Latest news with #K-State
Fox Sports
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
2025 Kansas State Football Predictions: Wildcats Ranked 19th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136
College Football 2025 Kansas State Football Predictions: Wildcats Ranked 19th in RJ Young's Ultimate 136 Published Aug. 10, 2025 8:09 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link This isn't your average college football ranking. My Ultimate 136 is a set of rankings that is fluid, but it's my job to look ahead and make a claim for all FBS teams based on what I know and why I know it. Here are the three pressing questions I started by asking when putting together this list: Who do I think is good? Why do I think they're good? What are the chances they will finish above or below my expectations? Here is a look at where Kansas State lands in my Ultimate 136. Kansas State ranking: 19 Last year's ranking: 18 Top player: QB Avery Johnson: Threw for a school-record 25 TDs last season while also rushing for 605 yards and 7 TDs; led Kansas State to a school-record 6.57 yards per play last season, as well as the fourth-highest yards per game average in school history (426.8). [Kansas State's 2025 schedule] RJ's take: In his first season as a starter, quarterback Avery Johnson set the program record for passing touchdowns (25) while throwing for 2,712 yards, and adding 605 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. He was one of just four Power 4 quarterbacks to pass for 2,700 yards and rush for 600 yards last year. ADVERTISEMENT In Year 2, he and running back Dylan Edwards will make up perhaps the fastest backfield in the sport as they make an attempt to earn the program's first appearance in the CFP. Along with Johnson and Edwards, nine starters return from last year's team, including five on the defense. K-State has won nine games or more in each of the last three years, and won the Big 12 title in 2022. And, in Year 7, Chris Klieman has kept expectations high with this year looking like his best chance to earn K-State's first CFP invitation. The problem is that going 9-4 last year yielded a tie for eighth in the Big 12. This year, the schedule features absolutely no team that should outclass K-State. [Check out RJ Young's Ultimate 136 College Football Rankings here] Kansas State Win Total: Over 8.5 (-110) Under 8.5 (-110) Have an issue with my rankings? Think your alma mater is too low, or your school's rival is too high? Get at me on X, @RJ_Young , and I'll select my favorite tweets and respond to them in a future article. RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports. Follow him at @RJ_Young. FOLLOW Follow your favorites to personalize your FOX Sports experience College Football Kansas State Wildcats share
New York Times
29-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
College football's sneakiest favorite, plus a quick history of CFB in Germany
Until Saturday Newsletter 🏈 | This is The Athletic's college football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday directly in your inbox. Today in college football news, 'Expedition 33' is my favorite 'Final Fantasy' game ever. To be clear, it is not a 'Final Fantasy' game. If you polled 100 college football fans on which FBS teams are expected to win each conference this year, I'm sure most could name the betting favorites in the ACC (Clemson), Big Ten (Ohio State), Mountain West (Boise State) and SEC (Texas), plus probably CUSA (Liberty) and the Sun Belt (JMU). Maybe the MAC too, where I assume Toledo will again be the favorite in 2099. Advertisement But what about the Big 12? After Arizona State's playoff run, arguably Iowa State's best season ever and a half-year of Texas Tech transfer talk? Plus the usual Colorado rubbernecking? And maybe some assumptions that Oklahoma State or Utah will bounce back, just like TCU did last year? The Big 12's favorite — according to BetMGM, FPI, SP+ and whatever else — is Kansas State, followed by a giant bottleneck. Oh right, Kansas State! Wait, the team that went 5-4 in conference last year, finishing eighth in a 16-team league? At first glance, picking K-State kinda feels like a shrug. (A shrug by the computers? Yes, computers can decline to answer. Haven't you seen '2001'?) But for more, I asked Kellis Robinett, beat writer for the Wichita Eagle/Kansas City Star: Why do you think this under-the-radar team is so widely favored? 'Kansas State is always a safe bet in the Big 12, because the Wildcats have such a high floor. Chris Klieman has averaged nine wins over the past four seasons, and he won a conference title in 2022. Even though K-State lost some high-end talent during the offseason, it brings back big stars at quarterback (Avery Johnson), running back (Dylan Edwards), and wide receiver (Jayce Brown). Austin Romaine also seems poised for a breakout season on defense. Arizona State is the defending champ, and Texas Tech is the biggest spender in the league, but K-State has proven to be consistently better than both.' Honestly, I'm nearly sold on K-State just by Klieman's consistency. Why not pick the team that has been most immune to the Big 12's feared Random Results Generator? (On top of that, picking a team that just finished in the middle is probably a safe bet. As has been frequently noted, last year's Big 12 preseason picks were nearly the opposite of the final standings. Avoid the bookends.) Before we leave the Big 12, yes, I asked David Ubben the obligatory Colorado question (more on Deion Sanders in a sec): Wtf will this team be now that Heisman winner Travis Hunter and school-record-smashing QB Shedeur Sanders are gone? 