2025 K-State Football Schedule Preview And Prediction
The 2025 college football season is upon us! K-State plays Iowa State a week from Saturday in Dublin, Ireland. That means it is time for my annual K-State football record prediction.
I find it more difficult than ever to predict how the Big 12 Conference and K-State football will play out this year. The transfer portal raises more questions than it provides answers. Though the Big 12 is unpredictable, K-State is getting a lot of buzz as one of the favorites to win the league in 2025. K-State and Arizona State have the best odds, according to DraftKings, to appear in the Big 12 championship game at the end of the season. Utah and Texas Tech are right behind them.
K-State has a lot of questions, but the team also has a lot of experience returning. Avery Johnson, Dylan Edwards, and Jayce Brown are all proven weapons on offense, but the offensive line has some question marks going into the season. I’m not too worried about the new pieces on the line being productive eventually, but losing and replacing NFL-caliber production is never easy.
Defensively, K-State returns what should be one of the best linebacker groups in the league, led by Austin Romaine and Desmond Purnell. The defensive line should be solid as well. The big question mark for me is the secondary, but Chris Klieman’s teams always seem to successfully “plug and play” their secondary players.
K-State was also picked as one of the Big 12 favorites in 2024, but an unexpected 38-9 loss at BYU in the fourth game of the season put the thoughts and hopes of winning the conference to rest. The Wildcats won their next four games to get back in the race, but then lost back-to-back games at Houston and to Arizona State at home. K-State beat Cincinnati the following week, but then lost to Iowa State to end the season. Their 5-4 conference record tied for eighth place in the Big 12.
Can K-State compete for the title in 2025? Many variables make the prediction difficult, but the schedule, while not easy by any means, is somewhat favorable. I’ll break it down for you game by game and tell you what I think.
August 23rd – Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland
Iowa State has to replace its top three linemen and four of its top six defensive backs. Offensively, they lost their top two wide receivers, who combined for 2,377 yards. Their top returning wideout only had eleven catches in 2024. Quarterback Rocco Becht returns, so they have an experienced quarterback just like K-State does.
K-State has been a betting favorite from the moment this game had a betting line, and the Wildcats are currently a 3.5-point favorite. Iowa State usually starts its season slowly. Last season, they looked horrible against Iowa in their second game but escaped with a one-point win. In 2023, they lost three of their first five games. In 2021, they beat Northern Iowa by six in their first game before losing to Iowa by 10 in their second game. I could go on, but the point is that the Cyclones never look very impressive early in the season. I am glad K-State plays them early instead of late. I think K-State wins, but I have a feeling it will be a nail-biter.
Prediction: Win. 1-0 overall/1-0 Big 12.
August 30, North Dakota
North Dakota was 5-7 last season, 2-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference. They are not expected to be much better this season. This is the easiest game on K-State’s schedule, so they’d better get this win.
Prediction: Win. 2-0 overall/1-0 Big 12.
September 6th, Army
Army had a great season in 2024, winning the American Athletic Conference with an undefeated 8-0 conference record. They beat Tulane in their conference title game before getting creamed by Navy 31-13 in the annual Army/Navy game.
Army will be breaking in a new starting quarterback and is replacing three offensive linemen off of last season’s squad.
This game scares me, but K-State has the talent advantage and should take care of business.
Prediction: Win. 3-0 overall/1-0 Big 12.
September 12th, at Arizona
K-State beat Arizona 31-7 in Bill Snyder Family Stadium last season. This game was scheduled before Arizona joined the Big 12, so it once again will not count in the conference standings. Arizona returns its starting quarterback, but he is the only returning offensive production of note. Their defense was a sieve last year, and I’m not sure they’ve done enough in the off-season to fix the problem. It sucks that this game is on the road, and it’s one of those crappy Friday night games, but I’m picking K-State.
Prediction: Win. 4-0 overall/1-0 Big 12.
September 27th, UCF
Scott Frost returns to UCF, but he’s got quite the rebuilding job on his hands, trying to turn around this team that went 2-7 in the league last season. UCF returns one starter on offense, and that is an offensive tackle. Many transfers will mean that it will likely take them some time to mesh. Gotta go with the Cats in this one.
