| Kansas State Wildcats | |
|---|---|
 | |
| University | Kansas State University |
| Conference | Big 12 |
| NCAA | Division I (FBS) |
| Athletic director | Gene Taylor[1] |
| Location | Manhattan, Kansas |
| Varsity teams | 16 |
| Football stadium | Bill Snyder Family Stadium |
| Basketball arena | Bramlage Coliseum |
| Baseball stadium | Tointon Family Stadium |
| Soccer stadium | Buser Family Park |
| Golf course | Colbert Hills |
| Mascot | Willie the Wildcat |
| Nickname | Wildcats |
| Fight song | Wildcat Victory |
| Colors | Royal purple and white[2] |
| Website | www |
 | |
TheKansas State Wildcats (variously "Kansas State", "K-State", or "KSU") are the intercollegiate athletic teams that representKansas State University. Theofficial color of the teams is Royal Purple; white and silver are generally used as complementary colors.[3]
Kansas State participates in theNCAA Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) and is a member of theBig 12 Conference since 1996. Previously, Kansas State competed in theKansas Collegiate Athletic Conference until 1912; theBig Eight Conference from 1913 to 1928; and theBig Eight Conference from 1928 to 1996 (known as the Big Six from 1928 to 1947 and the Big Seven from 1947 to 1957).
Kansas State offers fourteen sports at a varsity level. As of May 2018, Kansas State has won more than 80 conference championships through the years, not counting titles captured in the oldKansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association (see chart below).[4] Kansas State has not won any team NCAA championships, but has several individual national champions.[5][6]
The Kansas State athletic department is one of a limited number in the United States, and the only one in Kansas, that operates with no monetary contribution from the broader academic institution.[7] The most recent change in athletic teams offered at Kansas State occurred when the school began a women's soccer program in the fall of 2016, and discontinued women's equestrian at the conclusion of the 2015–16 season.[8]
Athletic competition began within the first decade after the founding of Kansas State Agricultural College in 1863, as students began organizing and playing games of baseball against locals fromManhattan.[9][10] Beginning in 1890, a baseball game between the faculty and the senior class became an annual feature ofgraduation day.[10]
According to most sources, intercollegiate competition began onThanksgiving Day 1893, when Kansas State's football team defeated St. Mary's College 18–10.[9][11][12] A baseball match against St. Mary's College followed on May 26, 1894.[9][10] (St. Mary's was a regional athletics powerhouse, whose recent graduates included baseball pioneersCharles Comiskey andTed Sullivan.) These matches are not, however, reflected in the school's official histories, and the first official contest recorded is a 14–0 loss to Fort Riley in a football game on November 28, 1896.[13]
By the turn of the century, Kansas State was competing in theKansas Intercollegiate Athletic Association, along with theUniversity of Kansas and other state schools. Adopting a more organized approach to athletics, in 1911 an "athletic committee" was created at the school to set policy and schedule contests, among other duties.[10] On the heels of athletic success in the Kansas conference, including a 1912 football championship, Kansas State was invited to join the more prestigiousMissouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) in 1913. In 1916 head football and basketball coachZora Clevenger was elected the school's first officialAthletic Director.[10] Clevenger was assisted in that role by former football starGermany Schulz. In 1928, when the "Big Six" members of the MVIAA split away from the smaller schools of the Missouri Valley, Kansas State was included in its membership.
The school's commitment to athletics dipped thereafter. According to longtime Wildcat radio announcer Dev Nelson, after World War II Kansas State was one of the few major schools that didn't make a significant investment in its football program, or athletics overall.[14] Indeed, for many years the Wildcats spent far less on athletics than any other Big Eight school.[14] Between 1969 and 1975 the school added women's programs, but also cut four men's sports: men's swimming, wrestling, men's gymnastics and men's tennis. As recently as 1987–1988 the University of Oklahoma (the Big Eight's second smallest school) spent $12.5 million on athletics while Kansas State spent only $5.5 million.[14] In more recent decades, however, the school has recommitted significant resources to athletics, and in 2012 it was the most profitable athletics department in the United States.
