Kansas and RCT: A Year in Review

Jan 1, 2023 - 7:05 PM

2022 has been a year of changes and celebrations at RCT. We said goodbye to a few members and hello to some new ones. We saw a national championship and the resurgence of a football team. I wanted to take the time and look back on some of the memorable moments from KU and RCT over this past year.

The year started with a delayed conference opener and a matchup with George Mason. The Jayhawks started with a bang and a 76-67 win. The Jayhawks went 7-2 in January but ending the month with a blowout home loss to Kentucky dampened the moods of many.

In early February a major shakeup came to RCT. Mike, our fearless leader for many years, and Andy announced they would be stepping down from the site along with Fetch, Dnoll and David. With the combination of a mass exodus from the staff and the feared new commenting system Coral on the way, it was assumed RCT was dead.

As Kansas rolled through to another Big 12 conference championship, RCT survived solely on The Daily Mauling. Many commenters wrote eulogies for the site as the dreaded Coral day approached.

Finally at the end of March while KU was about to go to another final four, a new writing staff had been hired. Nick was hired as site manager while Charles and Tim came on as staff writers. Nick had to leave after a short time and Charles left at the end of the summer to focus on his own career. Tim, of course, is still killing it on RCT.

April was a great time to be a Jayhawk fan. David McCormack put in an amazing effort in the final four game vs Villanova to put the Jayhawks in the championship game against North Carolina (also Coach K lost lolol). Despite an ugly first half and trailing 15 points, KU loaded the wagon in the second half giving Coach Self his second national championship ring.

The end of April brought along one of the biggest changes for the site: the introduction of, Coral . The new commenting system had been seen on other sites and was long dreaded as a site killer. Although we did lose at least one member to the change, the new platform has been mostly fine.

After the rollout of Coral, RCT was still without a leader. I decided that what RCT needed was to hire from within. As the only “old timer” on staff, I decided it was my turn to take up the reins. SBNation put me in as Site Manager beginning in May. David also came back at this time to run Twitter and write articles. Rock Chalk Talk was back!

The college sports offseason came as it always does. Tim wrote some great football articles including a ranking of the most important returning players. We likely argued about 90s music and food. As a whole Jayhawk nation celebrated the national title and anxiously awaited news of sanctions.

Fall brought along the return of students to campus but more importantly, football season. While we argued on if this was the year Kansas could hit the over for season wins, the team had other plans. Kansas mauled Tennessee Tech. As Kansas fans with over a decade of disappointment, we collectively prepared ourselves for West Virginia. A Big 12 road game? We’ve seen this story before. Didn’t matter. We mauled them too. Kansas jumped out to a 5-0 start which brought College GameDay to Lawrence as well as multiple sell out crowds.

The energy was palpable. Bill Self suffering a broken leg, normally front page news, barely got a mention. For the first time in a very long time, the men’s basketball team was an afterthought. Football is back! Kansas went on to clinch bowl eligibility vs Oklahoma State and last month played in their first bowl game since 2009.

The men’s basketball team unveiled a new banner this fall. A Bill Self-less squad welcomed Jon Scheyer to the coaching ranks and went to Columbia to curb stomp the Tigers. The 4th ranked Jayhawks started conference play off with a win and hope to repeat as Big 12 champions for the second straight year.

It’s been a great year both as a Jayhawk fan and as a RCT member. As a staff, we are grateful to each and every one of you for your support. Here is to a great 2022 with more good things to come in 2023. Happy New Year!