Where Football Polls and Metrics Have Kansas State Placed in Week 10

Kansas State destroyed arch-rival Kansas, 42-17, before a stunned, sold-out crowd in Lawrence on Saturday. The Wildcats moved one win closer to bowl eligibility and the national polls and rankings we monitor reacted accordingly, giving K-State huge bumps across the board.

K-State (4-4, 3-2 Big 12) moved up in five polls and rankings, with the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll still not giving the Wildcats any votes.

ESPN’S Football Power Index increased K-State’s odds of winning six games — which would mean bowl eligibility — from 51.9 percent to 86.5 percent. Two weeks ago, K-State’s odds were 26 percent.

Each Wednesday, we’ll take a look at where seven national polls and rankings place Kansas State’s football team. K-State ranked 40.6 in an average of five polls and rankings, a huge increase from last week’s average of 53.

Kansas State’s best ranking is 28 in ESPN’s Football Power Index, an increase of 12 spots from last week. The Wildcats’ worst ranking is 51 in The Athletic’s rankings of all 136 FBS teams. Last week, K-State was 61 in The Athletic rankings.

K-State increased by 17, 14, 12, 10 and 9, an average of 12.4 spots among the five polls and rankings.

Kansas State plays host to No. 13 Texas Tech at 2:30 CT Saturday.

The polls and rankings we monitor are:

* Associated Press
* The Athletic
* CBS Sports
* US LBM Coaches Poll
* ESPN’s Football Power Index
* ESPN’s SP+ rankings
* Massey Ratings

Associated Press Top 25

The Wildcats again were not ranked by the AP this week. K-State was ranked 17th in the AP’s preseason poll but dropped out of the Top 25 after their Week Zero loss to Iowa State, 24-21, in Dublin.

The Athletic

Kansas State climbs to 50th after its demolition of Kansas.

Kansas State was 64th in the last two weeks of The Athletic’s ranking of all 136 FBS teams. In The Athletic’s preseason poll, Kansas State was ranked 21st.

CBS Sports 136 Rankings

The Wildcats increased 10 spots to 51 from 61.

US LBM Coaches Poll

The Coaches Poll, which had Kansas State at No. 20 in the preseason, does not have the Wildcats ranked, not even in “others receiving votes.”

ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI)

K-State improved to 28 from 40.

Here are this week’s FPI odds for Kansas State. The Wildcats’ odds increased in four of the six categories and remained the same in the other two. Here are FPI’s odds for K-State (with last week’s odds in parentheses):

* 86.1 percent chance of winning six games, which would be bowl eligibility (last week it was 51.9 percent)
* 6.3 projected wins to 5.7 projected losses (last week it was 5.6 projected wins to 6.4 projected losses)
* 1.0 percent chance of winning the Big 12 championship (0.3 percent last week)
* 0.7 percent chance of making the College Football Playoff (0.3 percent last week)
* 0.0 percent chance of making the national championship game (same as last week)
* 0.0 percent chance of winning the national championship (same as last week)

ESPN’s SP+ rankings

K-State is ranked 36th, up from last week’s ranking of 53rd. The increase of 17 places is K-State’s best this week.

According to rankings creator Bill Connelly, SP+ is “a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing.

“It is simply a measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football. If you’re lucky or unimpressive in a win, your rating will probably fall. If you’re strong and unlucky in a loss, it will probably rise.”

Massey Ratings

K-State is ranked 38, up nine spots from last week’s ranking of 47.

Massey Ratings are a compilation of 40 different college football rankings. K-State’s ranking is based on a consensus of the 40 rankings.

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