Kansas State Football Kicks Off In 100 Days
By Dave Thoman
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
That’s right folks, 100 days from now the Kansas State Wildcats will be facing off against the North Dakota State Bison on August 30 to kick off the 2013 football season. There’s as much excitement as there is trepidation coming into this year. Gone are Arthur Brown and almost all the other defensive starters, Heisman contender Collin Klein, and Chris Harper and Braden Wilson who were both selected in the NFL draft, as well as All-Conference special teams selections kicker Anthony Cantele and punter Ryan Doerr.
However, the team returns every member of the best offensive line in the league, All-American safety Ty Zimmerman, and one of the league’s best backs in John Hubert – not to mention an all-star wide receiver duo highlighted by Tyler Lockett. The linebacking unit is also expected to be stellar and the quarterback situation is merely a problem of picking the better of two excellent players in Daniel Sams and Jake Waters.
So where does K-State stand coming into the season? The majority of media pick the Wildcats to be in the thick of what should be a five-team horserace for the Big 12 crown – five of the conference’s teams are ranked between 10 and 25. And in 100 days everyone should look for a potential upset opening night as K-State has a bad habit of falling asleep at the wheel in home openers against lower division competition, while North Dakota State is one team you don’t want to sleep on.
As such, I’ve included the team’s schedule below and ranked on a scale of 1-5 my degree of confidence in the team’s ability to win.
| 08/30/13 | vs. North Dakota State | Manhattan, Kan. | 4 |
| 09/07/13 | vs. Louisiana-Lafayette | Manhattan, Kan. | 5 |
| 09/14/13 | vs. Massachusetts | Manhattan, Kan. | 5 |
| 09/21/13 | at Texas * | Austin, Texas | 2 |
| 10/05/13 | at Oklahoma State * | Stillwater, Okla. | 2 |
| 10/12/13 | vs. Baylor * | Manhattan, Kan. | 3 |
| 10/26/13 | vs. West Virginia * | Manhattan, Kan. | 4 |
| 11/02/13 | vs. Iowa State * | Manhattan, Kan. | 4 |
| 11/09/13 | at Texas Tech * | Lubbock, Texas | 4 |
| 11/16/13 | vs. TCU * | Manhattan, Kan. | 2 |
| 11/23/13 | vs. Oklahoma * | Manhattan, Kan. | 3 |
| 11/30/13 | at Kansas * | Lawrence, Kan. | 5 |
If I could see one game and one game only this year, I’d go with TCU in Manhattan. However, every game should be a battle this year and I can’t wait to get this show on the row. So how about it, Wildcat fanatics – any games on the schedule that particularly scare you? Am I too worried about some of these match ups?