2017 Kansas State Wildcats football team

The 2017 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at the Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. They were led by 26th-year head coach Bill Snyder. They finished the season 8–5, 5–4 in Big 12 play to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place. They were invited to the Cactus Bowl where they defeated UCLA.

2017 Kansas State Wildcats football
Cactus Bowl champion
Cactus Bowl, W 35–17 vs. UCLA
Conference	Big 12 Conference
2017 record	8–5 (5–4 Big 12)
Head coach	Bill Snyder (26th season)
Offensive coordinator	Dana Dimel (11th season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Tom Hayes (6th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium (Capacity: 50,000)

2017 Big 12 Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Oklahoma y$^		8	–	1					12	–	2
No. 9 TCU y		7	–	2					11	–	3
No. 14 Oklahoma State		6	–	3					10	–	3
Texas		5	–	4					7	–	6
West Virginia		5	–	4					7	–	6
Kansas State		5	–	4					8	–	5
Iowa State		5	–	4					8	–	5
Texas Tech		3	–	6					6	–	7
Baylor		1	–	8					1	–	11
Kansas		0	–	9					1	–	11
Championship: Oklahoma 41, TCU 17
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Season

Pre Season

In January 2017 it was reported by many Kansas media outlets that Bill Snyder has been traveling to Houston, Texas for treatment for a "serious life-threatening ailment". On February 12, 2017 Snyder announced that he has been diagnosed with throat cancer and had been receiving treatment in Manhattan, as well at University of Kansas Medical Center, and in Houston, Texas. He said that his doctor expect a recovery and that he should be able to coach by the 2017 Wildcats Spring Game.[1] Also on February 12, 2017 it was announced that Co-Offensive Coordinator Del Miller would be retiring, putting the other Co-Offensive Coordinator Dana Dimel at the helm as the only OC and play caller for KSU,[2] and Collin Klein would return to KSU to take over the Quarterback Coach position.[3]

End Of Season

On December 6, 2017 it was announced that Offensive Coordinator Dana Dimel was hired as the new head coach for UTEP. It was also said that he will be fulfilling his final OC duties for KSU while participating in the Cactus Bowl.[4]

Schedule

Kansas State announced its 2017 football schedule on December 13, 2016. The 2017 schedule consists of seven home and five away games in the regular season. The Wildcats will host Big 12 foes Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma, TCU, and West Virginia, and will travel to Kansas, Oklahoma State, Texas, and Texas Tech.[5]

The Wildcats hosted two of the three non-conference opponents, Central Arkansas from the Southland Conference and Charlotte from Conference USA and travel to Vanderbilt from the Southeastern Conference.

The team accepted the bowl bid to participate in the Cactus Bowl and faced UCLA in a bowl game for the second time. The first bowl meeting was in the Alamo Bowl with UCLA winning 40–35.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:10 p.m.	No. 15 (FCS) Central Arkansas*	No. 20	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	ESPN3	W 55–19	51,043
September 9	11:00 a.m.	Charlotte*	No. 19	Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	FSN	W 55–7	50,087
September 16	6:30 p.m.	at Vanderbilt*	No. 18	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN	ESPNU	L 7–14	40,350
September 30	2:30 p.m.	Baylor		Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	ESPN2	W 33–20	52,293
October 7	6:00 p.m.	at Texas		Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	FS1	L 34–40 ^2OT	90,462
October 14	11:00 a.m.	No. 6 TCU		Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	FS1	L 6–26	52,055
October 21	3:00 p.m.	No. 9 Oklahoma		Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	FOX	L 35–42	52,122
October 28	2:00 p.m.	at Kansas		Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (rivalry)	FS1	W 30–20	36,223
November 4	11:00 a.m.	at Texas Tech		Jones AT&T Stadium Lubbock, TX	FS1	W 42–35 ^OT	47,631
November 11	2:30 p.m.	West Virginia		Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	ESPN2	L 23–28	51,223
November 18	2:30 p.m.	at No. 10 Oklahoma State		Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	ESPN2	W 45–40	56,790
November 25	2:30 p.m.	Iowa State		Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	ESPN2	W 20–19	49,554
December 26	12:30 p.m.	vs. UCLA*		Chase Field Phoenix, AZ (Cactus Bowl)	ESPN	W 35–17	32,859
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

[6]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	20	19	18	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	NR
Coaches	19	19	18	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
CFP	Not released									NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	Not released

References

1. "Kansas State coach Snyder has throat cancer". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-02-20.
2. Viviani, Nick. "K-State's Co-Offensive Coordinator Del Miller retires". Retrieved 2017-02-20.
3. "Wildcat Great Collin Klein Hired as New Quarterbacks Coach | KSU Wildcats News". Kansas State University | Official Athletics Site. Archived from the original on 2017-02-19. Retrieved 2017-02-20.
4. "Dana Dimel, K-State offensive coordinator, named head coach at UTEP". Retrieved 2017-12-08.
5. "2017 Kansas State football schedule revealed". Kansas City Star. December 13, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
6. "2017 Kansas State Wildcats Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved February 14, 2017.