Despite many in the world of college sports believing that the Big 12 Conference will not place a team in the College Football Playoff as an at-large bid, On3’s Andy Staples is not one of them.
In a recent College Football Playoff projection, Staples listed Chris Klieman and the Kansas State Wildcats as the No. 11 seed in the 2024 playoffs.
“Will we get a second Big 12 program in the CFP? That will depend on whether enough teams in the league can avoid surprising losses,” Staples said. “The Wildcats have one of those (at BYU), but they also have excellent wins against Arizona and Oklahoma State. We won’t see Kansas State again until Oct. 12, but that will be an intriguing matchup with Colorado, which hammered UCF on Saturday. Will a Big Ten or SEC team win its way into this spot between now and then? Maybe. The teams that would be ranked between 11 and 20 all seem pretty similar at the moment.”
Two other fellow Big 12 league members, Arizona and Utah, were listed in the “First four out” category following Kansas State.
The Wildcats are coming off of a massive win in Week 5, blowing out No. 20 Oklahoma State, 42-20. Led by rising star quarterback Avery Johnson, Kansas State rallied back into the win column after suffering a brutal loss to BYU the previous week. Johnson recorded an incredible five scores on the day, three through the air and two on the ground.
The Wildcats are on a bye Week 6 after starting 4-1 and 1-1 in league play. When they return, No. 20 Kansas State will clash with Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes on the road in Boulder on Saturday, October 12th.
