Why three Big 12 bowls snubbed K-State and how Gene Taylor hopes Wildcats fans respond
Kansas State football fans were understandably peeved Sunday afternoon when the Wildcats fell to the bottom of the Big 12’s postseason pecking order and had to settle for an invitation to the Liberty Bowl.
Even though there are plenty of positives about a New Year’s Eve game in Memphis, Tenn. against Navy it was hard for anyone that bleeds purple to appreciate them when the announcement came because they were expecting something bigger and better.
Sunday began with fans hoping for an invitation to one of the Big 12’s best bowl games, such as the Alamo Bowl against Utah or the Camping World Bowl against Notre Dame. Either destination would have been fun. Heck, even an invite to the Texas Bowl against Texas A&M would have felt adequate.
But none of that happened. Instead, all three bowls snubbed the Wildcats in favor of teams that finished tied for third with them in the conference standings.
K-State athletic director Gene Taylor painted the Liberty Bowl as a blessing in disguise Sunday evening, saying that the folks in Memphis “are going to roll out the red carpet” for the Wildcats and that K-State fans are going cherish the unique opportunity to play against Navy and “the incredible experience that goes along with playing against the Naval Academy.”
Football coach Chris Klieman also expressed excitement about the game and said players were pumped when they learned about the matchup.
Still, the Liberty Bowl came as a surprise for many considering K-State arguably had the best resume of the Big 12’s third-place teams. After all, it finished the regular season 8-4 and defeated playoff-bound Oklahoma along the way.
But the Alamo Bowl chose Texas for its name and proximity to San Antonio, even though the Longhorns only won seven games. And the Camping World Bowl selected Iowa State for its big traveling fan base, even though the Cyclones only won seven games and finished November with a loss against the Wildcats.
Oklahoma State went 8-4 and beat K-State at the start of Big 12 play, so the Wildcats can’t gripe too much about dropping behind the Cowboys. But that landed K-State in the Big 12’s least prestigious available bowl.
Perhaps it’s time for the Big 12 to institute some type of selection guidelines for its bowl partners to eliminate some of the uncertainty that goes into Selection Sunday.
“I don’t know how much different you could do,” Taylor said. “Obviously, you want the bowls to be able to get matchups that maybe they haven’t had in a while. Sometimes, when you put in really tough parameters that limits that. We can talk about that, but I’m not going to make it a major priority.”
The Big 12 is currently hands off during the selection process. Its bowls are allowed to choose any team they want and for any reason. They typically follow the standings, but when several teams are jumbled together like this year with Iowa State, K-State, Oklahoma State and Texas all going 5-4 in conference play, they have no set tiebreakers.
For example: Taylor said the Alamo Bowl and Camping World Bowl both expressed “heavy interest” in K-State throughout the week but began looking at other teams when it became clear Utah was not going to be selected for a playoff-affiliated bowl. The Alamo Bowl was comfortable with K-State vs. Southern California, but once Utah was attached from the Pac-12 instead of the Trojans the bowl game switched its Big 12 preference to Texas, presumably to enhance TV ratings.
“I think it was all really dependent on matchups,” Taylor said. “If USC had ended up in the Alamo Bowl we probably would have ended up in the Alamo Bowl. l think that was a factor for some reason. It’s just matchups and crowds and eyes on TVs. All that stuff factored into it.”
Whatever the case, that decision sent K-State into a free fall. The Camping World Bowl was hoping to grab Texas itself and match it against Notre Dame, but once the Longhorns were off the board the game picked the Cyclones.
That was the hardest outcome for K-State fans to swallow, as they also have a strong history of traveling to bowl games and the Wildcats beat the Cyclones last week. Taylor said the Texas Bowl seemed dead set on Oklahoma State, as the Cowboys have never before played in the game.
Taylor didn’t express much, if any, frustration about the Liberty Bowl. He seems genuinely excited about it. K-State has never before played Navy, and Taylor thinks enough things will be different about the setup of the game, including the team hotel moving from the suburbs to downtown Memphis, that it will feel like a different experience than the Wildcats’ last trip there in 2016.
But Taylor has a message for any K-State fan who is seriously upset about K-State’s postseason destination. He hopes you will still consider attending the game and help prove the Wildcats have a team and fan base that is worth selecting higher in the bowl order in future years.
“We need to travel well to Memphis and prove what we’re about,” Taylor said. “ If we don’t, how is that going to look the next time we get in this situation? Bowls want fans to travel.
“We have always done that and we need to do it again for the Liberty Bowl. There’s no reason not to. We are going to play an awesome team and it’s going to be a hell of a game.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2019 at 5:00 AM.