Sept. 5 vs. Nicholls:
Chris Klieman made his head coaching debut at K-State in 2019 against Nicholls, and now his successor—Collin Klein—will do the same.
Klieman’s Wildcats dominated the Colonels 49-14, rushing for 361 yards on 58 carries while owning time of possession nearly 23 minutes more than Nicholls. And that was a Nicholls team that came into Manhattan ranked No. 12 nationally in the FCS, eventually finishing the season 9-5 while making the FCS playoffs.
The 2026 Nicholls team is not at that level. The Colonels are coming off back-to-back 4-8 seasons, are 1-13 on the road over the past two years, and are picked 7th out of 10 teams in the Southland Conference Preseason Poll.
K-State got an early glimpse of Nicholls last week, as the Colonels kicked off their season with a 44-10 victory over Mississippi Valley State in Week 0. I’m not sure how useful that film will be given Mississippi Valley State is 17-89 overall since 2016, and has won two games or less in all but one season since 2013.
Mississippi Valley State rushed for 149 yards and averaged 5 yards per carry against Nicholls. This should be a nice tuneup game for the inexperienced and banged up K-State offensive line. The Wildcats should be able to bully the Colonels upfront on both sides of the ball.
Look for K-State’s defense and anticipated strong pass rush to create havoc on Nicholls quarterback, Ean Rodrigue, potentially leading to a defensive score. Also, I would not be surprised if K-State notches a special teams touchdown in this one.
The Wildcats kick off the Klein era with a dominant victory, 52-3.
Prediction:
K-State 52, Nicholls 3
Record: 1-0
Sept. 12, Washington State:
This is a battle of two former offensive coordinators in their first year as a head coach. Washington State hired Kirby Moore this offseason to take over as the program’s head coach, replacing Jimmy Rogers, who departed after one season for the Iowa State job. Moore had been the offensive coordinator at Missouri since 2023, where he produced consecutive top 25 SP+ offenses nationally in 2023 and 2024, according to Bill Connelly at ESPN, though they dipped to 47th offensively in the SP+ this past season.
Washington State was feisty last season. The Cougars went 7-6, but they were on the brink of multiple upsets. They lost at Ole Miss by just 3. The Rebels went on to make the College Football Playoff Semifinals. They lost 22-20 at Virginia after leading by 10 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game. The Cavaliers finished the season with 11 victories. And they lost a fourth-quarter lead at James Madison, falling 24-20 to yet another program that made the College Football Playoff.
However, almost everyone from that Washington State team is gone. The Cougars return just 42% of their overall production from 2025, according to Bill Connelly of ESPN. That ranks 109th nationally among all FBS teams, and is last in the new Pac 12.
The Cougars return just 36% of their defensive production from last season’s team, which ranked 19th nationally with 1.66 points per drive allowed, including holding seven of 12 regular-season opponents to 13 points or less. All 17 players who played 200 or more snaps on defense last season are gone.
The Cougars’ offense could give the Wildcats a bit of a test in week two. Moore brought in transfer quarterback Caden Pinnick from UC Davis, an FCS program. Pinnick, the Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year, threw for over 3,200 yards as a freshman last season, ranking No. 9 in the entire FCS, while completing nearly 70% of his passes. He averaged 9.3 yards per pass, recorded a 172.4 passer rating that ranked third nationally in the FCS, while throwing for 32 touchdowns, fifth-most in the FCS.
A notable scheduling quirk for the Cougars could benefit K-State. Washington State plays rival Washington in the Apple Cup on Sunday, Sept. 6, and then travels to the Central Time Zone to play an 11 a.m. kick the following Saturday in Manhattan.
Week two of the non-conference slate can be a tricky spot for some teams. K-State will be coming off the high of the coaching debut of the Collin Klein era in week one, only to play a non-Power Four program in an 11 a.m. kick a week later. Because of that, I think Washington State could hang around a bit in this one and provide the Wildcats a test. Ultimately, K-State prevails 34-21 after a sluggish start to begin the game.
Prediction:
K-State 34, Washington State 21
Record: 2-0
Sept. 19, Tulane
K-State fans might have nightmares flashing back to the last time Tulane came to Manhattan in 2022. Collin Klein, who was the offensive coordinator that season, likely does as well, as the Green Wave knocked off K-State 17-10. The Wildcats bounced back quite well, knocking off top-10 Oklahoma in Norman the following week and eventually proceeded to win the Big 12 Championship in December.
But Willie Fritz and Jon Sumrall, two highly successful head coaches the past several seasons at Tulane, are gone. Fritz led Houston to 10 wins in 2025, while Sumrall took the Green Wave to the College Football Playoff last season and has since taken the head coaching job at Florida. Those two combined to take Tulane on an unprecedented four-year run that included three seasons of 11 wins or more, and a 43-13 record from 2022-25.
