Alas, Kansas State football fans. You only have one more week until you can watch your favorite team on Saturdays again.
How can the Wildcats start this season strong and avoid disaster like last year? Well, it starts with the season opener against Nicholls at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
And luckily, most believe the Wildcats will take this one pretty easily. CBS Sports detailed its prediction for every Power Four coach's first game in 2026, picking Kansas State to win to kick off the Collin Klein coaching era.
"The Wildcats should dominate at the line of scrimmage, build an early lead, and empty the bench well before the fourth quarter," the article wrote. "Anything less would create unnecessary concern for their first-year coach, someone expected to breathe new life into Kansas State's offense."
Beyond the new player evaluations, this opening matchup will be about how the program has prepared the team for the season.
"This opener is about operational efficiency more than evaluation -- clean substitutions, limited penalties, and no injuries," the article wrote. "Kansas State's ceiling will remain a mystery until the schedule stiffens. Win convincingly, develop depth, and move forward quickly."
While Kansas State is far from predicted to be the conference champions as it was last year, many still expect it to have a good bounce-back season. Having Klein back in the building spells good for quarterback Avery Johnson, who hasn't quite had his breakout season yet. He had a promising freshman year but hasn't truly reached that next echelon since.
Having the program legend back to oversee Johnson alone can offset many issues from 2025. Klein will likely keep the ball on the ground, re-emphasizing the program staple of running the football while implementing more designed runs for Johnson. It alleviates some pressure off the signal-caller and the receivers as they still try to build chemistry amid significant roster changes.
On the other side, Klein has brought in a haul of experienced coordinators to help repair a defense that had arguably its worst year in a decade. Anything close to a return to normalcy would be a positive for the Wildcats, but it will be challenging after losing several playmakers like Austin Romaine and Qua Moss.
It all starts in Week 1. The Wildcats kick off on Sep. 5 at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
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Jayden Armant is a contributor to KStateRoundtable. He can be reached at [email protected].
