soccer
In the final episode of one of college football’s longest-running TV series, Kansas State beat Kansas 29-27 before a packed, mostly purple crowd at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. It was the Wildcats’ 16th straight win in the Sunflower Showdown, and the Governor’s Cup has become a permanent fixture in Manhattan.
A win is a win, as John Morse obliquely points out in the official BotC summary. Since he’s already gotten to all the important details of the game, (and because I’m not really interested in recapping a series of offensive and defensive mishaps that nearly cost K-State the game), let’s just go over this game/rivalry numerically instead.
5839
That’s how many days it’s been since Kansas last beat Kansas State in football. The Jayhawks last won the series on November 1, 2008, and may have been the game that led to Ron Prince being fired. And for that, we owe our cousins in Lawrence some gratitude.
2007
Sticking with that theme, the last time Kansas State lost to Kansas at home in this series was in 2007, when the University of Kansas won 24-30. This team would go on to win 12 games and post the best Kansas football season in living memory. Two years later, the school fired Mark Mangino. The rest is history. Or something.
1947
Although Kansas fans like to tout the all-time series record, 64-53-5 in favor of KU, it’s worth noting that the Jayhawks’ 11-game advantage is due almost entirely to KU’s early dominance of the series, a 28-15-3 Flaw lead through the year 1947. Since then, the teams have been roughly equal in wins and losses, and that’s even taking into account Kansas State’s Futility U era. (The choice of 1947 was arbitrary on my part, and was mostly an intellectual exercise.)
122
This was the 122nd edition of the Sunflower Showdown, and is now the fourth longest active series in all of FBS. In other words, this may not be a storied competition, but it is a very historic one. (You can read more about the historically significant games in this series here.)
56
Number of Kansas natives in Kansas state list. Their views on rivalry were perfectly embodied Austin Moore waves wheat at KU fans after Jalon Daniels fumbled late in the game.
51
Chris Tennant’s 51-yard field goal sealed the win for the Wildcats. Afterwards, Tennant said he was sure he would be called upon to kick the match-winner even in the first quarter, and that he and defending champion Simon McLannan already had a baseball-themed hive ready to go.
30
There are 30 seniors (right, redshirt, COVID/med) on KU’s roster this season. That means this is probably the best-coached and most experienced team the Jayhawks have been on in years, and to their credit, this group has truly overachieved. Next year will be a true test of Lance Leipold’s prowess as a coach and recruiter.
28
K-State has scored at least 28 points in 14 of its last 15 games. The only downside to these stats is, yes, you guessed it, that surprising game in Provo.
16
How sweet! This is the Wildcats’ 16th straight win in the series, the longest such streak in the competition for either team. That probably almost didn’t happen though. You can’t keep winning games by three points. The sign of a good program is winning a lot of games. The mark of a great program is winning more games than you should lose.
8
When talking about winning games to lose, Kansas is on the other end of that spectrum. The Jayhawks have led in the fourth quarter of every game this season, all eight, but they are just 2-6 over that stretch. For whatever reason, Kansas doesn’t seem to be able to put it all together, and this heartbreaker against their in-state rival only serves to drive that point further.
2
The margin of victory in this game turned out to be the safety Kansas State got in the first half when KU’s Devin Neal was tackled in the end zone. This was a result of Kansas’ Jameel Croft’s layup in the 1st minute and his slightly rash decision to go out of bounds with the ball.
1
Kansas State is still the best football team in the state. for now. And in our hearts. Forever.
In unrelated news, Kansas State will play ACC affiliate North Carolina in a home-and-home series. The first game will be in Raleigh in 2027 with the Wolfpack making a return visit to Manhattan in 2032. I’ll just say I admire the impudence of those who think the ACC and/or Big 12 will still be around in 2032.
basketball
It’s almost time for Kansas State hoops, and while it seems a little too early for some of us (okay, maybe just me), the first game is right around the corner, an exhibition against Fort Hays State on October 29th.
Meanwhile, the former Wildcat is set to make his professional debut. Taylor Perry was selected by the Toronto Raptors in this weekend’s NBA draft. He is signing a 10-year contract, which means the Raptors can convert the one-year contract into a two-way agreement.
Golf
At the Steelwood Collegiate Championship in Loxley, Alabama, the Kansas State men’s golf team finished third in the final event of the fall season, shooting -18, with three players (Nick Mason (-17), Cooper Schultz (-9) and Ian McCrary) (-5)) is below the level for this event. Senior Mason won the event after leading the event outright, including shooting a season-best 8-under-par 64 in the second round.
soccer
Football’s version of the Sunflower Showdown didn’t go so well for the Wildcats. K-State dropped its final game of the season 2-0 to the Jayhawks. The team finished 3-12-3 (0-9-2 Big 12) in 2024, a mostly disappointing season and still far from being the worst season ever.
This might tell you something about the overall course of the program. Yes, it’s time to talk about K-State football. This is Mike DiBene’s ninth season in Manhattan and he is the program’s first and only head coach. Let us point out the fact that it is very difficult to start the software from scratch. Building a successful program from the ground up requires a host of things beyond a head coach’s control, including investment, publicity, and public interest in the program. But beyond that, there are just the things that actually happen on the field, and the Wildcats seem to fall short there as well. If winning is the only thing that breeds more wins, then we have to start winning some games.
Is it time for new blood in Manhattan? Discusses.
volleyball
These haven’t been the best of times for the VolleyCats either. But as we head into the second half of the season, Kansas State at least started with a win, a hard-fought five-set win over Iowa State in Ames, 21-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-23. , 20-22.
The VolleyCats dominated a roller-coaster fifth set behind Aliyah Carter’s team-leading 30 kills, 10 of which came in the deciding set alone. She was pretty much unstoppable throughout the match and had plenty of help from teammate Izzy Szulczewski.
Kansas State will return home to take on West Virginia at Morgan Family Arena at 6:30pm on October 31st.
