College Football Top 25 for 2012: Kansas State Wildcats, 25th
By Jason Lisk
One could do rankings in a number of ways– look at the schedules and try to predict who will end up ranked where, or just based on perceived quality. We opted for the latter. As a result, our rankings weight heavily toward the SEC and Big XII, even though some of those teams may end up with 5 losses and out of the rankings as the season progresses (and then favored in bowl games).
Our rankings originally appeared in the USA Today Preview Magazine. Because those have to be submitted much earlier, though, and some things have changed (waves at Isaiah Crowell), we will add to our original thoughts as necessary.
Today, we start with #25 on the list: Kansas State.
Kansas State Wildcats (2011: 10-3, Cotton Bowl-Lost to Arkansas 29-16)
Four-Year Trend: 2008 (5-7), 2009 (6-6), 2010 (7-6), 2011 (10-3)
Notable Player: QB Collin Klein. Klein had almost 2,000 yards passing, over 1,000 yards rushing, and 27 rushing touchdowns. If you play in a College Football fantasy league, he might be the first player taken. If he can develop more accuracy as a passer, he can make the Wildcats into an extremely difficult opponent. As it stands, he churns out positive gains and gets the Wildcats into good situations, so they can carry out the game plan (high third down conversion rates, time of possession) that frustrated other Big XII opponents.
Top Newcomers: Tanner Wood (LB), Sam Harvill (DT), Hunter Davis (DE), Vernon Vaughn (WR)
Circle This Game: Kansas State vs. Texas (Dec. 1). Bill Snyder loves to coach against Texas, and the Wildcats close the year on the cold, windy plains of Manhattan in what may be a crucial game for bowl consideration.
Why We Like Them: Bill Snyder is still the master, and put together a well-coached team last year that surprised and continually won games late. Collin Klein is the best rushing quarterback in the country and gives Snyder the weapon he needs to grind out methodical drives and frustrate opponents. However, as I noted earlier, Snyder’s teams have historically not thrived on games where they won by being out gained like last year, but rather, dominating opponents when they were in their hey day. Last year’s team was ahead of schedule, but this team should be improved to counterbalance regression in close games.
Best-Case Scenario: Klein improves as a passer when teams load up the box, Kansas State builds on last year’s success, and Kansas State wins 9+ games again as they frustrate the wide open offenses and weaker defenses of the Big XII by controlling time of possession.
Worst-Case Scenario: The offensive line fails to emerge with the same quality of run blocking after losing two tackles. The margin for error shrinks and the Cats lose the close games that they won last year, and Kansas State finishes just outside of a bowl bid against a tough schedule.
Projected Bowl: Holiday
[photo via US Presswire]