K-State Wildcats vs. LSU Tigers: Texas Bowl score prediction, betting line, time, TV
THE DETAILS
Kickoff: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: NRG Stadium, Houston
TV: ESPN
Radio: KCSP 610 AM in Kansas City and KKGQ 92.3 FM in Wichita
The line: K-State by 7
Prediction
It has been interesting to watch the betting line shift heavily in Kansas State’s favor over the past few weeks.
When the Texas Bowl announced K-State and LSU as its participants in early December, the Tigers were a slim favorite. But LSU quickly lost several of its key players to “opt outs” and the NCAA transfer portal, including its starting quarterback. Just like that, the Wildcats were suddenly favored.
The line has moved more toward K-State until it jumped all the way up to a touchdown when The Athletic reported Monday that LSU will only have 39 scholarship players available for the game.
LSU is expected to start unproven players at several positions. Nowhere will that be more noticeable than at quarterback, where the Tigers are expected to play some combination of walk-on Tavion Faulk and converted wide receiver Jontre Kirklin.
Expect the Tigers to keep the ball on the ground and run plenty out of a wildcat formation.
With all that in mind, the Wildcats certainly deserve to be favored in this matchup.
Not only is their roster at nearly full strength, senior quarterback Skylar Thompson is back in command of the offense. K-State went 6-3 with Thompson as its starter this season, and he should be ready to pick up where he left off in his final college game.
The Wildcats also seem more motivated to play on Tuesday, as a victory over LSU would look good in the record books regardless of roster circumstances.
Still, this might not be an easy game for K-State. Even with only half its roster, LSU has lots of talented players who are eager to showcase their skills in front of a national TV audience. The Wildcats also had all kinds of trouble stopping Texas when it ran Roschon Johnson out of the wildcat formation in the final game of the regular season. Johnson rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown, and the Longhorns won 22-17.
Nobody knows what game plan LSU will use for this game. But if the Tigers take a similar approach, K-State will need to be much stronger on defense.
Here’s guessing that happens. Even if it doesn’t, K-State will have a much larger margin for error in this game than LSU. Everything is set up for the Wildcats to finish out the season with a victory in Houston.
K-State 33, LSU 23.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 5:00 AM with the headline "K-State Wildcats vs. LSU Tigers: Texas Bowl score prediction, betting line, time, TV."