College Football Rankings: Way-too-early Top 25 projections for 2018
By Zach Bigalke
Bill Snyder is returning to lead Kansas State next season, after some uncertainty about his future in Manhattan. The Wildcats will get a sentimental bump from pollsters that will hope to see Snyder put together one of his vintage runs at the Big 12 title before riding off into the sunset.
They will read deeply into a 35-17 win over UCLA in the Cactus Bowl. In some ways, the pollsters might read too deeply into that result. The Bruins, playing without NFL-bound Josh Rosen, had a solid day through the air from new starter Devon Modster. The sophomore threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns against the Wildcats defense.
Where Kansas State excelled was in bottling up the run when they didn’t have the ball and churning out hard yards on the ground when they did have the football. The Wildcats quickly went from starter Skylar Thompson back to former starter Alex Delton in a season of musical chairs at quarterback. Delton didn’t offer much more help through the air, finishing 7-of-10 for 52 yards and a touchdown. But he ran 20 times for 158 yards and three scores to fuel the win.
With multiple quarterbacks returning next year, Kansas State is in both an enviable and unenviable position. Expectations will be high, and the Wildcats will land somewhere in the 20s of the preseason AP Top 25 as a result of those expectations.