The Wildcats can truly prove they belong in the national championship picture on Saturday by following in the Red Raiders’ footsteps. Kansas State hosts Oklahoma in one of the pivotal games this week as the two are ranked No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, in the BCS.

Bill Snyder joined Westwood One with Chuck Cooperstein to discuss the resurgence of the program, the team building confidence, the Wildcats’ style of play and how it’s so different from most others in the Big 12, special teams play and preparing for Oklahoma.

The revival of the Wildcats program is an amazing story from the outside looking in. Is it amazing for you on the inside as well?:

“I don’t know. If you’re thinking that I’m the inside, then probably not. It’s kind of cliche I think, but we really have been approaching it the same way we did [before]. It’s just been a day at a time, an hour at a time. We’ve had some positive things happen, quite obviously, and things that make us proud of the young people that we have here in our program. But we’re still a work in progress, I can assure you that.”

How big were the back-to-back victories against Miami and Baylor earlier this year in terms of your team learning how good it could be?:

“It certainly has assisted in their level of confidence. I don’t think that they doubted their capabilities, but you need to see it out in front of you. You need to see it happen, and it did.”

Talk about your offense, which is different than most in the Big 12 in that you run the ball where everyone else seems to be airing it out:

“I think in this conference and the nature of the many prolific offenses that we have, it just seems significant to be able to manage the clock in such a way that your defense doesn’t have to get worn and frazzled as much. There are teams in this conference that take somewhere in the vicinity of 100 snaps offensively because of the tempo or the pace that they play at. That can certainly wear teams, wear defenses, down. We’re a program that doesn’t have the kind of depth that others do. We’re way under scholarships, so consequently that was part of the necessity, do all we can to keep opposing offenses off the field. … Possession time is a very positive thing if you’re able to garner some points.”

You’ve got two special teams returns for touchdowns in the past two weeks. How important is that phase of the game?:

“I think most coaches, even though everybody says it’s the most significant part of the game, I think coaches really do believe along those lines. I wouldn’t suggest that we have any kind of a monopoly on that. I think our coaches and players do a good job. … Our return game has been good, particularly our kickoff return unit, this year, but we’ve done a reasonably decent job in other aspects of special teams.”

Oklahoma may play faster than anyone in the league and that’s who you’ve got this weekend. How do you combat that and make sure you have the correct personnel on the field to do so?:

“It’s a matter of discipline, number one, which creates the ability to focus. You’ve got to get calls, get lined up and go through your checklist of what it is you need to be able to do to execute your assignments correctly. That’s the initial issue. The second issue is if they’re getting snap after snap after snap and they’re running sideline to sideline, they wear your defensive linemen down. So how do you get people on the field to be able to get some others a rest and interchange people. Or how do you get from four defensive secondary players to five or six. … You just have to practice it. If you practice it enough, you get a pretty good handle on it.”

Listen to Bill Snyder on Westwood One here

Bill Self joined ESPN Radio with Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo to discuss the emergence of rival Kansas State, the depth of this Kansas team, if they still bring up last year’s stunning tournament exit against Northern Iowa, if the Jayhawks have what it takes to make a run to a title this year, and the importance of winning on Senior Night.

Is Kansas State back to being the team they were expected to be?:

“They’re good. When we played them over there, we laid an egg, bigtime, but they were great. The ball moved, the open man took the open shot, Pullen was unbelievable in that game. … But the other guys are really stepping up. … I think they’re a team that nobody’s going to want to play. If they continue to ascend, they’re a team that can make a serious run.”

On the depth of his Kansas teams in the fact that it seems like anybody can step up on any given night:

“Well, I don’t know if it’s anybody. You know, the year that we won it, we had seven different guys lead us in scoring that year. I think this year we’ve had seven different guys already lead us in scoring, so we’ve got balance. But, without question, Marcus [Morris] is the guy. He’s averaging 19 and 8 in league and shooting 63 percent. He’s been fabulous.”

