This Week Today: Sep. 8th – 13th

KSU now enters this season with three of their four top golfers returning, including the impressive tandem of Kelsey Chen and Nanami Nakashima. The pair of juniors finished top 20 in at least two thirds of their tournaments last year and finished first in at least one of those tournaments.

Though K-State is returning a lot of production, they will be without senior Noa Van Beek, who graduated and went pro at the end of last season. With Van Beek’s departure goes five top 20 finishes and a first place finish.

K-State currently sits at +18, tied for 10th with Houston after round one. With two rounds to go, there is still a chance for the Cats to start their season off strong in Minnesota.

 

Thursday, Sep. 10th – 5 p.m. – KSU Soccer vs CSU – Fort Collins, CO – Watch on Youtube

Kansas State soccer is back in action on Thursday, a week after their last game against Iowa on the third. The Cats have tied their last two games in a row against Nebraska and Iowa, with goalkeeper Maddie Sibbing allowing one goal in their last four games.

K-State’s second season under Colleen Corbin is already showing improvement from the first, but there are still concerns about whether there’s enough offensive firepower to compliment such a stout defense. Looking at the Cat’s next opponent, this could be a get right game before Big 12 play.

Colorado State is 0-3 against K-State soccer, being outscored a combined 10-2 in three games. The Rams haven’t played K-State since 2022 and haven’t seen a Wildcat squad as strong as Corbin’s crew.

CSU enters this matchup 1-5, with losses to #13 CU, #14 BYU and even Utah Tech. K-State should be able to get back in the win column if their sample size is anything to judge with thus far.

 

Friday, Sep. 11th – 8 p.m. – KSU Volleyball vs Weber State – Reno, NV

K-State volleyball starts their trip to the Nevada Tournament against another purple wildcat school in Weber State. KSU enters Nevada after a great performance in the Wildcat Classic, beating both Drake and CSUN by a combined 6-0 sets. Though 4-0, K-State hasn’t necessarily faced a challenge in the regular season. As they enter Reno, Weber State will be their first opponent with a winning record at 4-1.

The opposing Wildcats are coming off a back to back matchup with CSU Bakersfield, where WSU split the series 1-1. Though Weber State hasn’t seen a power four school in the regular season, they did play an exhibition against Utah where they lost 3-1.

Though Weber State still isn’t power four caliber, this will be the first field trip for this KSU volleyball unit and a good test of how this young team will fare in a road environment.

 

Saturday, Sep. 12th – 11 a.m. – KSU Football vs Washington State – Manhattan, KS – Watch on TNT

Kansas State football is back in action on Saturday morning against Washington State after a monster opening to the Collin Klein era, with the Cats beating Nicholls 71-3 to open the season. The questions surrounding this unit were plentiful leading up to game time, with so many new starters and coaches all over this squad. But with that change came a revitalized Wildcat team, with tons of energy, focus and great execution.

Though Nicholls was no Bama, there was a lot to like about K-State’s performance on all three sides of the ball. Klein’s play calling was creative and explosive and nine different Wildcats found the endzone. Now, with Washington State ahead, the pressure ramps up for K-State to execute against a much more even opponent.

The Cougars are, like Nicholls, not Alabama. But, their 24-10 loss in the Apple Cup is not fully indicative of their ability either. The offense starts with Caden Pinnick, a dual threat sophomore QB who showed off both sides of his game against Washington, leading WSU in passing and rushing yards. The UC Davis transfer did throw two interceptions and struggled to get the offense going early, with all 10 points coming late in the contest.

Along with the turnovers came a litany of procedural errors from the Cougs, as they racked up six penalties, two missed field goals and three total turnovers. This is where K-State can really take advantage; with Coach Klein’s focus on efficient, mistake free football, the Cats have a good foundation to take advantage of anything the Cougars give them. I foresee closer competition than last week, but I think K-State still gets it done if they stay focused.

 

Sunday, Sep. 13th – 2 p.m. – KSU Soccer vs Colorado College – Colorado Springs, Co – Watch on MW+

The final non-conference game for women’s soccer sees the Cats taking a trip to Colorado Springs to face Colorado College. These two teams faced off last year for the first time in program history with KSU getting the win 3-1 in Manhattan. Now, they travel to Colorado almost an exact year later to play a Tiger team that has struggled to start the season.

Colorado College sits at 2-3-2 with both of their wins coming at home. They have faced two power four opponents in Oklahoma and Minnesota but lost both by a combined score of 11-0. Colorado College entered their matchup against KSU last year in a similar position at 3-3-2, but this year has seen the Tigers slip a little further than last year.

Though Colorado College is undefeated at home, they haven’t hosted a team like K-State yet. I think K-State should leave Colorado 2-0 and complete a nonconference schedule undefeated to enter B12 play.

 

Sunday, Sep. 13th – 3 p.m. – KSU Volleyball vs Nevada – Reno, NV – Watch on Mtn West Network

To wrap up the weekend, KSU volleyball finishes their time in the Nevada tournament against the hosting Nevada Wolfpack. This will be the first team in the group of five or power four that K-State faces, though it won’t necessarily be a real challenge.

The Wolfpack sit at 0-5 entering the tournament, with three of their losses going to five sets and two of them being sweeps. Nevada has faced a power four team in Texas Tech, but the Red Raiders have also struggled to start the 2026 season.

K-State enters Nevada as a top 40 team in blocks, assists and kills per set. Nevada doesn’t even crack the top 150 in those stats. K-State has a good chance to sweep their trip to Nevada and set up what will be a tough conference schedule.