Kansas State athletics, 1899-1900: joining a conference

In the summer of 1899, Kansas State Agricultural College officially became part of the Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association. That league had been in existence since 1890, kicking off with the first organized football game played in the state between Kansas and Baker.

With that affiliation came a beefed-up schedule. Gone were the high schools, although over the next decades a handful of games against high schools would dot expanded schedules. Leading the way for the Aggies this season was Albert Hansen. Hansen was a three-year letter winner as an offensive lineman at the University of Nebraska, and was hired immediately after he graduated. He would leave after one year and return home to Iowa, where he purchased the Harlan American newspaper and would eventually sit one term, from 1913-1915, as Shelby County’s legislator in the Iowa House of Representatives.

The season started badly, with shutout losses at Washburn and Saint Mary’s in the space of three days in mid-October. On the day before Halloween, however, the Aggies returned home and dumped Kansas Wesleyan 17-55. A couple of weeks later, a hard-fought 6-0 home victory was attained over the College of Emporia, but three weeks later the Aggies traveled to Emporia to face that town’s other school, the Kansas State Teacher’s College (now Emporia State). Like the other two road games, the Aggies failed to score, and ended the season at 2-3.

Running total: 4-7-4, 2-6 against colleges

The baseball squad expanded its schedule to ten games in 1900. They were unable to post a win on the road, but did go 3-2 in Manhattan to finish 3-7. Alas, the author of the section on KSAC Athletics in the 1900 Sledge failed to mention anything which actually transpired.

Running total: 12-21