Given the wide-open nature heading into this year’s tournament, does he bring up how the season ended last year against Northern Iowa?:

“We’ve talked about it, without dwelling on it, all year. I think talk’s cheap and guys make commitments and say, ‘We’re not going to allow this to happen to us again,’ and there’s been numerous reminders. … It’s a reminder on the commitment they supposedly made after that particular game.”

Do the Jayhawks have enough this year to be national champions?:

“I’d like to say yes, but I will tell you this, I’m not overly impressed with our consistency. I really think that good defense, over time, or even in one particular game, can definitely neutralize good offense easier than good offense can neutralize good defense and I think that’s an area we still have another step to take to get better. I look around America and I see a lot of teams that are capable.”

On the importance of winning on Senior Night:

“I think it’s real important and I think guys here understand that any selfish thoughts they have, they’re doubly selfish if they think them on this night. This is all about the seniors, it’s not about anyone else but the seniors and those guys need to perform and have the attitude to give these guys the chance to go out in style. And what I mean by style is winning.”

Listen to Bill Self on ESPN Radio here (Interview begins at 31:45)

Quite the contrary. Martin addresses questions and concerns with conviction, and when he gets a bit philosophical with his thoughts and assessments, it’s difficult not to believe what he’s saying.

Frank Martin joined The Border Patrol on WHB in Kansas City to discuss the challenges and benefits of playing such a tough schedule in November, its recent loss to top-ranked Duke, the struggles of his star guard Jacob Pullen during the Duke game, Pullen bouncing back from that game to break a school record for three-pointers, and Curtis Kelly’s return to action as a result of him practicing harder and conducting himself better on and off the court.

On the challenges and benefits of playing such a tough schedule in Novemeber:

“It’s challenged us. It’s made us accept responsibility a lot sooner. It’s also shown some of the immaturity of our basketball team where we prepare a certain way for certain people and we show how good we can be, yet we don’t approach it the same way every day. That’s immaturity. That’s the difference between adults and young children. Adults and people that are older understand that they have to do their job to a maximum effort every single day. Kids think that because they do their job one day that that kind of buys them a free week. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way.”

On if there were any big-picture lessons learned during the loss to top-ranked Duke:

“I don’t fluctuate with who I am depending on how we play or depending on whether we win or lose. The next day is the next day. It’s the next day to go in there and compete and get better and learn. … That’s how we approach things. We win, we win. We lose, we lose. … When we don’t win we’re not happy, but that doesn’t change who we are. We came in, we tried to understand the reasons that we couldn’t have success against Duke, the reasons that got us in trouble in that game and then we also showed some of the things that we did that were good.”

On Jacob Pullen being upset and disappointed with himself after struggling against the Blue Devils on such a big stage:

“Jacob’s got a lot of pride. He’s not the first good player to have a bad day and he’s not going to be the last one. It’s unfortunate it happened to him on that stage, but as a team, collectively, we were not ready to play a team that that’s good, a team that’s that savvy. We just weren’t ready to do that. … I obviously hadn’t done as good of a job as I need to have done to prepare a team to go up and play a team that’s as good as Duke. But the great thing about the whole thing is that you play the No. 1 team in the country, you’re in there, I actually thought we were battling. … If you make two more 3s and four more free throws, you’re right in the middle of it to win the game. But we didn’t and Duke had a lot to do with that. But we’ll be fine.”

On growing up as a team from an early-season test like that:

“You just don’t get out of bed and go out and beat Duke just because you’re there. There’s a sacrifice, there’s a certain amount of time and commitment that has to be put in to earn the right to go beat Duke and those guys haven’t done it. It doesn’t mean that we won’t do it, it just means at this time and moment, it wasn’t there.”

