Kansas defeated rivals Kansas State 47-26 over the weekend to put the Jayhawks in the driver's seat in the Heart of America South.
With the addition of Wayne State and UHSP, plus some steps forward by other teams, this now 12-team conference is getting increasingly competitive. That's not to say there aren't lopsided scores, there are, but we've also seen three games within a try and four more within two tries.
Even this week's big game, a 21-point winning margin, was anything but easy for KU.
Kansas jumped out to an early lead and that was crucial.
"We had good offensive ball movement by our backline supported by stout forward defense," said Kansas Head Coach Marcus Williamson. "Kansas State wasn't done though as they came out with a quick try early in the second half."
The teams traded tries in the second half and while Kansas tried to be smart with it and slow the game down and kick the Wildcats back into their 22, they couldn't quite shake KSU.
Kansas outside center Miles Maasen was player of the game as he tested the KSU defense consistently.
The addition of Oklahoma from the Lonestar and also Wayne State and UHSP has made the conference better.
UHSP is 1-2 and did score 16 against Kansas. Wayne State Lost to Iowa State but did beat Nebraska and Minnesota. In the latter win they did lose captain Trent Draper and hooker Cam Rhodes when the two players clashed heads. So the hope is they will be OK. Minnesota hung on somewhat in the first half but as the game opened up Wayne State's speed told the tale. Flanker Diego Stefani scored three tries in the second half.