'The short version is: better than people who aren't paying attention think. Colorado had two of the five most famous players in the country last year, who were also stellar talents. This year, they start with little to no star power, but Sanders and his staff have quietly improved the roster on both sides of the ball, which raises the floor for this team quite a bit. They won't be as explosive in the passing game without Sanders, Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr., but they'll be good enough, and the running game should improve. I'm not sure I see a contender for the Big 12 title in this roster, but I do see a bowl team.' More Big 12: 🙏 'Deion Sanders had his bladder removed in May after doctors discovered an aggressive cancerous tumor, the Colorado football coach announced at a Monday news conference.' He's back at work now. Many more details here. 🏈 Stewart Mandel on the Week 1 games that will actually impact the CFP. (As in, Texas-Ohio State might not end up meaning much if they both make it anyway.) 👀 That 15-year storyline about the Big Ten and SEC potentially dueling over North Carolina in realignment? Heating back up. 📰 News: 🌀 A tale of two QBs: 📺 Media days, where the big leagues wrapped up last week: 🎤 Take The Athletic's survey on everything you love and hate about CFB right now. (Like me, you should vote to replace the entire CFP with the one true format: a plus-one title game at the Rose Bowl, with its participants to be selected after bowl season.) International college football has been a thing since almost literally the very beginning. (For one thing, the sport was so directly modeled on a version of English rugby, it's actually kinda hard to pinpoint when it actually became American football. For another, Montreal's McGill University was among the Canadian pioneers of the sport in the 1870s.) Since then, American colleges have sent football teams to bowls in the Bahamas, Canada, Cuba and Japan; FBS neutral-siters in Australia and Ireland; and lower-level games in Bermuda, China, Italy, Mexico, Tanzania and the UK, plus (per NCAA records) collegiate-adjacent games among American military installations in Algeria, Iran, New Guinea, the Philippines, Suriname and some Pacific islands. So when you hear Michigan and Western Michigan are planning to open 2026 in Frankfurt as the first FBS teams to play in Germany, know it's not just Modern College Football Chasing Trends And Trying To Be The NFL. It's also College Football Just Being Itself. OK, that's all for today. Email me at untilsaturday@ to tell me which country should host a CFB game next. Last week's most-clicked: Obviously, it was 'Ranking every Power 4 team by how much they'd sell for.' 💰 📫 Love Until Saturday? Check out The Athletic's other newsletters, too.
The Herald Scotland
10-07-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Kansas State, Avery Johnson pursue College Football Playoff run
Because pushing out a championship starting quarterback last year for his potentially rare backup, only to have the potentially rare quarterback leave a year later, would've been peak transfer portal nonsense. Instead, there was Johnson, representing K-State at Big 12 Media Days, setting lofty goals for Year 2 as a starter. And maybe finally reaching those Johnny Manziel comparisons. "I can't wait for the season to begin," Johnson said Tuesday, July 8 at Big 12 Media Days. "We're shooting for a Big 12 championship. Anything else would be a letdown." And speaking of letdowns, get a lot of this drama: It was prior to last season when Klieman - one of two coaches in school history to win a conference championship in the modern era - gambled on Johnson by placing the program in his hands. Will Howard had one season of eligibility remaining, and was a year removed from leading K-State to its first Big 12 championship since 2012. He and Klieman met, and they decided maybe both needed a fresh start. Johnson led K-State to nine wins in 2024, and had the Wildcats in the College Football Playoff hunt until the last week of the regular season. Howard led Ohio State to the national championship. BIG PLANS: The billionaire booster who wants to save college sports TOP 25: Ranking the best college football quarterbacks In a not so surprising twist of irony, when the offseason arrived, guess who was fielding transfer opportunities from major Power conference teams? That would be Johnson -- the same quarterback Klieman elevated over Howard in 2024 to prevent Johnson from leaving for the transfer portal in the first place. Look, it's a business now. A crazy, unbridled mess of a business. "But he likes it here," Klieman said of Johnson, who threw 25 touchdown passes in 2024, and rushed for more than 600 yards in his first season as a starter. Really, he does. Johnson grew up in Wichita, about two hours south of the campus in Manhattan. He knows Kansas, he has lived Kansas. More important: Kansas loves him. Johnson has an impressive NIL portfolio, which recently added deals with CVS and a regional telecommunications provider. This on the heels of a deal last year with a local car dealership, which paved the way for him to drive around Manhattan in a lavender Corvette Stingray and black Mercedes AMG GT. Not