Most Big 12 football teams are selling beer. Why not the Wildcats? A K-State Q&A

It’s rare for a Kansas State football fan to feel jealous about anything that happens at Iowa State.

Even when the Cyclones are good in football, like they were for an extended stretch with Matt Campbell, or they are advancing beyond the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in men’s basketball, like they have done several times under TJ Otzelberger, the Wildcats don’t like giving any credit to their Farmageddon rivals.

But Iowa State did something earlier this week that no doubt left a large chunk of Kansas State fans feeling green with envy.

The Cyclones announced that they will begin selling beer and alcohol throughout the entirety of Jack Trice Stadium during home football games, starting just in time for the 2026 season.

That decision makes K-State one of the few remaining schools in the Big 12 that doesn’t allow widespread beer sales during home football games.

Twelve schools in the conference have embraced alcohol sales: Arizona, Arizona State, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, UCF and West Virginia.

Only four Big 12 schools limit beer sales. They are BYU, Baylor, K-State and Utah.

It makes sense that three of those schools have been resistant. BYU and Baylor are both private, religious schools that simply aren’t into that type of thing. And Utah is located in, well, Utah.

But there is no obvious reason for K-State to restrict beer sales. The Wildcats have sold alcoholic drinks at baseball and basketball games for years without incident. They also offer alcohol, beer and wine at various spots inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. Fans can drink beer in the suites, at the beer garden and also in one special section on the north side of the venue.

They just don’t sell it at every concession stand along the main concourse.

Why not? There are a few reasons. Some fans have informed K-State athletic director Gene Taylor that they prefer the current setup because it allows them to exit and re-enter the stadium at their leisure. This is a convenient option for anyone who likes to continue drinking beverages at their tailgate after the game has begun.

Taylor also told me in an interview last year that “there are some physical limitations to our building that we may have to work through before we do it.”

But those don’t seem like good reasons to prevent widespread beer sales.

Iowa State finally gave in because the Cyclones want to start making money off it. That makes sense. These days, Big 12 schools need to generate revenue in any way they can. If selling beer adds an extra $1 million to the athletics budget, why not do it?

It would be wise for K-State to join the party.

For the record, I do expect K-State to join the fold and begin selling beer throughout Bill Snyder Family Stadium in the near future.

If Kansas and Iowa State are both doing it, K-State can’t be far behind.

But the Wildcats aren’t ready at the moment. That leaves them oddly aligned with Baylor, BYU and Utah instead of their closest rivals.

Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them:

Kansas State’s recruiting class is up to 27 members for 2027! Which incoming players are you high on? - Jeff M. via e-mail.

Cooper Ohnmacht is a four-star defensive back and the top-rated recruit in the Sunflower State. He obviously stands out of the crowd.

Ditto for Joshua Vilmael, a four-star recruit who has an older brother on the K-State football roster. That is another obvious pick.

It gets harder to identify exciting players when they are all rated the same. But I will give it a shot.

Finn Walker makes the cut based on his hair alone. The 6-foot-6 and 245-pound defensive lineman looks like Avery Johnson’s muscular little brother. He has an ideal body, he held scholarship offers from several other Big 12 schools and he seems genuinely excited about his future with the Wildcats. I am excited to see how he develops.

Joseph Graves also looks like he will be an impact defensive lineman. Let’s hope he tackles as hard in games as his mom did on his official visit.

Would you rather ride in a Harley on Harley Day or be in a helicopter as they fly over the K-State football stadium on Fort Riley Day? -@scottwildcat via X.

My first instinct was to pick the flyover in a helicopter.

How awesome would it be to fly over Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a military chopper? Talk about a memorable experience.

But the more I think about it, being on the turf for Harley Day has merits of its own. The best one: You are the center of attention as you circle the field. You can rev your engine, you can wave to the crowd and you take selfies. Best of all, you can watch the game when you’re done.

If you are flying on a helicopter, you have to land at Fort Riley and then drive back to the game ... for halftime.

A flyover feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So I would still probably pick that. But don’t sleep on Harley Day.

Please explain to me how Kansas State couldn’t convince Keaton Wagler, Bennett Stirtz or Cameron Carr to wear purple before they were selected in the NBA Draft earlier this week. - Adam G. via e-mail.

There isn’t much mystery surrounding Keaton Wagler and Bennett Stirtz.

Jerome Tang didn’t recruit them. That’s why they never played for K-State.

For reasons that don’t make much sense in hindsight, Tang completely ignored a pair of future first round NBA Draft picks in his own region.

In his defense, plenty of other schools passed on Wagler. And Stirtz went to a Division II college straight out of high school. It’s not like everyone thought they were slam-dunk prospects.

But alarm bells should have been going off when teams like Wichita State, and eventually Illinois, started looking at Wagler. Stirtz said this week that he was “a K-State guy,” but the Wildcats never offered him.

What could have been.

K-State did try to convince Stirtz to transfer to Manhattan after he had a breakout season at Drake. But by then he was attached to head coach Ben McCollum and he followed him to Iowa.

The Wildcats did recruit Carr, but he simply wasn’t interested in playing for K-State.

K-State fired Tang because he lost way too many games. Striking out on local recruits like the ones mentioned above make his last few years in Manhattan seem even worse.

The Detroit Pistons selecting Ugonna Onyenso in the second round of the NBA Draft was also a bad look for Tang. He spent a lot of money to get Onyenso on campus, but he played so poorly for the Wildcats that he barely got off the bench. Then he left for Virginia and morphed into a NBA center.

Talk about a bad coaching job.

But I digress ...

On the bright side, for K-State fans: New coach Casey Alexander has already offered some high school recruits in Kansas City. And he wants to recruit Wichita.

There is hope that the next three NBA Draft picks from this region will at least receive a call from K-State basketball.

Kellis Robinett

The Wichita Eagle

Kellis Robinett covers Kansas State athletics for The Wichita Eagle and The Kansas City Star. A winner of more than a dozen national writing awards, he lives in Manhattan with his wife and four children.