The Kansas State Wildcats will host the Kansas Jayhawks in Week 9 of the college football season. And after the Week 8 games wrapped up, it was announced on Saturday night that the game will kick off at 7:00 p.m. CST on ESPN2.
Both teams are coming off victories, as Kansas beat Houston 42-14 for their first win in Big 12 play and to improve to 2-5 on the season. The Jayhawks snapped a five-game losing streak coming out of their bye week with the win at Arrowhead Stadium.
Meantime, Kansas State dominated West Virginia in Morgantown 45-18 to improve to 3-1 in the Big 12 and 6-1 overall. Avery Johnson continues to get better for Kansas State as his confidence keeps growing. He finished with 298 passing yards and three touchdowns on the night.
Kansas State vs. Kansas Odds
According to Odds Shark, Kansas State is a 10-point favorite over Kansas. According to Wager Talk, 69% of the tickets have been on the Wildcats, but the line has not moved off of the 10-point spread favoring K-State.
The Over/Under has been at 55.5 points since the week began and has not moved.
Sunflower Showdown History
With the Kansas football program getting much better under Lance Leipold, this rivalry now has some potential. But it doesn’t change the fact it’s been all Wildcats for 15 years. The Wildcats have won every game against KU since 2009. Kansas’ last win came in a 52-21 win in 2008, when KU was led by Mark Mangino, and K-State was finishing the Ron Prince era. By the next season, Bill Snyder was back roaming the sidelines and K-State never looked back.
But overall, the Jayhawks lead the all-time series 65-51-5.
However, since Bill Snyder beat Kansas for the first time in 1991,16-12, Kansas has only beaten Kansas State five times: 1992, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Prediction: Kansas State 35, Kansas 28
The Wildcats have won every game in this series since 2008. And while K-State has the better team, KU may have finally found its offense last week in a big win over Houston following the bye week. Kansas is a dangerous team going into a rivalry. They’ve led in every one of their losses, and now have nothing to lose, while finally potentially finding some mojo.
The Cats win, but it won’t be a cake walk in Manhattan.
