Here it is, the biggest game in college football for the state of Kansas is here. The war for the state between the Kansas State Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks. Kansas State is coming in as the projected winner with a 6.5-point prediction. Recent history says they should destroy them, but the Jayhawks have a ton of luck and talent on their side. Kansas State just thrashed Baylor 59-25 and Kansas lost 16-13 to Texas Tech while their team kept accumulating injuries. Here’s a bit of team talk and history between these teams.

History:

Kansas and Kansas State is the second-longest rivalry between University of and State University. The other being Oregon and Oregon State. Kansas is the past dominated but that’s changed in the last 20 years. From 2000-2023 Kansas was only bested by Kansas State 4 times compared to 19 losses. Kansas was an alright team until 2010-2020 which is known as the program “Dark Age” as they only won 21 games during that era. Known as the joke of the conference and was mocked from coast to coast.

But it seems as if the team has turned it around finding the passion and talent to win games. A lot of it can be credited to coach Lance Leipold and star quarterback Jalon Daniels. Coach Leipold has coached at Wisconsin-Whitewater and Buffalo, winning everywhere he goes. Despite a rough first season fans found optimism again, and in 2022 they had a great building season finishing 6-7. And are currently 7-3 in 2023, though the road hasn’t been easy. Jalon Daniels has been amazing when he’s on the field. He’s battled injuries in the past few seasons. The next man up Jason Bean shows his talent as well on his wild ride. He’s the hero Kansas needs and deserves which is why it was devastating he was knocked out against Texas Tech. They’ll need their whole team at full strength against their biggest rival.

Kansas State was a mediocre program as well, but Bill Snyder brought in his culture of winning and brought nightmare fuel to Jayhawk fans. With guys like Darren Sproles and Collin Klein, it’s pretty hard to beat them, especially for the 2010s Jayhawks and other teams. Kansas State hasn’t lost to Kansas since 2008. They have all the pressure since Kansas might be starting their third-string quarterback. If they want to win they’ll need to run the score up early and keep going. But looking at their past results, it’s easier said than done.

Predictions:

I may be biased in these predictions since I’m a KU for life person but it will be a great game at David Booth Stadium. But I’m going with the Jayhawks pulling off the upset. Even though they’re starting their third-string quarterback, their overall team is really good. With a solid running back room, offensive line, and a potent defense I think they could pull it off. Kansas State has a very good team though which will make it an interesting game. I got Kansas winning 46-45 in overtime.