K-State Q&A: Looking ahead to football season, Wildcats in the NBA Draft and more

It’s time for another Kansas State Wildcats mailbag.

This week, we are going to dive right into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.

What is the trickiest football game on the 2024 schedule? What is the easiest game? And is there a swing game that could make or break things for the Wildcats? - Andrew B. via e-mail.

Let’s get the easy question out of the way first.

There is one game that K-State should absolutely win next season without any drama at all. And that game is the season-opener against Tennessee-Martin. No one (and I mean no one) beats FCS teams more efficiently than Chris Klieman.

He did it every week when he was coaching at North Dakota State. Now he does it once a season with the Wildcats.

Late-season home games against Arizona State and Cincinnati should also be pieces of cake, but those are at least still conference foes that K-State doesn’t have much experience with. The UT-Martin game is pretty much a sure thing.

For the trickiest game on the schedule, let’s go with Colorado. Even though I don’t think the Buffaloes are going to be very good, this game falls in a spot on the schedule where Klieman usually struggles. This game is on the road and it comes after a bye week. Those haven’t been kind to K-State in recent years. The Wildcats have lost their last three games when coming off a bye, falling to Oklahoma State in 2023, TCU in 2022 and Iowa State in 2021.

The Buffaloes will also have 14 days off before this game. That means Deion Sanders will have plenty of time to prep and Colorado will benefit from a home/altitude advantage. This game is Tricky for K-State with a capital T.

For the swing game, let’s go to the end of the schedule and pick at Iowa State. That game could very well have Big 12 championship implications. Games at West Virginia and at home against Kansas and Oklahoma State will also be very important. But Farmageddon looks like the biggest game on the schedule.

Any chance we see Adrian Martinez in the NFL next season after his MVP year in the UFL? -@garrettb87 via X.

I hope so.

Adrian Martinez is a talented dual-threat quarterback and he deserves more than one preseason with the Detroit Lions to prove whether he belongs at the NFL level.

He is coming off a terrific season with the Birmingham Stallions. He was named MVP for his efforts. That is impressive.

How much stock will NFL teams put into his play in a spring league? I have no idea. But I hope at least one team gives him another shot to make a roster. He is too good to be in the UFL forever.

Here’s a fill-in-the-blank question for K-State Q&A: The next KSU basketball player to get picked in the NBA Draft will be _________. - Jeff M. via e-mail.

The answer to this question depends on just how good (or bad) the 2024-25 basketball season goes for K-State. So that makes it difficult to answer right now.

You won’t find any K-State players on the super early 2025 mock drafts, but that could change.

Maybe Dug McDaniel has a monster season and puts himself on the NBA Draft radar. Perhaps Coleman Hawkins will lead the Wildcats back to the NCAA Tournament and boost his pro stock along the way. Or maybe someone else like Ugonna Onyenso or Achor Achor can become a second-rounder.

One of them could end up following the Keyontae Johnson path. I really don’t know who will be the focal point of K-State basketball next season. So things could go in many different directions.

That being said, my money is on Hawkins. He was a fringe NBA player this year and now he gets an opportunity to put up big stats with the Wildcats. It won’t surprise anyone if he’s playing in the league next year.

Then again, maybe I am looking at this question all wrong and someone like Selton Miguel, Nijel Pack or Arthur Kaluma will make it to the NBA ... and they all have K-State ties.

Projecting NBA draft picks was easier before the transfer portal.

If someone is taking a weekend trip to Manhattan where should that person eat? Todd via X.

There are too many good restaurants in the Little Apple to recommend just one spot.

So let’s break this down into a few categories.

Pizza: AJ’s.

Mexican: Taco Lucha or El Patron.

Burger: So Long Saloon.

Small Plates: Bourbon & Baker

Hole in the wall: Hillside Cafe.

Barbecue: Cox Brothers.

Breakfast: Early Edition or The Chef.

Sadly, with four kids at home I don’t usually get to eat at many of these restaurants. I’m lucky if I can convince the family to dine out at Chick-Fil-A instead of McDonald’s.

Start, bench or cut the following: College football on Friday nights, international conference games on Week Zero or road kickoff times later than 8 p.m. central time? -@scottwildcat via X.

In a perfect world, every college football game would be played on Saturday afternoon with only one or two truly elite games given standalone treatment each weekend like they do in the NFL.

Alas, college football long ago bowed down to TV networks, so we get games at every time imaginable. That’s fine and dandy if you’re watching from home. But it can be a pain on anyone looking to tailgate and go to the games.

But I digress.

Start: Friday night games. These aren’t much of an inconvenience, unless you play or coach for a high school football team. Watching football on a Friday night is fun. I have no problem with teams playing under the lights.

Bench: International games on Week Zero. I don’t have a problem with these games, either. But it can sometimes be painful to watch two good teams go against each other this early in the season without first playing a warmup game. There is a reason most teams start off with a cupcake.

Cut: Games that begin after 8 p.m. central. I’m too old for that (stuff). I have absolutely no idea how sports fans on the East Coast stay up for games that start at 9 p.m. or later. When do they sleep?