Kansas State Gets Bumped Down In Latest Big 12 Projections
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Many Big 12 football projections have Kansas State competing for next season's top conference spot. However, one sports writer has the Wildcats in the middle of the mix, below teams like Texas Tech and Baylor. CBS Sports' Shehan Jeyarajah put Kansas State at No. 5 in the post-spring rankings.
"The Wildcats are the safest bet in the Big 12 under Chris Klieman after winning 36 games over the past four years. Second-year starting quarterback Avery Johnson is set to take a big leap, especially with an infusion of talent to the wide receiving corps. On the downside, KSU returns only 54% of production on defense, and has to replace Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year Brendan Mott."
To Jeyarajah's point, the Wildcats lost many defensive stars, which will set back the unit that helped them compete in the conference last season.
Above all, this illustrates the Big 12's unpredictability next season and highlights how close the competition will be. Aside from maybe Arizona State, there's no frontrunner anticipated to dominate the conference next season.
Either way, coach Chris Klieman knows that spring ball alone will not give the team the full picture.
"I feel really good about the receivers and the fact that we got some experienced guys in there, but I think we’ll find out more in the fall," Klieman said in his May 2 presser. "That’s hard to really say based on the few practices we had.”
The Wildcats kick off the Big 12 schedule with their Dublin matchup against Iowa State on Aug. 23.
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Jayden is a journalism school graduate of Howard University. He was the 2024 recipient of the Terez Paylor scholarship award. He previously worked at the Orlando Sentinel.
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