In just about every way, the Big 12, Kansas State and Iowa State came out winners in Saturday’s game in Dublin, Ireland. The Big 12 got a mammoth amount of free publicity. Commissioner Brett Yormark was a man about town making the league a global conference. Big 12 partner WWE was in town.
I must admit I had a huge case of FOMO all week following Kansas State and Iowa State fans on social media. Special shout out to Kansas State fan Alison Renner, whom I’ve met a couple of times down here in Texas, for finally “splitting the G” on a glass of Guinness on the 15th try (I think?). Hey, the pint — I mean the point — is she didn’t give up. And neither did the Wildcats — until the clock ran out on a 24-21 loss to the Cyclones.
But from the tailgating to the stadium environment to seeing a 50-50 split in the stands, it was a great week. Yes, Ireland doesn’t appear to know the difference between the Kansas state flag and a Kansas State Wildcats flag, but we’ll give them a pass.
The only problem in a game like this is somebody must lose it. Kansas State lost it, and now it makes the road to the Big 12 championship game and a berth in the College Football Playoff appreciably harder. After all this was a conference game and the Wildcats are now 0-1 in league play and we haven’t even hit September yet.
It’s one thing to play three non-conference games and then play a conference opener. Sure, most Big 12 teams play at least one power conference team in non-conference. But those teams also get opportunities to fine tune themselves against a Group of 5 team and, in some cases, an FCS team (hey Houston, my SFA Lumberjacks are coming for you on Thursday). The reality is by the time you finish those three games you’re basically ready for a conference game.
Kansas State and Iowa State didn’t have that advantage. They had to go in cold and play a conference game, which I think is one of the worst things in college football. But the opportunity to play in Ireland was simply too good to pass up. But the loser knew the score. They’re behind the eight-ball. Here’s why.
Kansas State’s Problematic Road Ahead
The Wildcats won’t have a bye week after the trip to Dublin (neither will Iowa State, but at least the Cyclones have a league win). And Kansas State’s schedule the next three weeks isn’t exactly easy. First, it’s North Dakota on Saturday in Manhattan. North Dakota went 5-7 last year. UND could make this a game if the Wildcats haven’t acclimated back to central time by then.
But it’s the next two games that are worrisome. After UND, Kansas State hosts Army West Point. The Black Knights are one of the hardest teams to prepare for and play against because of their triple-option offense. Few schools outside of the service academies use it and the Black Knights have the execution down to a science. They specialize in scaring the heck out of Power 4 teams on the road. Go ask Oklahoma if you don’t believe me.
After that, it’s a trip to Tucson to face Arizona. This isn’t a conference game. It’s the return game on a non-conference contract the two schools signed before the Wildcats joined the league. The two schools opted to keep the game instead of canceling it. Kansas State handled Arizona last year, but that game was in Manhattan. Arizona will be hungry for revenge, and they’ll be trying to set the table for Big 12 play.
This isn’t to say the Cyclones have it easy. They have no bye week and host last year’s FCS semifinalist, South Dakota, next Saturday. After that, they face Iowa and follow that with a trip to Arkansas State. But the difference is Iowa State could lose all three of those games and it would still be undefeated in Big 12 play.
Kansas State doesn’t have that luxury. That’s why losing hurts twice. First, the loss and second the road ahead gives them far less room to maneuver as they Wildcats try to get back to the Big 12 title game for the first time since 2022.
