SFA: Easy win. PERFECT game to open with. Bad team, night game, etc. Should be able to play our typical vanilla game on offense and defense and coast to a 30+ pt win. Will be excited to see new faces and see who will be providing depth.
KSU 45 SFA 14
ISU: I’ll be honest. This game terrifies me. A combination of Mangino as the OC, ISU typically playing us tough, and an early season conference game on the road scare me a bit. I think ISU will be improved but I think the Cats escape Ames with a win leading into the game against Auburn.
KSU 34 ISU 21
Auburn: Biggest game in recent memory in terms of buildup and what it means for both teams. Auburn trying to get back to the Natty and KSU asserting themselves as a major player in the playoff mix.
To be brief, I don’t think we have the talent to matchup with their run game. I hold that the key to the game is our newcomers, Clink and DD. Have to think that they aren’t quite ready at this point of the season to go against the most dominant rushing attack in the nation.
Offensively, I don’t think we will have problems scoring on Auburn, just not enough. The lack of a consistent running game makes us too one dimensional in this one.
KSU 28 AUB 41
UTEP: Not too concerned about a let down game. Should roll into conference play.
KSU 41 UTEP 10
TTU: Lots of hype with Tech this year. Some have picked them as a darkhorse to finish in the top third of the league and challenge for a title. Davis Webb will be one of the better QB’s in TTU history by the time his career is over. But when TTU comes to town, our defense will start showing some midseason improvement. I look for us to win this game handily (not as bad as last year).
KSU 41 TTU 24
OU: Make or break game for the Cats if we want keep our slim playoff hopes alive. OU comes into this game with a record of 5-1. Also needing a win to stay alive. I see this game playing out in a similar way to last years game. A bit of a feeling out process in the first quarter and then picking up later.
However, in a difference from last season’s game. Our defense is not getting repeatedly gashed with the run. We make Knight try to beat us with his arm, which is they way to beat OU. Knight ends up making just enough plays for OU to survive.
KSU 24 OU 31
UT: We get back on the right track after a loss to UT in Austin last year. The running game emerges to provide some balance to our prolific passing game. Texas will be around in games and won’t suffer the blowouts they have in the last few years, but they have a pretty brutal stretch of schedule.
KSU 33 UT 21
OSU: Lost a lot, but Gundy has done well on the recruiting trail. 3 things: 1. Want to see how they compete with FSU. 2. JW Walsh worth a damn? 3. Tyreek Hill is a stud.
However, in my estimation they will struggle to be a consistent team this year but have the potency offensively with Gundy calling the shots to be in about every game. I think KSU wins this game but I wouldn’t over look them.
KSU 35 OSU 30
TCU: Another year in the Big 12, another year analysts project big things for the Frogs. D should be more than solid even with Fields out of the equation. Major thing is that the offense has been abysmal since entering the conference. The new offensive staff will go through growing pains and Joeckel isn’t an awful QB, but I have concerns on if TCU will be able to keep up with the other offenses in the Big 12. They always play a very physical style of football, but the offense still isn’t there yet.
KSU 27 TCU 17
WVU: Horsewomen has been axed by this game. Nice to have a little layoff before traveling to Morgantown on a Thursday. As for WVU, they are really in a world of turnover offensively. Virtually no experience returning at the WR position and Trickett pulling the trigger at QB. Offense should be average, defense maybe a bit better than average. Brutal schedule too. Can’t see Holgo lasting the year.
KSU 44 WVU 24
KU: Interested to see what the offense looks like with Cozart. Have better than average WRs, but can Cozart get them the ball? Have my doubts. Defense should be decent. Could surprise and win 2 or more conference games. However, I can’t imagine that they will have shown enough improvement to beat KSU in Manhattan.
KSU 38 KU 7
BU: Well, in case you haven’t noticed, I have us losing only one game in conference play thus far. I think this game will actually decide who wins the Big 12 title. I think OU suffers a loss to either TCU or Texas and then loses on the road to TTU, giving them two in the loss column. Baylor is sitting at this point with a loss at OU.
I think Baylor is going to benefit a lot from a pretty soft schedule. They hold off Texas in Austin and lose to OU in Norman by a considerable margin. However, the rest of their tougher games are at home. (and their non con is very easy).
Baylor’s defense has several major questions. Losing Dixon is a major blow. I really wish that we would actually play BU earlier in the season rather than later, but it is what it is.
With revenge on the mind, KSU pulls a mild upset and beats Baylor, ruining any outside chance they had of getting selected for the CFP. In a shootout, Waters and Lockett outdual Petty and Goodley.
KSU 47 BU 42
10-2: Finish outside the CFP and play LSU in whatever bowl they stick us in.
