Kansas State 2016 Season Preview: Bill Snyder Seeks 200th Win
Final Prediction
Like the majority of the Big 12, Kansas State’s non-conference schedule is nothing to brag about. In 2015, the Wildcats opened the season with South Dakota, Texas-San Antonio and Louisiana Tech. At least this year there’s a school from a power five conference on the non-conference slate.
The Wildcats will open the season at Stanford, a difficult test for any school, let alone one that has yet to settle on a QB. This will be the first true test for Stanford QB Keller Chryst, but he won’t have to do much with Christian McCaffrey running the ball for the Cardinal. This one goes down as a loss for the team in royal purple.
The rest of September should help boost the confidence of the team as neither Florida Atlantic nor Missouri State will provide much of a test. The Wildcats will enter conference play with a record of 2-1.
While the conference schedule doesn’t start off with the gauntlet of powerhouses last year’s did, it could be a tough October for the Wildcats. The opener at West Virginia should be a close game, but the Mountaineers are out for revenge after the way last year’s season finale ended. This time it will be West Virginia winning a tight game on the road.
Texas Tech and Texas will both be improved and shouldn’t have much trouble winning in Manhattan. In between, Kansas State will head to Norman to take on the Sooners. They may not lose by 55 points this time around, but Oklahoma will once again win comfortably. For the second consecutive year, Kansas State will have to put together a string of wins in order to earn a bowl berth.
The quest for six wins will start with a matchup at Iowa State. Bill Snyder doesn’t lose many must-win games, so the Wildcats will enter November with a record of 3-5. With four games to go, the Wildcats must end the season strong.
Oklahoma State is next up on the schedule. This should be a high-scoring game just like last year’s 36-34 contest. Kansas State is going to struggle in these high-scoring Big 12 games, as many of the top schools in the conference are returning proven quarterbacks. Speaking of high-scoring teams from the Big 12, Baylor is next up on the schedule.
Kansas State will need to win each of the final three games to make it to the postseason. Not long ago, a road game at Baylor would have been a certain loss. However, the Baylor program is in disarray and the 2016 season could be a total disaster. Kansas State had the Baylor offense figured out by the second half of last season’s matchup and almost came away with the win. This time around, Kansas State will finish the job and defeat the Bears to improve to 4-6 with two games left.
After easily defeating in-state rival Kansas at home, Kansas State’s bowl hopes rest on the final game of the regular season. A road trip to TCU will determine whether or not Bill Snyder will have a chance at his 200th career win.
The quest for 200 will fall two games short as Kansas State will not be able to pull off the upset at TCU. The Wildcats will finish the season 5-7 and fail to make a bowl game for the first time since 2009.