K-State bowl projections: Wildcats in mix for half a dozen postseason games
The Kansas State football team will return to the postseason and play in a bowl game under new coach Chris Klieman later this year, but it’s difficult to project where the Wildcats are headed.
As many as six bowls seem like realistic possibilities with two games remaining in the regular season.
If the Wildcats finish with victories over Texas Tech and Iowa State they could climb as high as the Alamo Bowl, the Big 12’s top bowl tie-in outside of the playoff and New Year’s Six games. But they could also fall to the First Responder Bowl, the Big 12’s lowest bowl tie-in, if they end on a four-game losing streak.
None of the prominent websites that project bowl games can agree on K-State (6-4, 3-4 Big 12). ESPN has it slated for the Cheez-It Bowl against San Diego State. CBS thinks the Wildcats will end up in the Alamo Bowl and play Utah. Sporting News has them pegged for the Camping World Bowl against Virginia Tech.
When Chris Klieman said “we’ve got a ton to play for still” following Saturday’s loss to West Virginia, he might as well have been talking about bowl positioning.
“It excites us because of what bowl eligibility means for us,” Klieman said Monday during the Big 12 teleconference, “not only for your program and in recruiting and those things, but the development of having some extra practices throughout the month of December with all the young guys we have in the program. Once we get to that phase, we will look at that and be excited about giving those guys a lot of repetition to keep moving the program forward.”
Two things will ultimately decide where K-State plays this bowl season:
1. How K-State finishes the regular season compared to fellow 6-4 teams Texas and Iowa State, as well as 7-3 Oklahoma State. The Wildcats could jump any of them in the final standings.
2. Can Oklahoma play its way into the top four? A playoff appearance by the Sooners would boost every other team’s bowl stock in the conference and send the Big 12’s second-place team to the Sugar Bowl. If the Sooners get left out, that means there will be one less spot for every other team.
There are currently six bowl-eligible teams in the Big 12: Oklahoma, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Texas and K-State.
Three more teams are still pushing to become bowl eligible: TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia. The Horned Frogs can join the party with one more victory, while the Red Raiders and Mountaineers need to win their final two games to finish 6-6.
The only team that has been eliminated from the postseason mix is Kansas.
K-State wants to end the year in the best game possible.
“For seniors it is their final three games that they have left,” Klieman said. “You want to make sure those guys go out on a great note, as well as us building this program … That’s all we talked about when the season started. We were hoping we’d win a bunch of games, didn’t know if that was going to happen, we knew we’d have some growing pains. But each day getting better and leaving a legacy for the seniors to say in their last year, our first year as a staff, ‘We were able to get things rolling.’”
Here is a look at K-State’s potential bowl destinations, listed in the order they will be selected:
Alamo Bowl
6:30 p.m. Dec. 31 in San Antonio, Texas
A lot will need to go right for K-State to earn its first bowl invitation to the Alamodome since 2015. Not only will the Wildcats need to win their final two games, they will need to jump Oklahoma State and Texas in the league standings. They will also need Baylor and Oklahoma to make the playoff or appear in major bowls.
Outlook: This seems like a longshot, but it’s not impossible K-State could wind up playing a Pac-12 opponent with a strong enough finish.
Camping World Bowl
11 a.m. Dec. 28 in Orlando, Florida
Fun fact: K-State has never played a bowl game in Florida. That could make the Wildcats an appealing team for this bowl against Notre Dame or an ACC opponent. But they will need to win their final two games and hope for some good fortune elsewhere to be in the mix.
Outlook: It’s possible with an 8-4 record.
Texas Bowl
5:45 p.m. Dec. 27 in Houston
Jumping Texas will be key for K-State if it wants to spend the postseason at NRG Stadium against a SEC team. The Texas Bowl loves to invite teams from the Lone Star State. At the moment, both teams are 6-4, but the Longhorns have a better conference record and beat the Wildcats in Austin. If Texas is off the board, Iowa State could also be in play here.
Outlook: K-State’s final game against the Cyclones could be a deciding factor here.
Liberty Bowl
2:45 p.m. Dec. 31 in Memphis
This game against a SEC opponent becomes a likely destination if K-State splits its final two games. The Wildcats last played in the Liberty Bowl in 2016 and lost to Arkansas.
Outlook: K-State could be Memphis-bound if it beats Texas Tech and loses to Iowa State.
Cheez-It Bowl
9:15 p.m. Dec. 27 in Phoenix
K-State might have to settle for another trip to Chase Field shortly after Christmas if it loses to both Texas Tech and Iowa State. At 6-6 and on a four-game losing streak, it’s hard to envision a bowl higher up in the Big 12 selection order choosing K-State. The Wildcats beat UCLA here two years when the game was called the Cactus Bowl.
Outlook: This bowl might also have eyes on TCU, Texas Tech or West Virginia if they become bowl eligible.
First Responder Bowl
11:30 a.m. Dec. 30 in Dallas
The Wildcats have never played in this bowl, which pits a Big 12 team against an AAC opponent at SMU’s Gerald J. Ford Stadium. One more win will likely prevent them from sliding here.
Outlook: This game is on the table with a 6-6 record, if the Big 12 misses out on the playoff.
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 12:18 PM with the headline "K-State bowl projections: Wildcats in mix for half a dozen postseason games."