Kansas State's November Schedule Will Make or Break Wildcats in Playoff Race

If you had told people this summer that Kansas State would be the Big 12’s top College Football Playoff contender in late October, they’d probably have looked at you kind of funny.

What about Baylor? Or Oklahoma?

Yet, as we head toward November, that appears to be the case. Following Saturday’s 23-0 whipping of the Texas Longhorns, the Wildcats are in perfect position to make a playoff run. At 6-1 and the only team, they should be the league’s highest-ranked team when the first College Football Playoff Top 25 poll is released Tuesday evening. ESPN's Adam Rittenberg and Jake Trotter shared their thoughts about Kansas State and the College Football Playoff:

Can they become one of the nation’s top four teams when the playoff bracket is finalized in early December? Yes, but it won’t be easy. Not anywhere close.

The Wildcats’ remaining schedule is brutal, and K-State must improve an offense that has sputtered at times this season.

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Following next week’s home date with a dangerous Oklahoma State team, Bill Snyder and Co. must travel to No. 10 TCU. After a bye, K-State will have a treacherous Thursday night trip to No. 22 West Virginia. An in-state rivalry date against hapless Kansas appears to be a gimme, but the Wildcats end the regular season with a Dec. 6 contest at No. 12 Baylor.

For those scoring at home, that's three conference road games against ranked opponents, along with a home meeting versus an Oklahoma State team that was ranked No. 15 in the nation last week. None of those games will be easy, and Kansas State must win out to have any shot at the playoff.

If Kansas State wants to make it through that tough slate of games, its offense will need to be a lot more lethal.

Senior quarterback Jake Waters is a dual-threat and a solid but not spectacular quarterback—especially when compared with the likes of TCU’s Trevone Boykin and Baylor’s Bryce Petty. Saturday, Waters completed 19 of 30 passes for 224 yards with zero interceptions, but he also threw zero touchdowns. The Wildcats also had more field goals (three) than touchdowns (two). ESPN Insider Travis Haney provided historical insight about K-State's shutout of Texas:

Penalties ruined a pair of K-State drives that could have led to more, as a holding penalty wiped out a long Waters pass to Tyler Lockett that would’ve set the ‘Cats up inside the Texas 10.

“I’m not too happy with the offensive execution we had,” Snyder told ESPN's television broadcast afterward. “I’m awfully proud of the guys maintaining possession of the ball, not making mistakes. But we got penalties, and a couple of penalties cost us with gargantuan plays. We took 14 points off the board with penalties.”

K-State’s defense is impressive: Saturday marked the program’s first shutout of a Big 12 foe since 2003, and it was the first time Texas had been shut out in league play since 2004. David Ubben of Fox Sports Southwest is impressed with K-State's defense: 

That defense will keep the Wildcats competitive on the road, but they'll need more firepower to survive that incredibly tough stretch and make their unlikely College Football Playoff run a reality.

Should K-State win out, it could have a compelling playoff case. Slip up once and the dream is over. The Wildcats are on the right path, but they have no margin for error.