Kansas State football's early national projections, sportsbooks disagree
While the majority of national experts project Kansas State football to finish in the back half of the Big 12, sportsbooks see it differently.
MANHATTAN — Early expectations around Kansas State football ahead of Collin Klein's first season as coach are a bit all over the place. More than three months ahead of the season, national outlets tend to project Kansas State as a team that will finish in the back half of the Big 12. Meanwhile, sportsbooks have projected the Wildcats as one of the four favorites to win the league.
What gives? A recent USA TODAY projection picked the Wildcats to finish 10th in the league, calling this season a rebuilding year . ESPN might have added fuel to the low expectations when it ranked the Wildcats 10th among Big 12 teams for their offseason, noting turnover on the offensive and defensive lines.
Post-transfer portal power rankings, including one by CBS Sports that ranked K-State ninth in February , placed the Wildcats in the back half of the league because of their losses on defense. At the same time, they expect teams like Oklahoma State, TCU, Houston and Arizona to rise. But the sportsbooks see a different story, with Kansas State having the fourth-best odds to win the Big 12, according to both DraftKings and FanDuel.
Those major books place the Wildcats behind Texas Tech, BYU and Utah. Coincidentally, K-State doesn't play any of those teams this season, which contributes to the Wildcats having favorable odds. FanDuel sets the Wildcats' win total over/under at 8.