only that, you, too, can swig Johnson's favorite drink (strawberry lemonade) thanks to an NIL deal with a local drink manufacturer. So yeah, life is good in Kansas. Now it's time to make it even better on the field. Johnson says he has gained "10-12 pounds" in the offseason, has built strength and hasn't lost what makes him so dangerous: speed and dynamic athleticism. He says the game moves slower now, and Klieman added more pieces around Johnson with key transfer portal additions to further develop the pass game. Three of K-State's top four receivers arrived this offseason from other schools. "The best supporting cast I could ask for," Johnson said. "It's a different feeling now. I'm so much farther ahead of where I was at this time last year." Last month, Johnson was invited to the Manning Passing Academy, an invitation typically reserved for the elite of the game. He roomed with Gunner Stockton (Georgia), Marcel Reed (Texas A&M) and Austin Simmons (Mississippi). "An SEC room," Johnson joked. Who knows just how close he came to joining that conference, and competing in the quarterback-heavy league. How close K-State went from experiencing both sides of transfer portal turnover at the most important position on the field. From a difficult choice one year, to a difficult departure the next. From learning on the job one season, to improving his completion percentage, and making better decisions post snap. He understands the position and the concepts. Now it's all about refining his game, and reaching the massive expectations coming out of high school. "I love this team, I love the chemistry we're building," Johnson said. "Everybody should be excited." Because Johnson didn't bite -- and allow what goes around to come back around. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
USA Today
09-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Kansas State thinking College Football Playoff after Avery Johnson declined NIL offers
Of course it came back around. All it took was Chris Klieman to admit it, and open yet another window to the absurdity of the now transactional sport of college football. Fortunately for Kansas State, star quarterback Avery Johnson didn't bite at NIL offers from bigger schools. Because pushing out a championship starting quarterback last year for his potentially rare backup, only to have the potentially rare quarterback leave a year later, would've been peak transfer portal nonsense. Instead, there was Johnson, representing K-State at Big 12 Media Days, setting lofty goals for Year 2 as a starter. And maybe finally reaching those Johnny Manziel comparisons. 'I can't wait for the season to begin,' Johnson said Tuesday, July 8 at Big 12 Media Days. 'We're shooting for a Big 12 championship. Anything else would be a letdown.' And speaking of letdowns, get a lot of this drama: It was prior to last season when Klieman – one of two coaches in school history to win a conference championship in the modern era – gambled on Johnson by placing the program in his hands. Will Howard had one season of eligibility remaining, and was a year removed from leading K-State to its first Big 12 championship since 2012. He and Klieman met, and they decided maybe both needed a fresh start. Johnson led K-State to nine wins in 2024, and had the Wildcats in the College Football Playoff hunt until the last week of the regular season. Howard led Ohio State to the national championship. BIG PLANS:The billionaire booster who wants to save college sports TOP 25: Ranking the best college football quarterbacks In a not so surprising twist of irony, when the offseason arrived, guess who was fielding transfer opportunities from major Power conference teams? That would be Johnson — the same quarterback Klieman elevated over Howard in 2024 to prevent Johnson from leaving for the transfer portal in the first place. Look, it's a business now. A crazy, unbridled mess of a business. 'But he likes it here,' Klieman said of Johnson, who threw 25 touchdown passes in 2024, and rushed for more than 600 yards in his first season as a starter. Really, he does. Johnson grew up in Wichita, about two hours south of the campus in Manhattan. He knows Kansas, he has lived Kansas. More important: Kansas loves him. Johnson has an impressive NIL portfolio, which recently added deals with CVS and a regional telecommunications provider. This on the heels of a deal last year with a local car dealership, which paved the way for him to drive around Manhattan in a lavender Corvette Stingray and black Mercedes AMG GT. Not only that, you, too, can swig Johnson's favorite drink (strawberry lemonade) thanks to an NIL deal with a local drink manufacturer. So yeah, life is good in Kansas. Now it's time to make it even better on the field. Johnson says he has gained '10-12 pounds' in the offseason, has built strength and hasn't lost what makes him so dangerous: speed and dynamic athleticism. He says the game moves slower now, and Klieman added more pieces around Johnson with key transfer portal additions to further develop the pass game. Three of K-State's top four receivers arrived this offseason from other schools. 'The best supporting cast I could ask for,' Johnson said. 'It's a different feeling now. I'm so much farther ahead of where I was at this time last year.' Last month, Johnson was invited to the Manning Passing Academy, an invitation typically reserved for the elite of the game. He roomed with Gunner Stockton (Georgia), Marcel Reed (Texas A&M) and Austin Simmons (Mississippi). 