Big 12 Schedule: Looking at Kansas State

2012 Schedule: The non-conference slate is all at home against Missouri State, Miami, and North Texas. Outside of the game against the Hurricanes (Sept. 8, 11:00 a.m. CT, FX), the first part of the season should be absolute cake.

Conference play opens up at Oklahoma, which is about as hard as it gets. After a bye week and a home date against in-state rival Kansas, the Wildcats will go on the road to play Iowa State.

A trap game looms at home against Texas Tech, which is sandwiched between a road game at West Virginia and a home game against Oklahoma State.

Predictions: Athlon puts Kansas State in the bottom half of the Big 12; finishing 6th with a 7-5 record (4-5 in conference). Some of their thoughts about the Wildcats in their Big 12 preview and team preview:

“Maybe it’s time to quit counting Kansas State — and Bill Snyder — out. The magic show continues in Manhattan, where Snyder does more with less, although quarterback Collin Klein is the real deal at quarterback.”

“The secondary is the big concern on defense. Malone is solid at one cornerback spot, but the Cats ranked 103rd in the nation in pass defense. That has to improve if K-State wants to be a serious threat in the Big 12.”

The game against the Cyclones in Ames will be an interesting look to see how improved this team is on the offensive end. If the team is clicking on all cylinders and comes in after blowing away their in-state rivals, it’s going to be a tough day at Jack Trice for an Iowa State team that needs as many home wins as it can get to reach a bowl game.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Clones Confidential, follow the site on Twitter and Facebook. Read his other work on the Oregon Ducks blog, Autzen Zoo, and Watson Talk Lacrosse.