Here's a closer look at what Kansas State football's 2024 schedule has in store
MANHATTAN — Kansas State football fans eager to start planning for the 2024 season finally got a look at the finished product at the end of January, when the Big 12 released the dates for its first year as a 16-team conference.
The conference office already had announced its league matchups, home and away, for the next four years on Nov. 1, but with no specific dates. As it turns out, K-State's schedule this fall has a mix of new and old, but with a few peculiarities thrown in.
For example, there is a nonconference game against a Big 12 opponent, two open dates, and a lighter-than-usual home schedule.
Here are five things of note for the Wildcats' 2024 season.
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Cat fight won't count in Big 12 standings
The fact that things moved so quickly with the Big 12 bringing in Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the Pac-12 for the 2024-25 academic year, left K-State and Arizona in a bit of a lurch.
Long before there was any indication that they would be conference rivals — in 2016 to be precise — the two schools agreed to a home-and-home series with Arizona visiting Manhattan in 2024 and the Wildcats returning the favor in 2025. Because there was not enough time for either school to find a suitable replacement, they will face in a nonconference matchup at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on either Friday, Sept. 13 or Saturday, Sept. 14.
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Wildcats only have six home games in 2024
Typically, K-State only schedules nonconference road games in years when it has five Big 12 home games. That was the case last fall, when the Wildcats completed a home-and-home series with Missouri in Columbia.
But this year the Wildcats have four conference home games — Oklahoma State, Kansas, Arizona State and Cincinnati — and they were locked in for a trip to New Orleans to take on Tulane on Sept. 7. In a two-for-one arrangement, K-State played host to Tulane in 2022 and will again in 2026, leaving the home schedule a little thin.
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Sunflower Showdown the only protected rivalry
With a 16-team league and the Big 12 choosing to match all members up at least once at home and on the road in a four-year cycle, it left the Sunflower Showdown with Kansas as the Wildcats' fully protected rivalry.
The Wildcats will play host to KU on Oct. 26 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and alternate each year, just as in the past. K-State has won the last 15 meetings, but the Jayhawks have made the series competitive again under coach Lance Leipold.
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Iowa State and Oklahoma State remain in heavy rotation
Iowa State, the Wildcats' second-longest continuous rivalry dating back to 1917, remains on the schedule for the next three years, ending its run in 2026 in Ames. Most likely the Farmageddon series will continue to go three on and one off.
The Wildcats and Oklahoma State will meet for the 70th time on Sept. 28 in Manhattan with the only interruptions since 1947 coming when they were in different divisions to start the Big 12 era. The Cowboys also remain on the schedule through 2026.
The other two three-time opponents over the next four years are former Big 12 foe Colorado, which returns from the Pac-12 next year, and 2023 conference newcomer Cincinnati.
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Another season, another Big 12 road opener
It has almost become comical by now, though a number of K-State fans are not amused. How can the Big 12 scheduling computer spit the Wildcats out every year to open conference play on the road?
Last year was a rare aberration, with the Wildcats opening against newcomer Central Florida at home. Things are back to normal in 2024, with the Wildcats traveling to Provo, Utah, on Sept. 21 to face Brigham Young, the 23rd time in the league's 29-year history that they play their Big 12 opener away from Manhattan.
2024 Kansas State football schedule
Aug. 31 — Tennessee-Martin
Sept. 7 — at Tulane
Sept. 13 or 14 — Arizona
Sept. 21 — at BYU
Sept. 28 — Oklahoma State
Oct. 12 — at Colorado
Oct. 19 — at West Virginia
Oct. 26 — Kansas
Nov. 2 — at Houston
Nov. 16 — Arizona State
Nov. 23 — Cincinnati
Nov. 30 — at Iowa State
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: A look at Kansas State football's 2024 schedule in a 16-team Big 12
