College football鈥檚 top 5 matchups of Week 12
4. No. 21 Kansas State vs. No. 25 Kansas – Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET, FS1
Saturday will mark the 121st edition of the Sunflower Showdown between Kansas State and Kansas, and will be a critical battle when it comes to the Big 12 standings. These two programs first met in 1902 with the Jayhawks bullying the Wildcats for quite some time, and Kansas still leads the all-time series 65-50-5. However, Kansas State has been absolutely dominant of late, winning 14 consecutive games against Kansas, and 26 of 30 dating back to 1993.
Keeping the streak alive will be imperative for the Wildcats on Saturday, as currently, they sit at 5-2 in the Big 12 and have a legitimate shot to make it back to the Big 12 Championship game. Kansas State has flown under the radar this year, going 7-3 and losing road games only to Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas 鈥� the latter of which was a three-overtime contest. The Wildcats feature a top-20 offense that relies heavily on a rushing attack which puts up over 200 yards per game behind lead back DJ Giddens. Quarterback Will Howard has also been solid once again, and has big game experience that should help Kansas State down the stretch.
Although the Jayhawks have struggled mightily against the Wildcats recently, this is a different Kansas team. The Jayhawks first proved so last year, and have continued their turnaround under Lance Leipold in 2023, going 7-3 thus far highlighted by a big win over Oklahoma late last month. Similar to its opponent, Kansas鈥� greatest strength is its top-20 rushing offense led by Devin Neal who has run for just shy of 1,000 yards on the season. The run game will be relied on heavily, especially if starting quarterback Jason Bean can鈥檛 play after he was injured last week which contributed to the Jayhawks鈥� loss to Texas Tech. It could be a grind-it-out game, but Kansas has the ability to get a win and keep its slim Big 12 title hopes alive.