Will Hall takes on the unenviable task of following Fritz and Sumrall. Hall was the Green Wave passing game coordinator in 2025. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Southern Mississippi from 2021-24, where he went 14-30 overall and 8-19 in the Sun Belt Conference before being fired.
Making life even more challenging for the first-year head coach is the return of only six starters. The Green Wave rank 117th in returning production overall, according to Bill Connelly of ESPN. They were hit hard particularly on offense, where only 28% of their production returns in 2026.
Tulane returns a decent amount defensively. However, the Green Wave lost their top four defensive linemen, which is good news for a K-State team that will be in just the third game of breaking in an inexperienced offensive line.
Look for K-State’s defense to dominate a Tulane offense without much firepower as the Wildcats wrap up an undefeated non-conference slate, knocking off Tulane 35-13.
Prediction:
K-State 35, Tulane 13
Record: 3-0
Sept. 26, at Cincinnati
This road Big 12 opener is a pendulum game in the season for the Wildcats. Win, and they set the stage for what could be a special season with a bye week on the horizon followed by home games to Houston and KU. Lose, and dreams of a Big 12 Championship appearance take a big hit right out of the gate.
This will be Klein’s first road game as a head coach. And it will occur against a Bearcats team likely still feeling good about themselves. The Bearcats, similar to K-State, have a manageable non-conference schedule and should enter this matchup unbeaten. As a result, the atmosphere inside Nippert Stadium will likely have more juice than it would later in the season should Cincinnati’s season unfold the way I expect over time.
Scott Satterfield, who is 15-22 overall and 9-18 in conference play in three seasons as the Cincinnati head coach, comes into the 2026 season on the hot seat. Cincinnati had its best season under Satterfield last year, but any momentum and excitement came to a halt when the Bearcats lost each of their last five games.
In an effort to turn things around, Satterfield replaced both his offensive and defensive coordinator this offseason. Perhaps the most notable hire is Nate Woody, who previously worked with Satterfield when he was the head coach at Appalachian State. Woody, who has served as the Army defensive coordinator since 2020, will be counted on to fix a struggling Bearcats’ defense.
Four of Woody’s Army defenses over the last five seasons have ranked in the top 45 nationally in Bill Connelly’s SP+ on ESPN. It’s also notable that Woody already has a scouting report on some of K-State’s roster—including quarterback Avery Johnson—who he coached against in Manhattan last season when Army upset K-State.
This will be a game decided upfront on both sides. K-State’s offensive line has question marks, in part due to injuries. Meanwhile, Cincinnati is projected by Brett Ciancia of Pick Six Previews to have the worst defensive line in the Big 12. If that projection comes to fruition, it’s unlikely the Bearcats will exploit the Wildcats’ inexperienced line. Though one thing to be cognizant of is the fact this will be K-State’s first road game, which can lead to communication errors upfront and slow get-offs at the snap due to the crowd noise.
The strength of this Cincinnati squad is unquestionably its offensive line. This will be the big matchup for K-State, who has question marks on the interior of its defensive line heading into the season. Cincinnati returns three starters upfront who have earned all-conference honors at some point in their career, led by guard Evan Tengesdahl, who was a Third-Team Associated Press All-American last season and was ranked by Pro Football Focus (PFF) as the sixth-best guard nationally and best in the Big 12.
The Cincinnati offensive line, which is ranked by Ciancia of Pick Six Previews as the 11th-best unit in the country heading into the 2026 season, was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award for the nation’s best offensive line last season. The Bearcats finished second nationally with only eight sacks allowed, while ranking top 10 in the country with 5.7 yards per carry.
On the offensive side of the ball, Cincinnati lost star quarterback Brendan Sorsby this offseason after he transferred to Texas Tech. Most of you are probably aware of what transpired with the Sorsby situation since.
The Bearcats will turn to JC French IV at quarterback after he transferred this offseason from Georgia Southern. French IV combined to throw for nearly 6,000 yards over the past two seasons, but ranked 73rd nationally in Quarterback Rating (QBR) in 2025. In fact, French IV ranked just sixth in the Sun Belt Conference in QBR last season, and ninth in the league in 2024. He also has been prone to mistakes in his career, having thrown 19 interceptions the past two seasons combined.
Cincinnati lost nearly all of its offensive firepower at the skill positions, and has turned to productive receivers from both Group of Five FBS programs as well as the FCS to fill the void.
Look for K-State to grind out a tightly contested Big 12 opener, improving to a 4-0 start with a 27-24 victory.
Prediction:
K-State 27, Cincinnati 24
Record: 4-0 (1-0 in Big 12)
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