Baylor Gameday!

Football

Kansas State is on the road today to take on Baylor. The game kicks off at 6 PM and you can catch it on ESPN2. These details and more are available—as usual—in Jon Morse’s HOW TO WATCH post.

Baylor is not that good this year, with just one win to their credit. But the oddsmakers don’t like this Kansas State team much either, so the Wildcats are actually 5-point road dogs in a game that would otherwise be a toss-up. What that says about either team is anyone’s guess.

What can we expect from the Wildcats today? Well, after last Saturday’s embarrassing loss to a deserving and superior Iowa State squad, the coaches and players noted what a difficult year it’s been so far, with COVID-19 protocols and lack of depth both being huge problems. Kansas State being slow out of the gate seems to the common factor in the worst losses of the season. Given that the Wildcats average barely more than 300 yards of offense per game, getting out to an early lead is of critical importance.

Stressing the need for team unity and leadership, seniors Kiondre Thomas and Briley Moore held a team meeting. The hope is the meeting helped put the debacle against the Cyclones to bed and helped the team focus on the task ahead.

Moore is healthy now and his return to the field would be a benefit to Will Howard, assuming he will get the nod at quarterback against the Bears. Malik Knowles is also likely to take the field. But it’s not clear if linebackers Elijah Sullivan and Justin Hughes will be back today, and without them, the defense could struggle.

It’s been entirely too long since the Wildcats won a game. Let’s hope that situation is remedied tonight. Go Cats, win the dang day!

Basketball

Kansas State lost to erstwhile conference foe Colorado 76-58 at home last night. The teams were evenly matched for the first half, with the Wildcats playing with energy and even going on a fantastic 11-minute run. But the second stanza was all Buffaloes, with CU’s McKinley Wright IV going off for 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting.

As Luke Thompson notes in his recap, the shooting is probably fine, especially with Nijel Pack playing well and Luke Kasubke expected to return to the lineup in December. On the defensive front though, woof.

The men are back in action on Monday night against Kansas City.

The Kansas State women, a rusty squad that hasn’t taken the field in over 260 days, fought off Newman 63-59 in Wichita. The first quarter was ugly for the Wildcats, with Newman running up a 14-9 lead. But the Wildcats bounced back to finish the quarter strong and dominated the second frame.

Christiana Carr (15), Ayoka Lee (14), and Laura Macke (13) all hit double-digit scoring for the Wildcats, and Carr also pulled down nine rebounds.

Up next, Kansas State plays Southern today at 1 PM in the season’s first official game.