K-State Involved in Two of College Football Greatest Rivalries

Two Kansas State football rivalries were chosen by The Athletic as among the top 100 in college football. And, one of those games is fast approaching.

Writer Scott Dochterman selected K-State vs. Kansas as the 59th-greatest rivalry, and K-State vs. Iowa State as the 63rd-best rivalry.

K-State visits Kansas on Oct. 25, the Wildcats’ eighth game of the season. By then, perceptions about the K-State 2025 season might have hardened. The Wildcats are currently 1-3. Their next three games, against UCF, Baylor, and TCU, will likely determine what kind of season K-State ultimately has.

All four K-State games this season have been decided by one score. K-State has lost to Iowa State, Army, and Arizona. Its win was over FCS North Dakota.

Kansas is 3-1 after a 41-10 win over West Virginia on Saturday.

KU’s only loss was a wild, 42-31 defeat at Missouri. KU also has defeated Fresno State and Wagner.

K-State and KU have played 122 times, the first on Oct. 7, 1902. Kansas leads the series, 64-53-5.

A true indication of how important the game is to both sides? Both teams will be on their bye week heading into the game.

Sunflower Showdown facts

The Athletic wrote about the KSU-KU rivalry: “The longevity is a testament to the schools competing in the same league for more than a century.

“It’s one of only four protected Big 12 rivalries and matters equally to both fan bases, but outside of Kansas, it doesn’t involve big-picture ramifications the way other in-state series do.”

Three facts about the K-State vs. KU rivalry, from The Athletic:

1. It ranks third among FBS’ longest uninterrupted rivalries, with the schools playing every year since 1911. Only Minnesota-Wisconsin (1907) and N.C. State-Wake Forest (1910) have longer streaks. With 122 meetings, Kansas-Kansas State sits ninth among the most-played FBS rivalries.

2. Kansas State has been ranked 17 times and Kansas six times in their matchup, but only once did an unranked team beat a ranked opponent (Kansas’ 30-24 upset in 2007). Only once were both teams ranked (1995).

3. In one of college football’s most infamous games, their 17-17 tie in 1987 allowed Kansas State to finish 0-10-1 and Kansas wound up 1-9-1. Neither team beat an FBS opponent.

The Athletic determined the biggest game in the series was in 1995 when No. 14 K-State defeated No. 6 Kansas, 41-7. K-State outrushed the visiting Jayhawks, 355-19.

K-State vs. Iowa State

The teams have met 109 times, with Iowa State leading the series, 55-50-4. The teams first met on Nov. 10, 1917.