There aren’t a lot of college football programs that have done more with less over the decades than Kansas State has since Bill Snyder arrived in Manhattan 35 years ago.
Since Snyder got to the Little Apple in 1989, the Wildcats have gone from afterthought to Big 12 power.
The Wildcats haven’t missed a beat since former North Dakota State coach Chris Klieman was hired to replace Snyder in 2019. To the delight of Kansas sports betting fans, Klieman is 39-24 (.619) with a 2-2 mark in bowl games. And he’s done all of this despite K-State’s lack of a recruiting base. The Wildcats have posted the 10th-best 247 Sports recruiting class rank (52.6) in the Big 12 between 2020 and 2024.
No matter the rankings, the Wildcats have amassed the third-most victories (27) of any Big 12 team over the last three years, behind Oklahoma State’s 29 and Utah’s 28.
Big 12 Average Recruiting Ranking Since 2020
Kansas sports betting apps sites list Georgia as the favorite for next year’s national championship at +360.
K-State Doing More with Less
Of the schools in the 16-team Big 12, none has done more with less recruiting wise than the Wildcats, who rank 10th on the trail while posting the third most wins.
The two teams in front of them — Oklahoma State (42.4 recruiting class rank) and Utah (36.6 recruiting class rank) — have the fourth and second-ranked 247 classes over the last half-decade, illustrating how remarkable of a job Klieman has done in shaping K-State’s roster.
This season, oddsmakers at ESPN BET Kansas give the Wildcats +7500 national title odds, which ranks in a tie with Arizona and Utah for 19th nationally.
The Wildcats’ 2024 schedule includes non-conference games against Tennessee-Martin, Tulane and Arizona, who Kansas State scheduled before it joined the Big 12, thus making it a non-conference contest. In Big 12 play, Kansas State squares off against Oklahoma State, Kansas, Arizona State and Cincinnati at home, along with road games against BYU, Colorado, West Virginia, Houston and Iowa State.
