfer portal crop seems to be underperforming.
I know UCF would have preferred Antonio Grier (transfer commitment from usf last December that flipped to Arkansas to join T-Will). He could have seamlessly stepped into a starting role at UCF while playing for his original LB coach. It would have been the perfect setup for him. I'm sure NIL played a role, but in retrospect for a guy looking to make the most of the end of college career, maybe not a great decision. Once UCF got to the spring, I think the pool was a lot more competitive.
It is surprising though that two guys who were part-time starters at traditional "powerhouse" schools - LB Rian Davis (UGA) and CB Fred Davis (Clemson) - haven't been able to make an impact at UCF. I know Davis had an injury prone career and wasn't considered a primary starter, but he did start in two games last year for the National Champions. And Fred Davis was a starter early last season at Clemson until an injury.
I didn't really know what we'd get out of Timmy McClain. He did make some plays, but obviously didn't handle pressure very well with some of his decisions, particularly running backward. Whether it was slow substitutions or a lag in communicating the plays, it was surprising to see the offense take so long to get the play going, which obviously led to the delay of game issues as well.
I think I'm also a little surprised by lack of a Dungeon meltdown (I'm mostly caught up, but haven't read all the threads yet though). As others have said, I guess it's because UCF is already in the Big 12. Everything seemed "do or die" in years past. For UCF to continue on an upward trajectory, they needed to win the conference and high-profile OOC games. A game like this would have hurt a lot more in terms of a missed opportunity.
While it's crystal clear K-State has the better team - I'm very anxious to see how UCF fares against more middle of the pack Big 12 teams starting next week with Baylor. If UCF shows up on a field with Oklahoma (or Texas if they played them) and were outclassed, that would be expected. But UCF needs to win some of these games vs. Baylor, WVU, Oklahoma State, etc.
Generally speaking, on paper, UCF's recruiting and transfer classes have been mostly on-par with a lot of these Big 12 teams, K-State included (though give them credit having an experienced team that won the Big 12 team last season). It had usually been expected that UCF would "out recruit" teams like this - Xavier Townsend going to UCF instead of Iowa State for example.
UCF has had two recruiting cycles knowing they're going into the Big 12 and on paper one of the better transfer classes. The expectation should be no worse than middle-of-the-pack in the Big 12, not treating 2023 like a "happy to be here" transitional year.
Obviously, NIL will continue to be important. UCF has a smaller large donor pool compared to these generational Big 12 programs. While you'd think a school in the middle of Florida should have recruiting advantages over one in the middle of rural Kansas, NIL may have something to say about that.
I did find it interesting that UCF's strength coach came from... Kansas State.
As you know, Gus has some interesting media policies, one of which was Sunday coordinator availability. It can't be any other time during the week. Last year, UCF staff (not Gus) understood that it would be difficult for the media who attend road games to always be back in time for Sunday, so there was a strong belief that the policy would change. We obviously don't have charter flights. I booked most of these Big 12 road trips in the spring. Unless I was flying back at 6 a.m., like the WESH guys were doing (they thought they had to get back to cover Messi and drove in the middle of the night and got no sleep), there was no way to get back to Orlando in time. Keep in mind there is a two-hour drive from Manhattan, to Kansas City. So no, I won't be there for the Addison/Hinshaw interviews today which is really frustrating. I hope to get at least audio though.
I won't have time to edit a Sights & Sounds video until Monday. Hopefully there's enough interesting footage there.
Despite the outcome, still a special experience. I wonder when UCF being in the BIg 12 will start to feel natural. It might take a few years since there will be so many first-time visits with what will now be a 16-team league.
For those who were at the game, how were your experiences?