Prediction: Win. 5-0 overall/2-0 Big 12.
October 4th, at Baylor
I’ve seen Baylor get a lot of hype, with a few “experts” making them a surprise pick to win the league. They won their last six games of 2024 and were playing some of the best football in the league. Quarterback Sawyer Robertson returns, along with his top two running backs, top two wide receivers, and four offensive linemen. Robertson had the best quarterback rating in the Big 12 in 2024. Returning that much production on offense sure makes them a threat, but the only question is their defense. They return some production, but their defense wasn’t great in 2024. If they can turn things around and play well, Baylor could be a contender to win the Big 12. Their offense is poised to be one of the best, if not the best, in the league.
Since this game is on the road, I’m giving the edge to Baylor. This could very well be a preview of the Big 12 championship game.
Prediction: Loss. 5-1 overall/2-1 Big 12.
October 11, TCU
TCU returns Josh Hoover at quarterback after leading the Horned Frogs to a 6-3 Big 12 record in 2024. TCU had to replace some skill position players and high-impact players on defense, but they return a lot of experience. They could be a sleeper to contend, but have a lot of questions coming into this season. I’m glad this one is at home.
Prediction: Win. 6-1 overall/3-1 Big 12.
October 25th, at KU
K-State’s first game in KU’s new stadium. It would be great to get a victory. I say it every year, so I’ll say it again. There’s not much reason to break it down. Until KU proves they can beat K-State, I’m picking K-State to win. Again.
Prediction: Win. 7-1 overall/4-1 Big 12.
November 1, Texas Tech
Texas Tech is a huge enigma to me going into this season. They spent a lot of money to build a roster. A LOT of money. Will all of these talented transfers mesh together, or is this a disaster waiting to happen? Quarterback Behren Morton returns, but he hasn’t been spectacular statistically in the past. However, he has a more talented supporting cast now.
My opinion may change as the season progresses and I get to watch Texas Tech play some games, but as of right now I’m picking K-State to win at home.
Prediction: Win. 8-1 overall/5-1 Big 12.
November 15th, at Oklahoma State
Speaking of enigmas, how did Oklahoma State manage to go 0-9 in the Big 12 last season? That surprised me as much as anyone. Mike Gundy has quite the rebuilding job on his hands. He has a new offensive and defensive coordinator and a ton of transfers. Gundy is still a good coach, but I don’t see a huge turnaround happening right away. This is an old-school Big 8 rivalry game, so anything can happen, but I don’t see how K-State will have much trouble in this one.
Prediction: Win. 9-1 overall/6-1 Big 12.
November 22nd, at Utah
Utah was a big disappointment in its first season in the league. If their fans’ ridiculous predictions had come true, they would have won every game by 50 points. Reality saw them finish 2-7. Like a lot of programs, they had a lot of transfers come in. Will they all mesh together to become a well-oiled machine by November 22nd? It’s possible, I guess. Kyle Whittingham is a great coach, so he could quickly turn things around.
This game scares me because it’s on the road, but nothing on paper shows me that K-State should have a problem beating Utah. I reserve the right to change my opinion when I see them play.
Prediction: Win. 10-1 overall/7-1 Big 12.
November 29th, Colorado
I think Colorado is going to be a train wreck this season. Losing their top three players, one of whom was their starting quarterback, will hurt them. Bet the farm on K-State.
Prediction: Win. 11-1 overall/8-1 Big 12
If K-State finishes 8-1 in the Big 12, that likely places them firmly in the Big 12 championship game and makes them a college football playoff contender.
Here are my best-case and worst-case scenarios:
Best case: K-State takes care of business in Waco and goes undefeated. 9-0/12-0.
Worst case: K-State loses the first game at Iowa State, can’t figure out how to defend Army and loses that one, loses at Baylor, against TCU, Texas Tech, and at Utah to finish 4-5/6-6. Low-tier bowl game or bust in this scenario.
I don’t think I’ve ever predicted K-State to lose only one game. That might be a first for me. I’m normally correct within a game or two, so hopefully that’s the case again this year.
Go Cats! See you in Dublin!
