Kansas State looks for revenge in rematch with UCLA

Football

The Cactus Bowl is almost upon us. On Tuesday night, the Wildcats will take on UCLA at Chase Field in Phoenix, and hopefully, they’ll beat the Bruins this time.

In addition to practicing football, the team has taken part in a number of team-building and fun exercises, including an event at Topgolf where various Wildcats showed off their golf skills, or lack thereof.

Our UCLA brethren at Bruins Nation take a closer look at the Wildcats offense and conclude that--despite evidence to the contrary—UCLA will probably win.

Whatever else happens, however, the sideline fireworks from the Alamo Bowl will probably not be repeated, because Jim Mora is long gone and UCLA’s Jedd Fisch has no such history with Bill Snyder.

Speaking of Snyder, he’s been in the news a lot these past few days. Asked recently about his coaching feature, Snyder equivocated and mentioned the need for a dialogue with his family. This is no different than at the end of most seasons, but this year, his words and decisions are provoking more scrutiny, and inevitably, more uncertainty and negativity.

Nobody here needs a reminder of what Snyder has meant to Kansas State, the football program, or to the community in Manhattan. Still, the Miracle in Manhattan remains a hot topic for most writers, and this piece from The Collegian is no different.

We know something of the man now, but what was Snyder like before 1989? Well, he was just as driven and just as good at organizing groups of young people.

The end of Snyder’s career may still be open to question, but at least one other coach from the state of Kansas has decided to hang up his clipboard forever. Jerry Kill, most recently offensive coordinator at Rutgers, has decided to retire (again) for health reasons.

Bowl Games

There’s a pretty full slate of bowl games to keep you busy if you’re either all done with holiday stress or today’s NFL games do nothing for you (SKOL!).

Here’s the full bowl schedule courtesy of the mothership.

Texas Tech kicks off against South Florida right now in the Birmingham Bowl over on ESPN. At 2:30 CST, Army plays San Diego State in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, and finally, in the nightcap event, Toledo takes on Appalachian State in the Dollar General Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.