A star quarterback returning, a new face at head coach, and the particularly urgent desire to make up for an outlier year. What do all of these have in common? Two things actually: they’re all important in gauging how a team will do in the upcoming season, and they all apply to Kansas State.
Such an overwhelming, conflicting list of factors makes this schedule evaluation more unique than the ones I usually take on, so I was all the more eager to dig into K-State’s calendar and clear the air on what 2026 had in store for the Wildcats…imagine my surprise when I discovered that the slate doesn’t help at all.
That’s right, despite my knack for arrogantly packing games into a record I confidently believe in, I couldn’t get over how difficult KSU’s case was to crack. Its schedule has to be one of the blurriest I’ve ever seen, including 11 games that one could argue as being “go-either-way.”
It could have to do with some opposition also going through transitional periods, or perhaps rugged rivalry implications, or maybe even the simple fact that none of said opposition seems great (2025 toughness peaks at Houston, who will be in Manhattan with the Cats off a bye), but regardless, the only safe bet appears to be Nicholls.
Therefore, forget trying to nail an exact record; I’m just trying to see if Kansas State can improve, as last season’s dip was disheartening for Wildcats everywhere. But how grand of an improvement should we be prowling for?
To me, a respectable improvement for a team of K-State’s recent standard would be finishing the regular season with eight wins; not great, but in no way bad, especially when considering the hypercompetitive nature of the Big 12 beyond its top couple of teams. So the question stands: are there eight games on the agenda that I can see the Wildcats winning?
After Nicholls, they host Washington State (a winner in spite of its many setbacks) and Tulane (good but small) before getting on the road to face Cincinnati (started hot, finished cold). See? Blurry. However, I can imagine a squad like KSU being 4-0 after all that, so if we’re seeking even the thinnest opportunities for victory, we have to take those in.
Then it’s Houston off the bye with Homecoming versus Kansas closely following. Again, not the easiest games, but with preparedness assisting against the Cougars and modern memory doing the same against the Jayhawks, those guys making for two more wins is possible.
At that point, just grab whatever pair of stinkers you can assemble for potential wins seven and eight, like Colorado and Oklahoma State. Although they’re both sure to rise from last year, we can’t comfortably say they’ll rise high enough to survive the Cats.
So, to make a long story short, I think the formidable K-State we’d grown used to can come back around, but unlike with most other dives I do into teams, I can’t come back up and safely declare whether it will. But look at that as a positive, Wildcats—it means your 2026 story should certainly be a suspenseful one. Nobody likes boring anyway.
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