Kansas State Can At Least Stake Claim To No. 4 Spot In Big 12 After Colorado Loss
Kansas State just might add another accomplishment to a season that ended without a College Football Playoffs berth.
With Colorado's 36-14 loss to BYU in the Alamo Bowl, the Wildcats can now at least make a case for being the No. 4 team in the Big 12. That would put them ahead of coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes.
Colorado entered the postseason with the fourth spot behind Arizona State, BYU and Iowa State. The Wildcats ended their season with a 44-41, comeback victory against Rutgers in the Rate Bowl. Iowa State also held off the Miami Hurricanes in the Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Baylor is awaiting its matchup with LSU in the Texas Bowl while TCU crushed Lafayette in the New Mexico Bowl and Texas Tech fell to Arkansas in the Liberty Bowl.
The Bears, Horned Frogs and Wildcats could all finish with four losses. K-State might get the edge because of their win against Colorado. The Buffaloes, who were led by quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, defeated Baylor 38-31 in September. As for TCU, two of its losses were to bottom-tier UCF and Houston.
Although the Wildcats lost to Houston, it was their only loss to a team with a losing record. The other defeats were to BYU, Arizona State and Iowa State, all bowl teams. The title of fourth-best is meaningless but it could provide much-needed momentum heading into next season and serve as a recruiting pitch this spring.
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
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