In 2012–2013, Kansas State became the second Big 12 school to win conference titles in football, men's basketball, and baseball in the same school year.[15] In the 2007–2008 school year, Kansas State was the only school in the nation to have a consensus All-America in both football (Jordy Nelson) and men's basketball (Michael Beasley).[16]
Athletics at Kansas State University are administered by the University's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. The department is headed by theAthletic Director.
| Director | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Zora Clevenger | 1916–1920 | First athletic director, member ofCollege Football Hall of Fame |
| Mike Ahearn | 1920–1947 | Considered "Father of Kansas State Athletics" |
| Thurlo McCrady | 1947–1950 | |
| Larry Mullins | 1951–1955 | |
| Bebe Lee | 1956–1968 | Member ofNational Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Hall of Fame |
| Ernie Barrett | 1969–1975 | Known as "Mr. K-State" |
| Johny "Jersey" Jermier | 1976–1977 | |
| DeLoss Dodds | 1978–1981 | Resigned to become athletic director at theUniversity of Texas at Austin |
| Dick Towers | 1981–1985 | |
| Larry Travis | 1985–1988 | |
| Steve Miller | 1988–1991 | HiredBill Snyder as football coach in December 1988 |
| Milt Richards | 1991–1993 | |
| Max Urick | 1993–2001 | |
| Tim Weiser | 2001–2008 | Resigned from K-State to become theBig 12's deputy commissioner |
| Bob Krause | 2008–2009 | |
| John Currie | 2009–2017 | |
| Laird Veatch | March–April 2017 | Interim |
| Gene Taylor | 2017–present |
Note: Two women's sports historically competed in other conferences when those sports were not sponsored by KSU's primary conference.Women's basketball competed in the "Kansas State Conference" for regular-season titles before the Big 8 began sponsoring a regular-season competition in 1982–1983, and women's rowing competed inConference USA from 2010 through 2014.
| Men's sports | Women's sports |
|---|---|
| Baseball | Basketball |
| Basketball | Cross country |
| Cross country | Golf |
| Football | Rowing |
| Golf | Soccer |
| Track and field† | Tennis |
| Track and field† | |
| Volleyball | |
| † – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor. | |
The Wildcats callTointon Family Stadium home. The team's head coach isPete Hughes.
Kansas State's baseball team officially began play in 1897. The Wildcats earned one of the school's first varsity championship in 1907 under coachMike Ahearn.[17] The Wildcats went on to win aMissouri Valley Conference championship in 1928, andBig Six Conference championships in 1930 and 1933. The school's most recent championship was the Big 12 Conference regular season championship in2013. Kansas State's best finish at theBig 12 Conference baseball tournament is a runner-up finish in the2008 tournament.
The Wildcats have traditionally not been competitive on a national scale, but in2009 the team made its first appearance in theNCAA tournament, and it has returned three times since. Former coach Brad Hill's teams also earned the school's first national rankings in theUSA Today/ESPN Coach's Poll in the 2009 and 2010 seasons.[18]
Other milestones in the team's history includeEarl Woods, the father of golferTiger Woods, becoming the first African-American baseball player in theBig Seven Conference in 1952, as well as all-time coaching wins leader Mike Clark winning theBig Eight Coach of the Year award in 1990.
The men's and women's basketball teams play their home games inBramlage Coliseum, nicknamed the "Octagon of Doom".
Kansas State's men's basketball team began competition in 1902. The program has a long history of success. The first two major conference titles captured by the school were won in the sport, in 1917 and 1919, in theMissouri Valley Conference. Kansas State has gone on to capture 19 major conference crowns in the sport. The program has also appeared in 31NCAA basketball tournaments. Kansas State lost to theUniversity of Kentucky for the national championship in 1951, and has reached theFinal Four four times, the Elite Eight 13 times, and the Sweet Sixteen 17 times. K-State has finished ranked in the top ten of theAP Poll orCoaches Poll on nine occasions (most recently in2010), and in the final top 25 polls 21 total times. WhenStreet & Smith's Annual listed the 100 greatest college basketball programs of all time in 2005, K-State ranked 22nd.
After a lengthy period with little success during the 1990s and 2000s, Kansas State returned to winning under head coachesFrank Martin (2007–2012) andBruce Weber (2012–present). Following a twelve-year absence, the team was invited to the2008 NCAA tournament, and has now appeared in the tournament 9 of the past 12 seasons. Highlights during this era include winning two Big 12 regular-season conference championships (2012–13 and2018–19), and freshmanMichael Beasley being named an All-American and Big 12 Conference Player of the Year in 2008. The2009–10 team spent much of the year ranked in the Top 10 of thenational polls and finished second in the Big 12. That team went on to advance to the Elite Eight of the2010 NCAA tournament, a feat the program repeated in2018 and2023.
On March 21, 2022, KSU athletic directorGene Taylor announced thatBaylor associate head coachJerome Tang had been named the new head men's basketball coach for the Wildcats, starting with the 2022–23 season.
Kansas State's women's basketball team began intercollegiate competition in 1968. The team is among the top 15 all-time winningest programs in theNCAA.
The women's team has participated in 21 totalNCAA basketball tournaments andAIAW tournaments (pre-NCAA), the second-most appearances in the Big 12 Conference. K-State has finished ranked in the Top 25 of theAP Poll twelve times, including three rankings in the Top 10 (1984, 2003, 2004). Following the 2005–2006 season, Kansas State was crowned champion of theWomen's National Invitation Tournament.