On Pullen bouncing back and setting the school record for career 3-pointers:

“Jacob’s one of those guys that he’s embraced the responsibilities of being a good player. … He accepts coaching. Too many people, in today’s day and age, they want to shorten up the process. They think that everything’s easy because it’s what our society has created. … People say kids are different. Kids aren’t different, man. Kids are the same that they’ve always been. I didn’t want to go to class, I didn’t want to run, I didn’t want to do homework, but people made me do it. In today’s society, we tend to let kids get away with not doing things. Jacob understands. When everyone was worried because I kind of demanded too much from him or screamed at him or whatever, Jacob didn’t run from that. That’s a credit to Jacob, his family, his upbringing. … Success is difficult. There’s a price that needs to be paid to earn success. That’s what Jacob’s done.”

On  how his job is more than just coaching and winning games, namely the importance of developing young men into well-rounded individuals prepared for life after college:

“If my boss wants me to do something, and I choose that I’d rather do it my own way, chances are I’m not going to be here very long. It’s no different in anything else. It’s one of the things, and not to get off on a tangent here, but it’s one of the things that drove me out of the public school system, is that rather than preparing kids to succeed in life, we’re more concerned with them getting a certain score on a test so the school looks good. That’s not education, that’s a bunch of bologna, is what it is. … Don’t get me started on that one, because I’ll be on the radio for three days.”

On Curtis Kelly, a veteran who he sat out at the beginning of the year, being an example:

“He’s been a lot better, that’s why he’s playing. If he hadn’t reverted to doing things the way he did them for the first two years he was here, then he would’ve continued to not play. I’m not playing him because I fear the other team, I’m playing him because he’s started to do the things that he’s responsible for doing every day. That’s an unbelievable thing. There’s a responsibility that we all have to each other in that locker room. In order for all of us to succeed, we have to win. In order to win, we all have to do our jobs. If one guy’s not doing their job, then he’s being selfish. He’s taking away from everyone else’s abilities in life. … That’s what you call respecting your team. When guys don’t do their job, they’re disrespecting their team. Playing is not a right, playing is a privilege. If you do your job the right way, then you get the opportunity to play.”

Listen to Frank Martin on WHB in Kansas City here

If all of that wasn’t enough, Kansas State may very well go through that entire stretch without Curtis Kelly, who was benched by coach Frank Martin in the opener. The coach hasn’t spoken much about the situation, but says it’s an on-the-court issue and it appears Kelly, a pivotal senior on the young team, needs to work his way out of the doghouse.

And if he’d like to help the No. 3-ranked team in the country prove it deserves that ranking.

Frank Martin joined WHB in Kansas City with Kevin Kietzman to discuss playing such a tough game in Virginia Tech in the first week of the season, what he wants to learn in possibly playing the Hokies, Gonzaga and Duke over the next week, Curtis Kelly’s absence from the lineup, what Kelly’s issue is and the play of preseason All-American Jacob Pullen.

On playing a tough team in Virginia Tech right out of the gate:

“I don’t know if I’m enjoying just getting dropped right in the middle of a volcano here, but it is what it is. We’ve got a young team and we expected certain things to be a little differently at this time of the year, but unfortunately they’re not and it is what it is. We’re going to light up and it’s going to be a great challenge for our guys.”

On what he hopes to learn in potentially playing three ranked opponents in a week:

“If we can survive. I hope we’re still breathing a week from Wednesday. It’s great, it’s great. We’ve built our program. Ideally, as a coach, you don’t want to play so many hard games in such a short period of time, but truth be told, if you’re getting better as a program, you’ve got to challenge your guys. … It’s all about the Big 12. When you play in the Big 12, it’s not like you play one hard game, one easy game, one hard game, two easy games. It’s 16 consecutive hard games. Our guys have to learn the frame of mind that needs to be created for that environment.”

On not playing Curtis Kelly:

“He just hasn’t handled some things the right way and it’s something that’s been ongoing for a while and we’ve tried to correct it and it wouldn’t get fixed. Now he’s been better for the last couple days and I hope that continues. When he shows me that he’s back to having both feet on the ground and just back on the track that he’s been on for over two years, then he’ll be able to go out and play again, but that’s kind of between he and I.”

