The Kansas State Wildcats began this football season with national title expectations.

It ended in disappointment after they lost 29-21 to Iowa State in the regular season finale. The Wildcats finished the year 8-4.

“Our kids fought hard,” K-State coach Chris Klieman said. “It’s a good team, it’s a tough team to play in, and our guys did their best and just came up short.”

The Wildcats entered the weekend with hopes of reaching the Big 12 Championship Game. All they had to do was beat the Cyclones and had two losses to Arizona State, BYU or Colorado. All three won, so the Wildcats knew they were out of the competition before kickoff.

The Cyclones play the Sun Devils in the conference title game on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Now they have to wait for their fate in the bowl. After the game, Klieman made his best pitch so the players could participate in the postseason.

“Get everyone to attend the bowl game,” Klieman said. “I grabbed Austin Moore and Brendan Mottand said, ‘This team needs to be in the bowl game.’ I know this is a different world of college athletics and I understand that, but we still have more history to make with this football team and I’m counting on these older kids to make sure we have boys playing and playing our best guys.”

Shandel Richardson is editor of Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at [email protected]

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