Two Creighton women’s basketball players and Nebraska natives represented the Runza in a snack bracket challenge on the “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”  

“The Kelly Clarkson Show” hosted a snack bracket challenge for teams that qualified for the NCAA March Madness Tournament. The theme of the bracket was “beloved regional foods.”  

Morgan Maly, a junior guard/forward in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Jayme Horan, a junior guard in the College of Nursing, learned about the opportunity to present the Nebraska staple, the Runza, from Glen Sisk, associate sports information director.  

The Clarkson producers reached out to Sisk about the segment, and they tried to contact Runza but had the wrong contact information, said Becky Perrett, director of marketing of Runza Restaurants. 

Maly and Horan found this opportunity to be fitting as the only two players from Nebraska on the team.  

“Being from a small town – Crete, Nebraska – I only have three or four chain restaurants, so I grew up on Runza,” Maly said. 

“It was very nice to represent and show the world this little place that many do not know about except if you are from the Midwest,” said Horan, who is from Omaha.    

During the competition, Horan and Maly faced Adam Kunkel, senior guard from Xavier University via Zoom along with Clarkson. The Big East rivalry of Creighton and Xavier continues to deepen; Not only are they in the same athletic conference, but they are competitors in style of food too.  

“It was funny that we went against another Big East university since it was not playing basketball, but a completely different competition. We knew who he was, which is cool because we do not always get to interact with other male players from the Big East,” Horan said. 

Kunkel and Xavier represented Cincinnati chili, which is famous for its sweeter taste than traditional chili and often served on spaghetti. The Runza is ground beef, onions, spices and cabbage, baked inside fresh bread.   

Maly and Horan quickly sold Kelly Clarkson on the Runza during their presentation as the singer tasted each of the snacks.  

“I would describe a Runza as a warm, soft, buttery meat roll with an outer breading that encapsulates the inner ingredients,” Maly told Clarkson.  

“This is a fancy-ass Hot Pocket,” Clarkson said after taking a bite. 

Creighton, with the Runza, advanced to the final four where they lost to Furman University with BBQ hash and rice, to advance to the championship. Furman University faced the University of Oklahoma, with the onion burger. Overall, the University of Oklahoma won the Final Fork trophy. 

According to Perrett, the appearance on the show was a total surprise within the Runza company. 

Runza appreciated how Horan and Maly represented Creighton and their restaurant, Perrett said.   

“Our signature sandwich is unique, and everyone has their own way of describing it. ‘Baked inside homemade bread’ is always part of my description, so the ‘outer breading’ comment was spot on,” said Perrett. 

Even though the Runza did not win the snack bracket competition, Horan said she liked the attention the show brought to the state and the sandwich. 

 “The Runza is a staple for our team and the state of Nebraska. Everyone knows the Runza is legit.”