The current head coach isJeff Mittie.
Kansas State's football team officially began play in 1896 with a 14–0 loss to Fort Riley on November 28, 1896.[19] The program had some shining moments in the 1920s and 1930s, but by 1989 the school was statistically the worst program inNCAA Division I with a record of 299–509–41.[14]
Fortunes changed whenBill Snyder was hired as head coach in 1989. Success and high rankings followed, highlighted by a #1national ranking during the 1998 season, a #1BCS ranking in the 2012 season, and Big 12 Conference championships in2003 and2012. Between the years of 1993 and 2003, Snyder's teams went 109–29–1 and attended eleven straight bowl games. Additionally, from 1995 to 2001 the school appeared in theAP Poll for 108 consecutive weeks—the 15th-longest streak in college football history.[citation needed]
The team plays its home games atBill Snyder Family Stadium, and theKSU Marching Band (also known as the Pride of Wildcat Land) performs at all home games, selected away games and all bowl games.
The current coach isChris Klieman, who succeeded Snyder upon his second retirement at the conclusion of the 2018 season. Through five seasons, Klieman has a record of 48-28. Klieman announced his retirement from coaching December 3, 2025 at Kansas State facilities in Manhattan.
Kansas State began competing in track and field in 1904. The team has won 23 major conference championships. Its athletes have also achieved considerable national success.
Through the end of the 2015–2016 season, K-State athletes have won individual NCAA national championships 37 times. Twenty-four Kansas State athletes have attended 15 Olympic Games, most recently at the2016 Summer Olympics, and have won eight medals.
The head coach of the program from 1992 until the summer of 2024 was Cliff Rovelto. Rovelto has won a number of coach of the year awards during his tenure at Kansas State, including 2015 Big 12 Coach of the Year for women's indoor track and field. He also served as head coach for the U.S. Track & Field team at the2011 Pan American Games, and as an assistant coach for the U.S. team at a number of other competitions including the2016 Summer Olympics and the2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki.
On August 2, 2024, Kansas State athletics announced that Travis Geopfert, who had a long tenure at theArkansas Razorbacks, is the new KSU track and field/cross country director.[20] Immediately, Geopfert hired several assistant coaches includingTara Davis-Woodhall who won the gold medal in thewomen's long jump at the2024 Paris Olympics with a leap of 7.10 metres (23-3.50). Geopfert was her coach at the Olympics in Paris as well as seven other Olympians.[21][22][23][24]
Former coachWard Haylett, who is enshrined in theNational Track & Field Hall of Fame, left a strong imprint on the Kansas State program. Haylett was head coach at the school from 1928 to 1963.
The team currently plays in Morgan Family Arena, north of the main campus adjacent to the football stadium and basketball arena.
Kansas State's women's volleyball team began intercollegiate competition in 1974. The team is among the all-time winningest programs in theNCAA.
As of the close of the 2017 season, the team has participated in 17NCAA tournaments, including ten consecutive tournaments from 1996 to 2005. K-State also participated in theAIAW tournament in 1977. K-State has finished ranked in the final top twenty of theAVCA poll six times, and in the top 25 on eleven occasions. The team most recently participated in the NCAA tournament in2016.
The current head coach is Jason Mansfielf, hired in January 2023, replacing Susie Fritz.
Fritz had led the Wildcats to several NCAA tournament appearances and the school's first conference title in volleyball in 2003. As of the close of the 2008 season, Fritz also holds the second-highest winning percentage among all K-State's volleyball coaches after compiling a record of 148–70 (.679). In eight seasons as head coach, through the end of the 2008 season, Fritz has coached six All-Americans.[25]
Kansas State rugby plays in theHeart of America conference against traditional rivals from theBig 12 north such as Kansas and Missouri. The Wildcats previously playedcollege rugby in the Central Division, where they were champions in the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons.[26] In the 2010–11 season Kansas State reached the sweet 16 round of the national playoffs and finished the season ranked 8th.[27] The Wildcats best season was in 1981, when they reached thenational semifinals.[28]
The first recorded meeting between Kansas State and KU in athletic competition was abaseball game in 1898. Since the early 20th century, when the schools began regularly competing in baseball, basketball, and football, the two teams schools and fans have developed a passionate rivalry.
