The coveted K-State intramural champion T-shirts are once again on the line this semester, as the spring sessions of intramural sports have begun.

Traditionally, basketball is one of the most popular sports offered by intramural services. In the five divisions offered - fraternity, independent, residence hall, women's and co-recreational - there are more than 250 teams signed up for competition.

To add even more spirit to the competition, talks are underway to televise the intramural basketball championships on Cox Cable Channel 8. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but with the volleyball championships being well-received during the fall semester on the same channel, Marian Brandenberg, an administrative specialist for the Peters Recreation Complex, said they hope to make this happen again.

Paul Titterington, senior in management and non-profit leadership and member of the independent basketball league team Stomp the Yard, said he's excited about the possibility of being able to play on TV.

"It would be awesome to get the opportunity to do something like that my senior year, even if it was just on local cable," Titterington said. "I think it would be cool if [intramural services] could hook something up to have the K-State champs play against the KU champs. I know other schools do that kind of thing with their rivals. That would really add to the competition."

Basketball might be the most popular activity sponsored by the K-State Recreational Services, but some of the other individual sports like doubles table tennis, doubles racquetball and even wallyball have full brackets. Max Thomas, junior in economics, was one of about 80 K-State teams in the doubles table-tennis bracket.

"It's a great chance to go out and play a sport that is usually hard to find other competitors," Thomas said. "Table tennis is one of those sports more about the sanctity of the game as opposed to the direct competition you find in sports like basketball."

New to the intramural slate this year are indoor soccer and a disc-golf tournament. These two events were created to fill the void after recreational services decided to end the intramural track meet. Disc golfers and ultimate frisbee athletes pushed to add the disc-golf tournament to the intramural activities list.

"Many of the same students that played ultimate frisbee in the fall asked for us to set something up at Tuttle Creek State Park, as they have a very nice course design there," Brandenberg said.

The indoor soccer tournament was also created from high K-State student participation. The one-day tournament will take place on April 5, and entries will be accepted from March 31 to April 3. The disc golf tournament will take place April 26 with entries accepted from April 21-24.

Another semester of intramural activities will wrap up in May with 23 new champions in either team or individual sports. For students involved in spring intramurals, the next several months will be full of games and matches. But for those aiming to earn a much-coveted intramural champion T-shirts, it might be well-worth the effort.