K-State Wildcats vs. OSU Cowboys: Five things to know about Big 12 game of the week

Fans all across Big 12 country should be tuning in to watch Oklahoma State and Kansas State duke it out on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

This is the game of the week.

Even though the No. 20 Cowboys and the No. 25 Wildcats both lost over the weekend, they remain ranked in the top 25 and still have legitimate hope of winning a conference championship.

This will be an important game for both teams, as the winner will feel good about its position in the Big 12 standings and the loser will remain at the bottom of the league race.

Oklahoma State (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) is coming off a narrow home loss against Utah. K-State (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) is coming off a blowout defeat at BYU.

Which team is poised to bounce back? We will find out this weekend.

Until then, here is everything you need to know to start preparing for this week’s game.

Oklahoma State at Kansas State: Game details

Kickoff: 11 a.m. Saturday

Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium

TV: ESPN

Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City and KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita

Betting line: K-State by 5.5 with an O/U of 54.5

Five things to know

1. This game is all about survival. Oklahoma State and K-State were both expected to contend for a Big 12 championship this season. Only the winner of this game will feel like it is well positioned to do exactly that. It is hard to battle out of an 0-2 start in conference play. For that reason, this game should be meaningful in both the short and long term.

2. Oklahoma State benched Alan Bowman last week. The Cowboys got off to such a slow start on offense during their recent loss to Utah that Mike Gundy temporarily benched his starting quarterback and searched for a spark from Garret Rangel. But when he only completed 3 of 11 passes for 31 yards, Oklahoma State went back to Bowman and he threw a pair of touchdowns in a 22-19 loss. Bowman will almost certainly be in command of the offense this week, but perhaps the coaching staff will have him on a short leash.

3. DJ Giddens could have a big day against Oklahoma State. The Cowboys struggled mightily against Utah running back Micah Bernard over the weekend, as he rushed for 182 yards on 25 carries. Chris Klieman may look to beat Oklahoma State in the same way by giving the ball to his workhorse running back. Giddens has rushed for 417 yards and a touchdown this season. He may be able to exploit the OSU defensive line.

4. Chris Klieman usually has K-State ready to play after a loss. At times, K-State has struggled to handle success under its head coach. That is why the Wildcats tend to drop a few games as favorites every season. But they almost always perform well when they are underdogs or when they are coming off a loss. K-State hasn’t lost consecutive games since 2021. Last year, it followed up at all four of its losses with victories. Those included a 44-31 win over UCF, a 38-21 win at Texas Tech, a 59-25 victory over Baylor and a 28-19 win against North Carolina State at the Pop-Tarts Bowl.

5. K-State and Oklahoma State has been a competitive series of late. The Cowboys have won four of the past five, but none of their victories came by more than 13 points. And K-State’s lone win was a 48-0 blowout at home. So these teams usually play each other tough. Saturday’s game figures to be no different as both teams will be hungry for a win.