Three of Kansas State's Biggest Challenges For The 2026 Season

The games have been made, and everything has been set in stone for the Kansas State Wildcats in the 2026 season, their first under new head coach Collin Klein.

The team will begin their campaign with three straight hostings in Manhattan of the Nicholls State Colonels, the Washington State Cougars, and the Tulane Green Wave for the first three weeks of the season.

With the abundance of talent all throughout the Big 12 Conference, the Wildcats are sure to run into some road bumps, especially in their first season with a new coach, and here are a few of the biggest challenges that lie in their wait during the campaign.

Houston Cougars

Willie Fritz put together the turnaround of a lifetime with the Houston Cougars in just his second year as head coach during the 2025 season, taking the Coogs from a 4-8 record in 2024 to a 10-3 record last year, which ended with an impressive 38-35 win over the LSU Tigers in the Kinder's Texas Bowl.

The Cougars' success came primarily from their good use of the transfer portal, especially on offense, bringing in quarterback Conner Weigman, running back Dean Connors, wide receiver Amare Thomas, and tight end Tanner Koziol, all of whom played a massive role in the team's production during the season.

Of those four, only Weigman and Thomas remain after Connors and Koziol declared for the NFL draft, but don't expect Houston to have many hiccups when they visit Manhattan this year, as four-star running back J'Marion Burnette is primed to pick up the Houston running game where Dean Connors left it off, and even if Weigman goes down, top-ranked quarterback Keisean Henderson is waiting in the wings.

The Cougars make their trip to Kansas on October 10 this year.

Tulane Green Wave

The Tulane Green Wave, fresh off of a College Football Playoff berth, is ready to repeat their production in the 2026 season, also under the direction of a new head coach in Will Hall after Jon Sumrall accepted the head coaching role in Florida.

The Wave went 11-3 in the 2025 season, with two of those losses coming against the Ole Miss Rebels including one in the first round of the CFP.

Quarterback Kadin Semonza is expected to take the reins at quarterback with Jake Retzlaff likely heading for the NFL, with Semonza himself being a transfer from Ball State hoping to get his first set of first-team reps in the 2026 season.

Tulane will look to repeat as AAC champions, while the Wildcats will look to make a statement non-conference win when the Green Wave ride into town on September 19.

Arizona State Sun Devils

Only one team was able to beat the conference champion Texas Tech Red Raiders in the 2025 season, and it was the Arizona State Sun Devils, who will be hosting Klein and Kansas State on October 24.

The Sun Devils finished 8-5 in the 2025 season with a 6-3 conference record under head coach Kenny Dillingham, and after keeping the Michigan Wolverines from taking him in Ann Arbor, the Sun Devils will look to make good use of new quarterback Cutter Boley, who transferred in from Kentucky to replace Sam Leavitt, who transferred to LSU to lead Lane Kiffin's first year in the Bayou.

Colorado Buffaloes transfer wide receiver Omarion Miller also joins the team to bring faith to Arizona State's receiving corps after Jordyn Tyson declared for the NFL draft.

Whether they'll regain their CFP potential they had in 2024 during the Leavitt and Cam Skattebo days in Tempe remains to be seen, but it would definitely serve as a statement win for Kansas State if they can pull it off on the road.

More From Kansas State On SI

Stay up to date with the Wildcats by bookmarking Kansas State On SI and follow us on Twitter.