If Kansas State wants to attend a bowl game for the sixth straight year, it is free to do so, no matter what happens when the 5-6 Wildcats face West Virginia in Saturday’s regular season finale.
Just don’t tell K-State’s players the issue is that simple.
On Monday, the NCAA announced protocols to allow teams with losing records to play in bowl games this season, since at least two and as many as five spots will be left unfilled by teams with six or more wins.
Teams with the highest Academic Progress Rate will be the first to receive invitations. K-State, with an APR of 976 from the latest report, trails only Nebraska among five-win teams. So the Wildcats are in.
If they want to be, that is.
During Monday’s Big 12 teleconference, head coach Bill Snyder said players would vote on whether to attend a bowl if K-State fails to defeat the Mountaineers on Saturday. He wasn’t enthusiastic about addressing the situation.
“I don’t want to think about that, in all honesty,” he said. “That is not the direction we are trying to move right now.”
On Tuesday, K-State players didn’t want to talk about it, either. They plan to reach bowl eligibility the traditional way.
“That’s not what we want,” center Dalton Risner said. “Our mentality is to win this weekend, be 6-6, and go to a bowl game. If I heard anyone on our team talking about going to a bowl game at 5-7, I’d be pretty mad.
“I understand that people outside the program are talking about it, but we’re not.”
K-State is one of three teams with traditional bowl eligibility still in question. Georgia State and South Alabama will also attempt to win a sixth game this weekend.
On Monday, a Nebraska spokesperson said the school will accept a bowl bid, while Missouri, who is about to embark on a coaching search, released a statement saying it will refuse an invitation.
As for potential destinations, the Wildcats would most likely be headed to the Cactus Bowl, but the Liberty Bowl and Heart of Dallas Bowl remain possibilities as well.
