It’s officially bowl season, and somehow Iowa State and Kansas State have both decided they’ve had enough football for the year.
Yeah, seriously.
Both programs have turned down bowl invitations and won’t be suiting up this December. The reasoning? Coaching changes, roster continuity, and a whole bunch of internal noise that made playing one more game seem like more trouble than it’s worth. You don’t see it happen often, especially from two teams with bowl eligibility, but here we are.
For Iowa State, the timing just wasn’t right. After losing Matt Campbell to Penn State and watching their coaching staff start to scatter, the Cyclones figured jumping into a bowl game with a patchwork setup wasn’t going to help anybody. They finished 8-4 and had a case for a solid bowl invite, but chose to shut it down early instead. In their eyes, prepping for 2026 with a full reset made more sense than tossing together a glorified exhibition game.
Kansas State, meanwhile, is going through its own transition. With Chris Klieman stepping away and Collin Klein taking over, the Wildcats were facing a weird middle ground. Do you let the outgoing staff handle the bowl, rush Klein in to lead it, or hand the keys to a temp coach? None of the options really screamed “great idea,” and with the roster in flux, they voted to pack it in.
Here’s the kicker, though: the Big 12 isn’t thrilled. Word is that both schools are going to be fined $500,000 for turning down their bowl invites. That’s the cost of going against the grain. Bowl games bring money, attention, and a chance to rep the league. Skipping out throws a wrench in those plans.
Still, it’s not that hard to understand. These are two programs that don’t want to limp into a bowl game with half a staff and a bunch of portal-bound starters. It’s not ideal, but it’s probably better than getting run off the field and setting a sour tone heading into the offseason.
So yeah, no Cyclones and no Wildcats this postseason. Unusual? For sure. But in today’s college football, where player movement and coaching chaos are constants, maybe it’s just the new normal.