On whether it’s a basketball issue or off-the-court issue:

“Oh it’s not off the court. You can go Google whatever you want to, you’re not going to find anything. You’re talking about a young man that came in here and got a college degree last June. He’s a heckuva kid, but it’s one of those things. … I understand that my job’s about winning games, but I’m a little deeper than that. My job’s about making young men grow up and making young men prepared and I’m not going to cheat them out of that at the expense of winning a game. And then we also have a program to continue to build. We expect our upperclassmen to do things a certain way and he understands that. … He’s in practice, he’s on our bench, we love him, he’s one of us, but he had to kind of take a step back, too, for a little bit.”

On the play of Jacob Pullen:

“That’s what happens with good players when they gain confidence, the game really slows down. I have a saying which is: Run Fast, Play Slow. If you’re running, whether it’s running the court, running to set a screen, running to come off a screen, running to get back on defense, whatever, run. When the ball gets in your hands, it’s time to play, so play slow. And Jake … that’s what he plays like. It’s a combination of a good player that has put in the time and now has gained confidence. That game has slowed down. He is starting to see things that are happening two plays ahead of time and two passes ahead of time.”

Listen to Frank Martin on WHB in Kansas City here

Kansas State President Kirk Schultz joined KCSP in Kansas City with Bob Fescoe to talk about the latest with the Big 12 Conference, what they can do to make sure the league stays together, and whether or not he thinks the Big 12 will completely dissolve.

On how he feels about the latest report about Colorado:

“I think we’re certainly watching everything with expectations to sorta see how everything turns out.  As you all know, from media reports we expect some announcement from Nebraska in the next couple of days.  And there’s certainly some things out there this morning that may suggest Colorado could have an invitation to the Pac 10.  I think the key thing is what the remainder of the schools are going to do.  We’re gonna turn our sites to trying to keep the Texas schools and Oklahoma schools into the Big 12.”

On what they can do to make sure the conference stays together:

“All we can do is call my counterparts.  Our athletic staff has certainly been on the phone the last two weeks on these kinds of issues.  A lot of it is we’re trying to make sure we understand why some of these concerns are there and why some of these conference realignment things are attractive.  Sometimes if you can find out why that’s the case, you may have to renegotiate some deal or those kinds of issues.  We’re just gonna have to wait over the next several days and see how it plays out.  What that means is Kansas State and the University of Kansas are going to have to look really hard and soon about what are some alternatives to make sure we remain in a top-tier athletic conference.”

On what they have looked at in terms of their other options:

“We haven’t really looked at anything yet and that’s not President speak for ‘we have something worked out and we just don’t want to say anything about it.’  We really have focused our energies on making sure we keep the Big 12 conference as in tact as practically possible.  It’s all in the Central time zone, we can drive to many of the venues, it’s a great conference for us and we really don’t want to see some of that stuff go.  I heard right when I got on, you guys were talking about the missed class time, three time zones worth of travel, and all that.  I still think schools need to look really carefully at that otherwise a year from now somebody figures out wow, the golf team is missing three days of class just to do a conference golf event.  Those kinds of things we really have to look at hard and I hope people will before making a decision to move.”

On how often they have talked to other schools in the Big 12:

“I was at the Big 12 Board of Directors meeting last week and certainly we had lots and lots of conversation about this at that time.  The Athletic Director’s all probably are talking at least on a daily basis if not more.  We are certainly in communication through the regions.  Within the state we are communicating probably several times a day just trying to watch how some of this stuff unfolds.”

On whether or not they want to stay in the same conference as Kansas:

“Absolutely.  That’s our goal.  We talked about that, I think that’s important, and I believe that sentiment is shared by both schools.”

On whether or not he thinks the Big 12 will dissolve all together:

I do not.  We’re gonna see an initial round with a school or two that’s gonna take an invitation and there will be some period of recollection and time to think about what everything needs to happen.  I think we will know in the next couple of weeks.”

