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Christopher Boan is a lead writer at BetKansas.com specializing in covering state issues. He covered sports and sports betting in Arizona for more than seven years.
Kansas State Football Bowl Projections: Odds For Wildcats’ 2025-26 Bowl Game
One of college football’s most successful underdogs hails from the Sunflower State. The Kansas State Wildcats football program has reached a bowl game in 12 of the last 14 seasons, including last year’s 9-4 run under head coach Chris Klieman.
But things are not going well early this season, to say the least, after a Week 3 loss to Army and a Week 4 loss to Arizona.
With all that in mind, BetKansas.com produced the latest batch of our yearlong bowl game hypothetical odds for the Wildcats, as Klieman and company look to get the Wildcats back to a bowl game for a fifth straight season in 2025. At bet365 Kansas Sportsbook, KSU no longer has live odds to make its first College Football Playoff appearance this season.
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Recent Seasons Strong For Kansas State
Dating to Bill Snyder’s heyday in the early 1990’s, K-State has been one of the sport’s best fighters, pound-for-pound, winning at least 10 games four years in a row from 1997 to 2000 and nine times in total during two stints.
Klieman until this season hadn’t missed a beat since taking over for the College Football Hall of Fame coach, going 49-29 (.628) in Manhattan with a Big 12 title in 2022 and bowl game victories in 2021 and 2023.
The 2025 season hasn’t gotten off to a great start, with a 24-21 loss to Iowa State in Dublin followed by a 38-35 squeaker over FCS power North Dakota. Then came another loss to Army, in what should have been a bounce back win. The Wildcats' Kansas sports betting odds are no looking fire after the loss to Arizona in Tucson.
Kansas State Bowl Projections: Odds For Wildcats 2025-26 Bowl
Bowl | Location | Conference Opponent | Odds | Percentage Chance |
No Bowl | TBD | TBD | +125 | 44.4% |
Alamo Bowl | San Antonio, TX | TBD (formerly vs. Pac-12) | +400 | 23.8% |
Independence Bowl | Shreveport, LA | vs. Pac-12 or TBD | +700 | 12.5% |
TaxAct Texas Bowl | Houston, TX | vs. SEC | +1100 | 8.3% |
The Field |
|
| +1000 | 9.1% |
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The Wildcats’ latest faceplant came about as a result of a sloppy first half, with Arizona racing out to a 17-3 halftime lead before the visitors from the Little Apple rallied with a 97-yard touchdown and some solid special teams play to tie the game. Things fell apart, again, from there, however, with Arizona scoring the next six points on two field goals to ice a six-point home win over K-State.
These odds are not available at Kansas sportsbook apps; they’re exclusive to BetKansas.
Given Kansas State’s sloppy start to the season and the team’s need to win five out of their next eight games, we’re going with no bowl game at all as the most likely end-of-season outcome for the Wildcats in 2025. Overall, we’re giving Chris Klieman’s team +125 (44.4%) odds of missing bowl season entirely, while the best destination for the squad right now if they do make the six wins needed being San Antonio’s Alamo Bowl, at +400.
Should Kansas State wind up elsewhere, keep an eye on Shreveport’s Independence Bowl, which clocks in at +700 this week, as well as Houston’s TaxAct Texas Bowl (+1100) as the most likely landing spots for the Wildcats this bowl season.
Right now, the key for Klieman and company is to enter the team’s bye week with an eye towards getting right on and off the field, with the 1-3 Wildcats looking to right the many wrongs that have tripped them up to date before they host UCF on Sept. 27.
K-State has played in Houston once under Klieman (2021), while the program’s last trip to Shreveport for the Independence Bowl came in 1982. That year, head coach Jim Dickey capped a 6-5-1 campaign with a 14-3 loss to Wisconsin in KSU’s first bowl game ever.
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Kansas State Bowl Game History Since 2019
Year | Bowl | Result |
2024 | Rate Bowl | Win, 44-41 vs. Rutgers |
2023 | Pop-Tarts Bowl | Win, 28-19 vs. NC State |
2022 | Sugar Bowl | Loss, 45-20 vs. Alabama |
2021 | Texas Bowl | Win, 42-20 vs. LSU |
2019 | Liberty Bowl | Loss, 20-17 vs. Navy |
Over the previous six years, Kansas State has played five bowl games, going 3-2 in those contests with victories over Rutgers in the 2024 Rate Bowl (44-41), North Carolina State in the 2023 Pop-Tarts Bowl (28-19) and LSU in the 2021 Texas Bowl (42-20).
Throw in a pair of losses to Alabama in the 2022 Sugar Bowl (45-20) and Navy in the 2019 Liberty Bowl (20-17) and you have the Wildcats’ recent postseason history covered. Klieman looks to get K-State over the hump and into the CFP for the first time this fall.
The Wildcats have gone 12-14 all-time in bowl games. Highlights among those wins include the Holiday Bowl (1995, 1999 and 2002), Fiesta Bowl (1997) and Cotton Bowl (2000). KSU is
USA Today photo by Candice Ward
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For the 2025-26 college football season, we currently project Kansas State to miss out on a bowl game, with the odds at +125 odds (a 44.4% chance).
Just four games into the season, K-State is not eligible for a bowl game yet. Their most recent postseason appearance was in the 2024 Rate Bowl, a 44-41 win over Rutgers.
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