2026 KSU Football Schedule Predictions

The Nicholls State Colonels are coming off of a 4-8 season under head coach Tommy Rybacki, who returns for his second year at the helm. Quarterback Ean Rodrigue takes the starting job as he enters his senior year after sitting behind former QB1 Deuce Hogan. Rodrigue won some starts in October and November, outplaying Hogan with six touchdowns to one interception through 5 games and going 3-2 in that time. With that being said, K-State has too much firepower against a team that hasn’t seen a power four matchup since 2024. I expect KSU to run the score up and start off hot in 2026.

The Washington State Cougars are an interesting team to watch as the new PAC 12 has its inaugural year. After losing coach Jimmy Rogers to Iowa State at the end of last season, former Missouri OC Kirby Moore enters the fold as head coach, bringing an impressive resume of offensive production. As this match up concerns two former SEC OCs who created offenses that averaged over 30 points per game in 2025, I’m expecting a lot of creativity from both offenses. The one problem for the Cougars is their lack of experience. The QB battle in Pullman is between two sophomores and two freshmen, with seniors and juniors hard to come by in many position groups. I foresee K-State’s experience getting the upper hand and K-State winning with a commanding lead to improve to 2-0.

The Washington State Cougars are an interesting team to watch as the new PAC 12 has its inaugural year. After losing coach Jimmy Rogers to Iowa State at the end of last season, former Missouri OC Kirby Moore enters the fold as head coach, bringing an impressive resume of offensive production. As this match up concerns two former SEC OCs who created offenses that averaged over 30 points per game in 2025, I’m expecting a lot of creativity from both offenses. The one problem for the Cougars is their lack of experience. The QB battle in Pullman is between two sophomores and two freshmen, with seniors and juniors hard to come by in many position groups. I foresee K-State’s experience getting the upper hand and K-State winning with a commanding lead to improve to 2-0.

The Washington State Cougars are an interesting team to watch as the new PAC 12 has its inaugural year. After losing coach Jimmy Rogers to Iowa State at the end of last season, former Missouri OC Kirby Moore enters the fold as head coach, bringing an impressive resume of offensive production. As this match up concerns two former SEC OCs who created offenses that averaged over 30 points per game in 2025, I’m expecting a lot of creativity from both offenses. The one problem for the Cougars is their lack of experience. The QB battle in Pullman is between two sophomores and two freshmen, with seniors and juniors hard to come by in many position groups. I foresee K-State’s experience getting the upper hand and K-State winning with a commanding lead to improve to 2-0.

Kansas State has the luck of the draw in 2026, only having one of the currently four ranked Big 12 teams scheduled. Unfortunately, that one ranked team has a coach that is well versed in beating K-State in Willie Fritz, who is currently 2-0 against the Cats in the last four years. Fritz brought Tulane back from the dead to win a New Years Six bowl game in 2022, beating the Wildcats 17-10 that same season. Flash forward to 2024 and Fritz is able to lead the Houston Cougars to a 24-19 win with a back-up quarterback in his first year as a P4 head coach. Since that moment, Fritz has built the Cougars year after year into a strong group led by a veteran QB in Connor Weigman. Though Klieman is no longer coaching, I believe Fritz will pick up right where he left off with a gritty, hard-nosed win to hand KSU their first loss of the season.

A tale as old as time, the Sunflower Showdown has been an automatic win on Kansas State’s schedule for the last 17 years. The 2026 Kansas Jayhawks are a real up and down team to predict, with some position groups getting some big upgrades while other positions have a lot of question marks. The biggest upgrade for KU comes at OC, with former Penn State coordinator Andy Kotelnicki coming back to Lawrence for the first time since KU’s last bowl win in 2023. It’s hard to deny the expertise he brings to the offense, as his Jayhawk offenses averaged 35 points per game in back to back seasons. The problem for KU comes at quarterback; the QB battle in Lawrence is between Cole Ballard, Chase Jenkins and Isaiah Marshall, with no front-runner identified just yet. Even with some explosive position players such as wide out Cam Pickett and former K-State running back Dylan Edwards, the Jayhawks don’t have enough returning talent where it counts to break the streak.

Head Coach Kenny Dillingham burst onto the college football scene in 2024, bolstering a 10-2 Sun Devil team in his first year as HC and leading ASU to their first CFP berth and Big12 title. Now, in 2026, Dillingham is without star QB Sam Leavitt, RB Raleek Brown and WR Jordyn Tyson, with transfers starting at all three wide out positions and a transfer QB in Cutter Boley from Kentucky. Though K-State enters Tempe with a 5-1 record, Dillingham reloaded in the right spots and has an experienced QB taking Leavitt’s place. ASU gets the upper hand at home and KSU falls to 5-2.

Head Coach Deion Sanders has had a weird coaching run at Colorado, especially after the Shedeur era in Boulder. Kaidon Salters never really got a grip as QB for CU last year and Julian Lewis was thrown to the fire late in the year, going 0-3 in games where he got meaningful playing time. Add on the fact that Prime’s defense is almost exclusively transfers from group of five schools, and you have a recipe for a repeat of last year’s woes. K-State rebounds big against Colorado and gets their third straight win against the Buffaloes.

Oklahoma State is another school under new management, as North Texas’ Eric Morris sets up shop in Stillwater following a 12-2 season with the Mean Green. And Morris didn’t come empty handed, as he brought 60 transfers with him, filling out 20/22 starting positions. One of those starters is QB Drew Mestemaker, who threw for 4,379 yards and 34 touchdowns and led one of the most high flying air raid offenses of the season. Through all of the excitement surrounding this offense, the question starts to fall on the defense. The Mean Green defense allowed 215 rush yards per game while allowing the 8th fewest passing yards in the season. This is the kind of game where Joe Jackson and Avery Johnson can run as much as they want and the secondary needs to shine for K-State, and I think both of those areas are strong for the Cats.

The Horned Frogs enter 2026 without star QB Josh Hoover which is a big loss of production. His replacement: Harvard graduate transfer Jaden Craig, who has thrown for over 2,400 yards and over 20 touchdowns in back to back years with the Crimson. Though Craig is a great replacement for Hoover, I don’t think there’s a position group on TCU that has vastly improved compared to last year. If a Matt Wells offense could go for 41 points on last year’s Horned Frog squad, I think history repeats for Klein’s Cats as KSU improves to 8-2.

The Arizona Wildcats are 1-1 with K-State since their entrance into the Big 12, with QB Noah Fifita entering his senior year as one of the more experienced quarterbacks in the conference. He’s joined by former K-State wide out Tre Spivey and senior Ismail Mahdi, two transfers who had big years in Tucson last year. Head Coach Brent Brennan took care of KSU at home last year, and he returns with much of the same firepower as he enters Manhattan. I think Coach Klein is the difference maker here; K-State had chance after chance to win Tucson last year but could never take advantage, but KSU gets the home advantage and has the offensive minds to adjust against U of A’s defense, which allowed 143 rushing yards per game. K-State wins in a shootout and improves to 9-2.

If I were to look at this game in November 2025, I would all but guarantee a Cyclone win. But losing Matt Campbell and Rocco Becht to Penn State is a huge hit for the ISU program and has sent them from contenders to maybe middle of the pack. Former Washington State HC Jimmy Rogers enters the fold with 18 transfers in starting roles this year, but a lot of those pick-ups do not have much experience or production from previous years. This roster is far from contention for a Big 12 title and a stark contrast to the group that won in Ireland just a year ago. Because of that, K-State wins this one decidedly and ends the season 10-2.