Listen to Kirk Schultz on KCSP in Kansas City here (Audio begins 20:10 into the podcast)

Martin coached under Kennedy for a year before moving on with Huggins to Kansas State, where he ultimately succeeded the coach when Huggins went back to his alma mater West Virginia. The Wildcats had a great season to match West Virginia’s two seed in the tournament and advance to the Sweet 16 where Kansas State will meet Cincinnati’s crosstown rival Xavier.

Frank Martin joined Mo Egger on 1530 Homer in Cincinnati to talk about the Kansas State fan base, Kansas’ elimination, his expectations for the season, Jacob Pullen, Xavier, and his expressions on the sideline.

On the mood in Manhattan, Kansas right now:

“K-Staters are just so excited right now. The one thing when Huggs took the job here and we first got here that we realized was the incredible tradition that Kansas State had in basketball. The longer that I have been here, the more that I have learned about the great coaches, great players, the championships, the Final Fours. For us and our guys to start kind of bringing those people back around and making it exciting for them because of the way our guys are playing right now is a great, great thing… I had never been here before when we moved here. It was a lot different that what I envisioned it being. It’s a great, great city. It’s a great university. It’s a big time college campus. It’s been tremendous. It’s been absolutely tremendous.”

On if it is better to make the Sweet 16 when Kansas has been eliminated:

“For us as a basketball team, it doesn’t do anything for us. For K-Staters, that’s our rival and it’s been a long time since they have been able to say that that’s happened. So I am sure that there are some K-Staters all across the country that are sticking their chest out because they get to brag for once.”

On whether he thought team had this potential:

“Yeah. We liked our team. We thought we had a good basketball team. We liked the fact that we have challenged our guys for three years and that they have responded to every challenge. We had a nucleus of guys in place that had been there in a while. And we liked the depth that we had developed through recruiting and through experience.  Did I sit there and say that there was no doubt that we were going to the Sweet 16? No. But we liked our team a whole lot.”

On what makes Jacob Pullen so special:

“He embraces the moment. He embraces the responsibility. He believes in his teammates. His teammates believe in him. The greatest thing about that is that it’s about winning with him and with the guys on our team. It’s not about what guy jumps up and makes shots or what guys does what. It’s about winning. That’s the culture that we have tried to create here. It’s not catering to individuals. It’s about uniting and sticking together through the good and the bad to make sure that we give ourselves the best chance to win. When you give yourselves that chance to win, then your players step up to the moment when they embrace the responsibility of being good and that’s what Jacob did.”

On how Xavier and Kansas State are different than when they first met this season:

“That’s the one thing that I know going in because of my time in Cincinnati is that I understand how good of a program that Xavier is. I understand the kind of players they have had. I also understand that they have they also understand the responsibility of being a good team. They play to win a lot of games. They play for championships. That’s the culture that has been created there. You can see that from coach to coach to coach. And Chris Mack has been able to continue that this year. We played them earlier this year. It was one of those early season games where, fortunately for us, the game was at our place. That helped us some, but it was a hard played game.  It was a game that after the game, I was of the opinion that Xavier was really good. Obviously I am not a prophet, but here we are in the Sweet 16 and Xavier is playing the best basketball of the season.”

And on the camera focusing on his sideline expressions (see above):

“I don’t pay attention to it. I don’t coach to be on cameras. I coach to help kids. I coach because I have a duty to those kids and a duty to those assistants that believe in me. It’s my job to work for them – to help them find success. If we can win games, the players will be able to take advantage of the game of basketball and the assistants will be able to move on with their careers. That’s what I coach for. I don’t coach to be on camera. I don’t act the way I do because I want a camera on me. I never pay attention to that stuff. When I watch the tape, I take the volume off because I don’t care what people have to say. I coached high school basketball for a long time as you know. The cameras aren’t on you there and I was me like I am now, I was me for 16 years. It’s who I am and I am not going to change who I am because there is a camera in the building.”

Listen to Frank Martin on 1530 Homer with Mo Egger.

