It’s been a tough few weeks for Kansas State fans.

The football team hasn’t won a game in nearly a month and the men’s basketball team is off to a disappointing start, despite a 3-1 record.

Hopefully this mailbag will serve as a cathartic experience for my loyal readers in EMAW nation. Let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.

Is our offense better now than when we replaced Courtney Messingham? I remember being able to predict the play call and get it right 60% of the time. Unfortunately, I’m starting to become a fortune teller again. The only difference I feel between then and now is our talent. -@Dar88265793 via X.

Yes, K-State is better on offense now than it was when Courtney Messingham was calling the plays.

But there has been a drop-off from Collin Klein to Conor Riley.

One thing to remember here is that K-State looked pretty good on offense in its first eight games. It has fallen off a cliff over the past few weeks.

Check it out ...

• 41 points and 449 yards against Tennessee-Martin

• 34 points and 396 yards at Tulane

• 31 points and 391 yards against Arizona

• 9 points and 367 yards at BYU

• 42 points and 559 yards against Oklahoma State

• 31 points and 423 yards at Colorado

• 45 points and 412 yards at West Virginia

• 29 points and 479 yards against Kansas

The Wildcats were 7-1 while averaging 32.3 points and 434.5 yards per game. Fans didn’t have much to complain about.

Over the last two games ...

• 19 points and 327 yards at Houston

• 14 points and 412 yards against Arizona State

The Wildcats went 0-2 while averaging 16.5 points and 369.5 yards per game. Their production has basically been cut in half.

Why? Predictable plays is certainly part of the equation. Everyone knows the Wildcats are going to run it up the A gap on first down with DJ Giddens. But the offensive coordinator gets far too much blame in college football. It’s never entirely his fault.

Avery Johnson has thrown multiple interceptions in all three of K-State’s losses. Blunders on special teams have hurt the past few weeks. Execution from players also matters.

The jury is still out on Riley. How the offense responds to this slump will tell us a lot about his skills as an OC.

Are we going to go more up tempo on offense? -@bfullingt1 via X.

One can hope.

The Wildcats were at their best last week against the Arizona State Sun Devils when they went up tempo and mounted a too-little-too-late comeback in the second half.

Playing faster makes the offense less predictable. It also prevents Johnson from overthinking things at quarterback. The offense just goes out there and plays in those situations. K-State could benefit from more of it.

Why don’t we go 5 wide receivers and open up the field for Avery? -@wax_golf via X.

K-State doesn’t have enough quality receivers to use five of them at the same time. But you make a good point.

The Wildcats could motion DJ Giddens or Dylan Edwards into the slot and let Avery Johnson run plays out of an empty backfield with three receivers, one tight end and one running back.

I like that better than the run-pass option plays that Conor Riley loves to call.

K-State has tried a few empty sets this season, but none of them have worked all that well. Maybe that could change if he ran some designed QB draws or QB scrambles out of them.

What are the chances we see a drastic change in offensive scheming this off-season? -@macfish4202 via X.

Let’s see how the next two weeks and the bowl game go before we begin looking ahead to next season.

When Klieman decided to part ways with Messingham, it only happened after K-State finished the 2021 season with a woeful effort against Texas, which made it clear that something needed to change.

We aren’t at that point yet, whether you’re talking about a new coordinator or a new offensive strategy.

HCCK is rumored to be dealing with a personal issue. Will he be on the sideline in 2025? If so, will the Riley/Wells team still be calling plays? -@BusMedicMike via X.

I think Chris Klieman will continue coaching. He’s only 57.

He shot down a retirement question at his news conference earlier this week.

We all have things happen in our lives that occasionally make it hard to focus on work. He has been dealing with one of those things over the past three weeks, but he has said things are improving for him and his family away from the football field. This is temporary, not permanent.

As for who will be calling offensive plays next season, that probably depends on how many points the Wildcats score in their final two games.

Should fans just set the expectation at 9 wins for K-State football under Klieman? -@0Mantz via X.

It’s interesting how much differently fans view their team during a losing streak compared to the preseason.

I predicted K-State to go 9-3 in my annual predictions column back in August and got called a hater for it. When I further explained my reasoning on the Boscoe’s Boys podcast, I was told that I was far lower on the Wildcats than any other preseason guest picker. Just about everyone else was predicting 11-1 or 12-0.

Those paragraphs are not meant as some type of humble brag from yours truly. Well, not entirely anyway.

But maybe my reasoning won’t fall on deaf ears this time around.

Here’s the main reason why K-State has never finished better than 9-3 under Klieman: The Wildcats lose as touchdown-plus favorites far too often. It’s happened three times this season and eight times overall during his tenure in Manhattan.

For whatever reason, K-State is better as an underdog. Klieman has led the Wildcats to five wins as a touchdown-plus dog. Unfortunately, they don’t get many upset chances now that Oklahoma and Texas have left the conference.

K-State has trouble handling success. It also tends to play poorly after bye weeks. It’s hard for a team with those traits to pull off a perfect season.

That being said, the ceiling could be higher for K-State next season. Avery Johnson will be a year older and maybe that will help him make more game-winning plays (like he did at Colorado) and fewer game-losing interceptions (like he had against BYU, Houston and Arizona State).

I don’t care what any of you say, we are so back (because K-State just won a national livestock judging competition and a national title in meat judging)! -@WildcatV1ctory via X.

Congratulations are definitely in order for those K-State clubs.

Judging livestock and meat are underrated skills. Who among us would not want to be considered an expert in those areas?

What’s there to be fired up about? Football team has again failed to meet expectations which has become normal under Klieman. Men’s basketball team is run by a snake oil salesman and people still see him as some kind of a god. Women’s basketball is the bright spot. -@jeffjeff360 via X.

Also ...

I think people might be coming around to it now but why has is taken so long to embrace the women’s basketball team. By far the best sports team on campus and don’t get nearly enough love. -@Emaw_Catsby90 via X.

It’s important to remember that in Manhattan, basketball season doesn’t truly start until football season ends.

So I would advise waiting until at least January to worry about attendance for the men’s or women’s basketball teams inside Bramlage Coliseum.

If the K-State women keep winning the fans will show up. Bramlage was sold out when K-State hosted NCAA Tournament games last season.

Jeff Mittie’s team is looking really good. The crowds will come.

It will be interesting to see the women’s basketball team face its first true test of the season on Monday when the Wildcats play Duke on a neutral court.

Ayoka Lee and company have throttled the competition so far with blowout wins over Green Bay, Belmont, Creighton and Milwaukee. They are deservedly ranked in the top 10.

I haven’t watched all their games, but it seems like the Wildcats have more talent and depth than they did last season. Temira Poindexter has been a very nice addition.

It will be fun to watch them duel it out with Iowa State in the Big 12 championship race.

Why are we not using the BCS formula to do the CFP rankings? The committee is ridiculously stupid and always has been. -@RutledgeCoach via X.

I am absolutely in favor of letting computers decide the College Football Playoff rankings. At least then everyone would be judged by the same rules.

Right now, it’s a beauty pageant.

Is the selection committee ranking teams based on resume strength, eye test, victory margin, quality wins, bad losses or something else entirely? I have no idea.

Notre Dame and BYU have the same record, but the Fighting Irish are currently ranked at No. 6 while BYU is at No. 14. Nevermind that BYU has a better win (No. 13 SMU) than Notre Dame (No. 15 Texas A&M) and also a better loss (Kansas compared to Northern Illinois).

Why are some teams severely punished for losing and others seemingly rewarded?

At the very least, can we replace some of the athletic directors and retired coaches on the selection committee with a few football nerds with data-driven power rankings?

The current system doesn’t work.