Did Collin Klein get a favorable schedule in Year 1 with Wildcats? | K-State Q&A
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Transfer portal churn erased reliable projections; roster strength revealed midseason.
- Schedule looks favorable, but conference foes Arizona and Houston should test K-State.
- Injuries and availability will shape results; several starters listed day-to-day.
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
Let’s dive right into your questions about the Wildcats. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Now that the football schedule is out for 2026, is the floor for K-State football next season 7-5? Is the ceiling 9-3? -@IanMoon338 via X.
Trust me on this one: it is way too early to make any kind of prediction on K-State’s football record in Year 1 under Collin Klein.
I know the schedule is out and everyone wants to point out their projected record with the energy of a Squidward meme.
But the transfer portal has made it virtually impossible to know how good or bad any team is going to be from one season to the next.
K-State lost more than 30 players to the transfer portal after the 2025 season concluded. It will replace them with nearly 30 incoming transfers. Every other team in the Big 12 is dealing with similar roster turnover.
The teams that hit a home run in the portal are going to be good. The teams that strike out are going to struggle. But we won’t know which teams won the offseason until we are midway through the 2026 campaign.
I have friends who convinced themselves that K-State should have gone no worse than 9-3 last season, even though some oddsmakers set the team’s over/under wins total at 7.5. That’s not a healthy way to approach a season. It just sets you up for disappointment when the ball bounces the wrong way a few times and your team ends up going 6-6.
On the surface, K-State might get to play quite a few rebuilding teams next season. Washington State, Tulane, Oklahoma State and Iowa State are fresh off of coaching changes. Colorado and Kansas were both easy wins last season. Cincinnati won’t have Brendan Sorsby. BYU, Texas Tech and Utah aren’t on the schedule.
I admit, at first glance it looks like a favorable slate of games.
But Arizona, Arizona State and Houston should all be good. And at least some of the other teams are going to exceed expectations. What if someone in the Big 12 just hired the next Curt Cignetti?
We also have no idea how good or bad K-State will be next season under new head coach Collin Klein.
With all that in mind, I’m going to hold off on making any type of prediction.
The only thing I am sure of is that the Wildcats will get off to a better start than they did last season when they opened the year in Ireland and needed several weeks to recover from a loss to Iowa State.
Why doesn’t Kansas State play Kansas on rivalry week during football season? - @ksuwdboots via X.
It has happened before.
The Sunflower Showdown was played on Senior Day in 2022 and 2013 and 2006. More often than not, though, the Wildcats have typically played the Iowa State Cyclones on rivalry week.
I like Farmaggedon at the end of the year. It’s a good enough rivalry to add excitement to a game that is usually played in bad weather. But it’s not such a good rivalry that anyone is mad about it being played in a blizzard.
KU and K-State seem content to play the Sunflower Showdown in the middle of the season. Why? I couldn’t say.
It would be neat if the Jayhawks and the Wildcats played on the same weekend every year. But it doesn’t have to be the final game of the regular season. I believe Arizona and Arizona State are the only “protected rivals” in the Big 12 that play on rivalry weekend every year. The others are spread out.
How did we end up playing Tulane again next season? - @ChrisLobmeyer via X.
K-State and Tulane agreed to a three-game series in which the Wildcats would host two games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and the Green Wave would host one game in New Orleans.
The first two legs have already been played, with the road team winning each matchup. The series will conclude next season in Manhattan.
One interesting thing about next year’s schedule is that K-State added a home game with Washington State thinking that the Cougars would be a power-conference opponent. But Tulane, fresh off a playoff appearance, is the much bigger name on K-State’s non-conference schedule.
What’s the latest on Mobi Ikegwuruka, Elias Rapieque, Abdi Bashir and Khamari McGriff? - Jeff M. via e-mail.
Abdi Bashir will miss the next 4-6 weeks while he recovers from a broken foot.
Khamari McGriff was a late scratch from the lineup against Utah after he suffered a “freak” injury in practice and was unable to play. Jerome Tang has described him as “day to day.” He may be a game-time decision for the Kansas game.
Elias Rapieque is also considered “day to day” with an undisclosed sickness or injury, according to Tang. He has missed the past three games, but I expect him to return at some point.
Mobi Ikegwuruka has missed the past four games for unknown reasons. Tang has said almost nothing about his situation, which makes me wonder if he is out for disciplinary reasons.
What percentage of my net worth should I put on the KU money line for Saturday’s game? - @KSTATEUPRL via X.
The Jayhawks will be favored to beat the Wildcats, and (spoiler alert) I will be picked Kansas to win this game.
K-State has struggled mightily against teams that play strong defense this season. And that is what KU does best. Opponents are only shooting 28.8% from 3-point range and 45.2% against the Jayhawks this season.
It’s hard for me to see the Wildcats scoring enough points to win this game, especially with Abdi Bashir out of the lineup with a broken foot.
Still, I would not advise betting your mortgage on Kansas in this matchup.
K-State is a perfect 3-0 at home against its rival under Jerome Tang. You can throw out the records when this game is played in Manhattan. Tang certainly has his faults as a coach, but he knows how to tap into the home crowd and get maximum effort from his players for this game.
Kansas has already lost to UCF and West Virginia on the road in Big 12 play. There’s also a chance Darryn Peterson won’t play.
This is not like K-State heading to Arizona for a brutal mismatch against the nation’s No. 1 team. An upset is within the realm of possibility.
Is there any chance KU and K-State move up game time with a winter storm approaching? -@kanbowhunter via X.
Doubtful.
If they were going to change the game time they would have done it by now. Besides, they would have to play the game at noon on Friday to miss the snow.
I believe the plan is for the Jayhawks to travel to Manhattan ahead of the storm and then play the game as scheduled at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
This isn’t a K-State question, but could this be Bill Self’s last year? -@dinzerillo via X.
Chris Klieman retired at the age of 58 with some minor health problems that caused him to suffer from dizziness during a few games. So it’s certainly possible that Bill Self could decide to hang up his whistle at the age of 63. His health scares have been bigger and more public, causing him to miss games in multiple seasons.
But it sure seems like Klieman walked away because he was simply fed up with the modern state of college football.
Self doesn’t seem to have the same problems with college basketball.
No one will be shocked if Self decides to retire at the end of the season. What more does he have to prove as a coach? But he may not be wired that way. If coaching basketball still brings him joy, he could continue doing it for many more years.
Also, is Jerome Tang still on the hot seat? -@dinzerillo via X.
If Tang can beat Kansas for the fourth straight season at home, his seat will cool down for at least a little while.
But his seat will remain uncomfortable with a loss.
What are the expectations for the Bat Cats in 2026? -@BusMedicMike via X.
The Wildcats aren’t ranked in the preseason top 25, but they will once again expect to win 30-plus games and compete for a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Pete Hughes led K-State to a Regional last year and a Super Regional the year before that. Under his guidance, the Bat Cats have averaged 33 wins over the past five seasons.
K-State has brought in enough new talent for fans to expect another solid year on the diamond.