Frank Martin joined WHB in Kansas City with Between the Lines to talk about the huge game tonight against Kansas, what he took from the earlier loss against the Jayhawks, what he preaches to his team, and whether or not he is at all focused on a possible contract extension.

On the big game against Kansas:

“I think the kids have been great because it’s all about them.  They’re the ones that sacrifice, they’re the ones that believe in the message that we send, they’re the ones that go out there and are willing to coexist and just overcome, and they’re the ones that play.  I think it’s great that the kids’ effort over the last three and a half years, in the weight room, in the off-season and the summer hours and just their commitment to our program has put us in a situation where with two games to go in a conference season we’re going into Lawrence and it’s a relevant game.  It’s  a game that matters and it matters to both teams, not just one.  Usually it only mattered to K-State and now it matters to both teams.  That’s an important thing.  When you’re playing Kansas and you’re making the game matter to them, they’re good, they’re the best in this league and that means that you’ve put yourself in a conversation where you’re maybe not at their level, but you’re slowly but surely trying to creep there.”

On what he expects to see in this game that he didn’t see in January:

“I don’t think you’re gonna see something brand new, something completely off the wall.  I don’t think that’s gonna happen at least in this league.  We all stick to what we do.  That’s one thing that I learned here and I think that’s what makes this league so good is that every team has an identity and when you go into play them you know what you’re dealing with.  You’re not dealing with a bag of surprises every single game out.  But I think that we will all continue to make minor adjustments on little things that don’t jump out at people right away; little things that you have to do to continue to find ways to win possessions during the course of the game.  It’s obvious whoever wins the most possessions is gonna win the game.”

On people saying that his team is one of those teams that nobody wants to see on the schedule:

“(Laughing) Maybe ‘cause they don’t see us practice every day.  If they watched us the way we watch them every day they’d see a lot more warts.  It’s a credit to our kids once again.  People say that about teams that are willing to compete, willing to go tooth and nail, 40 minutes to go win.  When you get people to make those kinds of comments that’s why they do it.  There’s a certain toughness factor.  That’s what makes it difficult to play against us.”

On the toughness and the defensive mindset that he instills:

“When I got hired three years ago, that was one of the things that I said.  If you go back and ask anyone that covered, or watched, or competed against any team I coached in high school, they’re gonna tell you the same thing.  There’s two things that I truly believe.  In basketball you control effort and you control defense.  Those are two things that I spoke about when I was hired that K-State was gonna do the right way.  We’re gonna play hard, give tremendous effort and defensively we’re gonna work to be as good of a team as there is out there defensively.  Those are things that I can control.  If I can’t control how our team plays with effort and enthusiasm than I’m not doing my job.  That’s what I believe in.  That’s the way that I was raised.  I believe in you have to do your job, you have to care for your job, and you don’t do it every once in a while you do it every single day.  That’s the way I’ve always coached.  Playing hard and playing defense at K-State is not an option.  If the guys don’t want to do that they’re not gonna wear our uniform.  I don’t know how much success we’re gonna have but we’re gonna have an awful lot of fun doing it.”

On the contract negotiations between him and the University:

“It hasn’t changed.  I said this a couple of weeks ago and I haven’t been asked again and I respect the media for kinda allowing me some space on that.  But you asked the question and you deserve an answer to it.  I’m focused in on our kids.  My job is not to think selfishly.  I preach to our kids not to be selfish.  I can’t expend emotion trying to get myself in the middle of a negotiation.  (Athletic Director) John (Currie) has been great, John has worked night and day to move our program and our athletic department forward.  I got nothing but great things to say about that.  We have talked, we have exchanged ideas and thoughts, and they’ve been very positive and I’m very encouraged.  When the moment is right where I’m mentally prepared to disengage from our team for a couple of days, so I can then think selfishly, it will get done.  This is my home.  I’m not running around trying to find a new home.  I haven’t done it, I haven’t done it for 26 years and I’m not gonna start now.  It’s a great place and I know I love walking out of that tunnel to K-State fans.”

Listen to Frank Martin on WHB in Kansas City here

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