Many times sports fans reference the "Gods of Football" or look to the sky after a rough loss and question why. The presence of an otherworldly force in college football is not even debatable. Ask any Missouri fan.
In 1994, the cosmic balance of college football was hopelessly twisted beyond the scope of human understanding. The hated Wildcats travelled east with a team good enough to finally steal a win in Lawrence. There was an overload of purple that day and as expected they were not gracious visitors. In my 15 plus years of attending games, I've never again witnessed a group of visiting fans that could even touch the level of disrespect that those "fans" brought to the pregame atmosphere. That, I suppose, was to be expected, but still way too over the top. As scripted, KSU won 21-13, and clearly emerged as the better team. What happened next defied all logic. The KSU fans tore down our goalpost. To this day, Mizzou fans raz us about letting it happen. The truth is that it was so below the belt that KU fans were totally caught off guard. Had the possibility occurred to anyone, there would have been a melee on the field, but KU fans had once again overestimated the bitter folks from the west.
As 1995 rolled around, the universe seemed ready to make amends. KU rolled out to a 4-0 start with a series of fortunate bounces against a fairly weak non-con schedule. When KU shocked #5 Colorado in Boulder 40-24, it was clear that the Gods of Football were immediately ready to correct the injustice visited upon Lawrence in 1994. KU then beat up on ISU and travelled to Norman for a rare road win against the Sooners. KU was 7-0 and heading to Manhattan with a #7 ranking to exact a measure of justice on the Wildcat Nation that only the people of Bible times could conceive.
The result. A 41-7 Kansas State beatdown. Justice denied and spit upon. The cosmic punishment continued for KU as the best football team I've watched at the university racked up 10 wins, but the celebration was muted as Glen Mason did his job reversal two-step in Hawaii. The Christmas Curse of 1995 took hold and KSU actually ran up 11 straight wins on KU as the program went into a deep football coma at the exact wrong time in history.
Mangino released us from the tyranny of KSU football in 2004. Last year, the KU win once again established the Sunflower Smackdown as a true rivalry. However, there is one debt left unpaid. The table is set nearly as it was in 1995. The time is now ... bring the justice. Set the world free.