The Sunflower State still belongs to the good guys
Football
In the latest episode of one of college football’s longest running soaps, Kansas State beat Kansas 29-27 before a packed and mostly purple audience in Bill Snyder Family Stadium. This was the Wildcats’ 16th straight win in the Sunflower Showdown, and the Governor’s Cup has taken up more-or-less permanent residence in Manhattan.
A win is a win, as Jon Morse obliquely notes in the official BotC recap. Since he already got to all the important game-specific details, (and because I’m not really interested in recapping a series of offensive and defensive mishaps that almost cost K-State the game), let’s just run down this game/rivalry numerically instead.
5839
That’s the number of days since Kansas last beat Kansas State in football. The Jayhawks’ last win in the series was on November 1, 2008, and was probably the game that got Ron Prince fired. For that, we owe our cousins in Lawrence some gratitude.
2007
Sticking with that theme, the last time Kansas State lost to Kansas at home in this series was in 2007, when KU won 24-30. That team would go on to win 12 games and post the best Kansas football season in living memory. Two years later, the school would fire Mark Mangino. The rest is history. Or something.
1947
Although Kansas fans like to tout the all-time series record, 64-53-5 in KU’s favor, it’s worth noting that the Jayhawks’ 11-game advantage is due almost entirely to KU’s early dominance of the series, a 28-15-3 lead for the Flaw through 1947. Since that time, the teams are nearly even in wins and losses and that’s even taking into account Kansas State’s Futility U era. (The selection of 1947 was arbitrary on my part, mostly a thought exercise).
122
This was the 122nd edition of the Sunflower Showdown, now the fourth-longest active series in all of FBS. In other words, this may not be a particularly storied rivalry, but it’s a pretty historied one. (You can read more about the historically significant games in this series HERE).
56
The number of Kansas natives on the Kansas State roster. Their views on the rivalry were perfectly embodied by Austin Moore waving the wheat at KU fans after Jalon Daniels’ fumble late in the game.
51
Chris Tennant’s 51-yard field goal sealed the victory for the Wildcats. Afterwards, Tennant said he was certain he would be called on to kick the game winner even way back in the first quarter and that he and holder Simon McClannan already had their baseball-themed celly ready to go.
30
There are 30 seniors (true, redshirt, and Covid/medical) on KU’s roster this season. That means this is probably the best-coached and most experienced team the Jayhawks have fielded in years, and to their credit, this bunch really has overachieved. Next year will be a true test of Lance Leipold’s prowess as a coach and recruiter.
28
K-State has scored at least 28 points in 14 of the last 15 games. The lone blemish on this stat is, yep, you guessed it, that head scratcher of a game in Provo.
16
How sweet it is! This is the Wildcats’ 16th consecutive win in this series, the longest streak in the rivalry for either team. That it almost didn’t happen is perhaps par for the course though. You can’t keep winning games by three scores. The sign of a good program is winning a lot of games. The sign of a great program is winning a lot of games you should be losing.
8
Speaking of winning games you should be losing, Kansas is on the other end of this spectrum. The Jayhawks have led in the fourth quarter of every single game this season, all eight of them, but are just 2-6 over that stretch. For whatever reason, Kansas just doesn’t seem to be able to put it all together, and this heartbreaker against their in-state rival only serves to drive that point further home.
2
The margin of victory in this game turned out to be the first half safety Kansas State got when KU’s Devin Neal was tackled in the end zone. This was a result of a ball fielded at the 1 by Kansas’ Jameel Croft and his slightly bone-headed decision to run out of bounds with the ball.
1
Kansas State is still the best football team in the state. For now. And in our hearts. Forever.
In unrelated news, Kansas State will play the ACC’s North Carolina State in a home-and-home series. The first game will be in Raleigh in 2027 with the Wolfpack making the return visit to Manhattan in 2032. I will say only that I admire the chutzpah of those who believe the ACC and/or the Big 12 will still be a thing in 2032.
Basketball
It’s almost time for Kansas State hoops, and while it seems entirely too early for some of us (ok, probably just me), the first game is upon us, an exhibition against Fort Hays State on October 29.
Meanwhile, at least one former Wildcat is set to make his pro debut. Tylor Perry was picked by the Toronto Raptors in the NBA G League Draft this weekend. He’s signing an Exhibition 10 contract, which means the Raptors can convert the one-year contract to a two-way agreement.
Golf
At the Steelwood Collegiate Championship in Loxley, Alabama, the Kansas State men’s golf team finished third in their final event of the fall season, shooting -18, with three players (Nick Mason (-17), Cooper Schultz (-9) and Ian McCrary (-5)) under par for the event. Senior Mason won the event after leading wire-to-wire over the event, including shooting a season-best 8-under-par-64 in the second round.
Soccer
The soccer version of the Sunflower Showdown did not go well for the Wildcats. K-State dropped its final game of the season 2-0 to the Jayhawks. The team finished 3-12-3 (0-9-2 Big 12) in 2024, a mostly disappointing season that is still far from being the worst ever season.
That might tell you something about the general trajectory of the program. Yes, it’s time to have that talk about K-State soccer. This is Mike Dibbini’s 9th season in Manhattan and he’s the program’s first and only head coach. Let’s stipulate to the fact that it’s really hard to get a program started from scratch. To build a successful one from the ground up requires a combination of things beyond the head coach’s control, including investment, publicity, and public interest in the program. But beyond that, there is just the stuff that actually happens on the pitch, and the Wildcats seem to be falling short there too. If winning is the only thing that breeds more winning, we need to start winning some games.
Is it time for new blood in Manhattan? Discuss.
Volleyball
It hasn’t been the best of times for the VolleyCats either. But as we head into the second half of the season, Kansas State at least began it with a win, a hard-fought five set victory over Iowa State in Ames, 21-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 20-22.
The VolleyCats dominated a see-saw fifth set behind Aliyah Carter’s team-leading 30-kill performance, 10 of them just in the decider. She was pretty much unstoppable throughout the match and got plenty of help from teammate Izzy Szulczewski.
Kansas State will be back home to take on West Virginia at Morgan Family Arena at 6:30 PM on October 31.