KSU football ranked No. 20 in preseason poll

The Kansas State Wildcats will enter the 2025 football campaign with high expectations ... and a preseason ranking, it has been reported.

K-State checked in at No. 20 in the first USA Today Coaches Poll of the year recently, which means many across college football think Chris Klieman’s team is ready to contend for a Big 12 championship and maybe a playoff berth.

The Wildcats are the second-highest rated team from the Big 12 in the preseason poll, behind No. 11 Arizona State. Iowa State (No. 21), BYU (23) and Texas Tech (24) will also enter the season with a ranking a few spots below K-State. 

Though they failed to crack the top 25, a pair of other regional teams received votes in the poll. The Missouri Tigers just missed out on a preseason ranking. They are unofficially at No. 27, two spots out of the top 25. The Kansas Jayhawks received enough votes to unofficially check in at No. 49. Texas was selected as the No. 1 team heading into the season, followed by Ohio State, Penn State, Georgia and Notre Dame. 

For K-State, the preseason honor means that the Wildcats have been ranked for at least one week during all seven seasons of the Klieman era. This is the third straight year in which K-State earned a preseason ranking. The Wildcats started out at No. 17 last year. K-State will begin the upcoming season on Aug. 23 with a rivalry game against Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland. 

With both the Cyclones and the Wildcats making the preseason top 25, their next Farmageddon game will mark the first time that a pair or ranked teams have played in the Aer Lingus Classic.