'An SEC room,' Johnson joked. Who knows just how close he came to joining that conference, and competing in the quarterback-heavy league. How close K-State went from experiencing both sides of transfer portal turnover at the most important position on the field. From a difficult choice one year, to a difficult departure the next. From learning on the job one season, to improving his completion percentage, and making better decisions post snap. He understands the position and the concepts. Now it's all about refining his game, and reaching the massive expectations coming out of high school. 'I love this team, I love the chemistry we're building,' Johnson said. 'Everybody should be excited.' Because Johnson didn't bite — and allow what goes around to come back around. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
USA Today
09-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Kansas State thinking College Football Playoff after Avery Johnson passed on NIL offers
Of course it came back around. All it took was Chris Klieman to admit it, and open yet another window to the absurdity of the now transactional sport of college football. Fortunately for Kansas State, star quarterback Avery Johnson didn't bite at NIL offers from bigger schools. Because pushing out a championship starting quarterback last year for his potentially rare backup, only to have the potentially rare quarterback leave a year later, would've been peak transfer portal nonsense. Instead, there was Johnson, representing K-State at Big 12 Media Days, setting lofty goals for Year 2 as a starter. And maybe finally reaching those Johnny Manziel comparisons. 'I can't wait for the season to begin,' Johnson said Tuesday, July 8 at Big 12 Media Days. 'We're shooting for a Big 12 championship. Anything else would be a letdown.' And speaking of letdowns, get a lot of this drama: It was prior to last season when Klieman – one of two coaches in school history to win a conference championship in the modern era – gambled on Johnson by placing the program in his hands. Will Howard had one season of eligibility remaining, and was a year removed from leading K-State to its first Big 12 championship since 2012. He and Klieman met, and they decided maybe both needed a fresh start. Johnson led K-State to nine wins in 2024, and had the Wildcats in the College Football Playoff hunt until the last week of the regular season. Howard led Ohio State to the national championship. BIG PLANS:The billionaire booster who wants to save college sports TOP 25: Ranking the best college football quarterbacks In a not so surprising twist of irony, when the offseason arrived, guess who was fielding transfer opportunities from major Power conference teams? That would be Johnson — the same quarterback Klieman elevated over Howard in 2024 to prevent Johnson from leaving for the transfer portal in the first place. Look, it's a business now. A crazy, unbridled mess of a business. 'But he likes it here,' Klieman said of Johnson, who threw 25 touchdown passes in 2024, and rushed for more than 600 yards in his first season as a starter. Really, he does. Johnson grew up in Wichita, about two hours south of the campus in Manhattan. He knows Kansas, he has lived Kansas. More important: Kansas loves him. Johnson has an impressive NIL portfolio, which recently added deals with CVS and a regional telecommunications provider. This on the heels of a deal last year with a local car dealership, which paved the way for him to drive around Manhattan in a lavender Corvette Stingray and black Mercedes AMG GT. Not only that, you, too, can swig Johnson's favorite drink (strawberry lemonade) thanks to an NIL deal with a local drink manufacturer. So yeah, life is good in Kansas. Now it's time to make it even better on the field. Johnson says he has gained '10-12 pounds' in the offseason, has built strength and hasn't lost what makes him so dangerous: speed and dynamic athleticism. He says the game moves slower now, and Klieman added more pieces around Johnson with key transfer portal additions to further develop the pass game. Three of K-State's top four receivers arrived this offseason from other schools. 'The best supporting cast I could ask for,' Johnson said. 'It's a different feeling now. I'm so much farther ahead of where I was at this time last year.' Last month, Johnson was invited to the Manning Passing Academy, an invitation typically reserved for the elite of the game. He roomed with Gunner Stockton (Georgia), Marcel Reed (Texas A&M) and Austin Simmons (Mississippi). 'An SEC room,' Johnson joked. Who knows just how close he came to joining that conference, and competing in the quarterback-heavy league. How close K-State went from experiencing both sides of transfer portal turnover at the most important position on the field. From a difficult choice one year, to a difficult departure the next. From learning on the job one season, to improving his completion percentage, and making better decisions post snap. He understands the position and the concepts. Now it's all about refining his game, and reaching the massive expectations coming out of high school. 'I love this team, I love the chemistry we're building,' Johnson said. 'Everybody should be excited.' Because Johnson didn't bite — and allow what goes around to come back around. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
