K-Stated

The last time Kansas State traveled to Jack Trice Stadium, Iowa State handed the Wildcats a 31-20 loss in Ron Prince’s second year as head coach.

The Wildcats have since reeled off four straight wins over the Cyclones, but they came by an average of 5.75 points and none of them were played in Ames. K-State defeated Iowa State at home in 2008 and 2011. In between, the Farmageddon series briefly moved to Arrowhead Stadium.

So Saturday’s game will be a new experience for K-State players. None of them have played at Jack Trice Stadium before. Next week will bring a new stadium, too, when the Wildcats play their first game at West Virginia since 1931.

Question is: Will that have an impact on the games?

“I would like to think that’s not the case,” K-State football coach Bill Snyder said. “As we’ve said so many times, it’s keeping it all between the white lines. If you do that it all looks the same no matter where you happen to be. Grass is grass.”
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Editor’s note: In preparation of the upcoming football season, K-Stated will look ahead to all 12 games on the Wildcats’ 2011 schedule. We start at the end with Iowa State. Next up, at Texas

As fun as Farmageddon was to watch at Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas State won two exciting games over Iowa State by close scores of 24-23 and 27-20) the former Big 12 North rivals are moving their annual meeting back to campus.

That’s bad news for anyone hoping for K-State/Iowa State to turn into the next Red River Rivalry. But, hey, at least it won’t become the next Baylor/Texas Tech, where neither fan base seems interested in driving to a neutral site for the game.

Overall, the switch back to Manhattan and Ames should be a positive for the matchup. The move away from a pro stadium will mean full – or at least near full — crowds watching from the stands, and the unusual scheduling date of December 3 gives the game a sense of added importance.

These are two similar teams that were picked to finish in about the same spot of the final Big 12 standings. Paul Rhoads looks like a real up-and-comer. Bill Snyder is the most established coach in the conference. The Cyclones and Wildcats have played each other tough for the past five seasons, and there’s no reason to think this year will be any different.
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Do a Google Images search on the term “Farmageddon” and very little comes up about Kansas State and Iowa State. Instead you get all kinds of unintentionally hilarious cartoon drawings of farmers and farm animals like the ones featured here.

Too bad, because the Wildcats and Cyclones lived up to their end of the bargain in their first neutral-site game at Arrowhead Stadium last year. The two teams played a fantastic game that wasn’t decided until the final moments when Emmanuel Lamur blocked an extra point.

K-State won 24-23, and the 40,851 in attendance left speaking highly of their experiences. But unless something drastic changes in the minds of John Currie and Bill Snyder following Saturday’s rematch, the series is headed back to Manhattan and Ames in the future.

It’s the right move to make, but that doesn’t mean the Wildcats and Cyclones can’t put on another great show in Kansas City.
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With the Mountain West Conference deciding not to add Boise State to its current nine-team lineup last week, most around the country assume the league is waiting to see if it can make a run at whatever teams are left out in the cold from of a possible Big 12 breakup.

That would make Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State and possibly Missouri and Baylor teams that could hear from the Mountain West in the coming weeks.

K-State president Kirk Schulz and athletic director John Currie insist they haven’t had contact with any league other than the Big 12 to this point.

As for the Mountain West, it isn’t saying much of anything right now. A spokesperson for the league said Thursday afternoon that commissioner Craig Thompson has received more than 40 interview requests, and that he is opting to put out a general statement rather than speaking to so many reporters.

The statement reads: “The Mountain West Conference is fully in tune with the ongoing developments in the intercollegiate athletics landscape, including today’s announcement of a change in other conferences’ memberships. We remain in communication with key parties and are continuing to implement our internal strategies. These deliberations are ongoing and will be remain confidential until the appropriate time.”