The rivalry on the hardwood peaked in the 1950s when both teams were national title contenders. A facilities race also began in the 1950s, starting with the construction of Kansas State'sAhearn Fieldhouse, which was one of the largest basketball facilities in the country with a capacity of 14,000 when opened in 1951. Kansas soon answered withAllen Fieldhouse, which would seat 16,300. The rivalry continued strong through the 1980s, but faded as Kansas began a 24-game win streak against the Wildcats in Manhattan in 1984. On January 30, 2008 #22 Kansas State upset #2Kansas 84–75, winning against Kansas inBramlage Coliseum for the first time with the aid of freshmenMichael Beasley andBill Walker. Kansas State trails in the all-time series, 94-203.
Historically, neither football program has had sustained success. The rivalry intensified for a period in the early 1990s as both teams entered the national rankings. In 1991 Head CoachBill Snyder gained his first win against theJayhawks and over the next 12 years Kansas would only beat the Wildcats once, in 1992, until KU finally won again in a home game in 2004. The rivalry intensified again in the 2000s as Kansas returned to relevance underMark Mangino and the Wildcats struggled underRon Prince.
The Wildcats have won the last 17 meetings in the series, ten under Snyder during his second tenure (2009–18) and seven underChris Klieman.
Since 1969, the two teams have competed for theGovernor's Cup. Kansas State leads during the Governor's Cup era 31–19–1, but trails in the all-time series, 52–64–5.
After the creation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, through the early 2000s, the Wildcats andCornhuskers consistently competed for the Big 12 North championship. Before the 1990s, however, the series was severely one-sided, with Kansas State losing 29 consecutive games to Nebraska until November 14, 1998 when the #1-ranked Wildcats beat #11 Nebraska 40–30. Kansas State subsequently beat Nebraska in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Nebraska still leads the series 78-15-2.
Nebraska was the Wildcats' biggest volleyball rival before leaving for the Big Ten Conference in 2011. Both teams were ranked in the AVCA Top 25 almost weekly during the Big 12 era, and Kansas State home games against Nebraska were promoted with T-shirts that read "Keep The Red Out."
In July 2017, Kansas State football playerScott Frantzannounced toESPN that he isgay. When theWildcats opened their season on September 2, 2017, Frantz became the first openly gay college football player to play at the NCAA'shighest level.[29]
Kansas State historically has been welcoming to all races. The university has been open to enrollment by African Americans since its founding in 1863,[9] and as far back as the 1940s and 1950s (a time noted by many for its lack ofcivil rights in the United States), the leadership of K-State athletics took a strong stance in support of racial integration on its athletic teams.
In 1949,African AmericanHarold Robinson played football for Kansas State with an athletic scholarship. In doing so, Robinson broke the decades-long "color barrier" inBig Seven Conference athletics, and became the first ever African-American athlete on scholarship in the conference. Harold Robinson later received a letter of congratulations fromJackie Robinson, who had integrated major league baseball in 1947 while playing with theBrooklyn Dodgers.[30]
In the spring of 1951, the conference color barrier in baseball was broken by Kansas State'sEarl Woods (the father ofgolf greatTiger Woods). An indicator of the controversial nature of this position is reflected in an article published inTheTulsa World about an incident that occurred in the early 1950s during a baseball game:[31]
Former teammateLarry Hartshorn recalled an instance when the Wildcats were scheduled to play a spring game against a team fromMississippi. During warm-ups, the Mississippi coach took notice of Earl, and according to Hartshorn, the coach said his team would play the game only if the black player stayed on the bus. Instead, K-State coach Ray Wauthier put everybody on the bus. "We just left", Hartshorn said.
In the winter of 1951–1952, Kansas State's Gene Wilson broke the conference color barrier in basketball, together withLaVannes Squires at theUniversity of Kansas.[32]
The Wildcats have won 68 regular-season conference championships and 13 conference tournaments, with the men’s basketball program claiming the most of any sport. Kansas State, along withVirginia Tech andUCF,[A] is one of only threePower Five conference schools that have never won a team national championship in an NCAA sanctioned sport.[33] The Wildcats also won 3 divisional titles in football when the Big 12 had divisions from 1996 to 2010.
| Major conference regular-season championships (1913–present)* | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sport | Titles | Year(s)[34][35][36][37] |
| Football | 4 | |
| Men's basketball | 18 |
|
| Women's basketball | 13 |
|
| Baseball | 4 |
|
| Women's volleyball | 1 |
|
| Cross country, men | 13 |
|
| Cross country, women | 3 |
|
| Indoor track and field, men | 3 |
|
| Indoor track and field, women | 1 |
|
| Outdoor track and field, men | 1 |
|
| Outdoor track and field, women | 4 |
|
| Wrestling (discontinued) | 3 |
|
| Boxing (discontinued) | 1 |
|
| Total | 68 | |
| Major conference tournament championships (1913–present)* | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sport | Titles | Years |
| Women's basketball | 4 |
|
| Men's basketball | 9 |
|
| Total | 13 | |
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