Kansas St Wildcats 2016 NCAA Football Preview
KANSAS ST WILDCATS
Big 12 Conference
2015 Record – 6-7
ATS – 6-7
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
Big 12 Conference #7
2015 Recap
It was a pretty uneven season to say the least. The Wildcats started out 3-0 and then proceeded to lose six straight conference games. It was a tough stretch but that is something you just do not expect from a Bill Snyder coached team. They were 3-6 and needed to win the last three games to become bowl eligible and that is exactly what they did. A huge comeback against Iowa St and a one point victory over West Virginia sealed the deal. They were over-matched against Arkansas in the Liberty bowl and lost 45-23 to finish the season 6-7.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
Jesse Ertz won the starting QB job last season and unfortunately took all of two snaps before he was lost for the season due to injury. Ertz is the favorite to win the job this season but MEGALOCKS BIG 12 INSIDERS tell us that Snyder feels that have three #1 guys and that the starting job will be decided during August camp. It is hard to say what they have at QB.
The Wildcats were ranked 9th in the Big 12 last season in total offense and they obviously need more production this season if they plan on winning more than six games (hot take). Leading rusher from 2015 Charles Jones is back but it is uncertain what kind of quality depth is waiting in the wings. Our biggest concern with the offense is the very inexperienced offensive line that only returns one starter. They will especially miss LT Cody Whitehair who ended up being a 2nd round NFL draft pick this spring. Alarm bells are going off for us here but it is not like Kansas St has not surprised us before.
The WR group actually looks sneaky-good. They return last season’s #1 man Deante Burton, and apparently, new addition Byron Pringle looked great in the spring.
DEFENSE
The Big 12 is a very difficult conference for any defense to contend with, but the Wildcats have to do better than allowing 31 points and 450 yards per game. Their pass defense was regularly shredded in 2015 but hopefully they can improve with three returning starters in the secondary.
With seven returning starters including leading tackler LB Elijah Lee and leading sack-master Jordan Willis (9.5 sacks in 2015) back for another season it appears that Kansas St is going to be a lot better on defense this season. The schedule is still challenging but look for the Wildcats to put up a much better showing in 2016.
SPECIAL TEAMS
KR Morgan Burns had an unthinkable FOUR kickoff return TDs last season and will be missed. PK Matthew McCrane hit 7/7 FGs in limited duty last season. Kansas St has a knack for finding TD machines in the return game and will need find another one.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 5.0
MEGALOCKS says:
You could not ask for a much tougher match-up to start the season. The Wildcats travel west to face Stanford in week one before coming home to a couple of Big 12 tune-up games at home. The schedule should allow the Cats to gain bowl eligibility but that 6-game stretch last season was fairly alarming even though a couple of the games were close.
Overall, we give the WILDCATS a 5.0 ATS Value Rating (Average) this season. Kansas St has been a point spread covering machine as of late. They were on a 34-17-1 run (66.6%) before last season’s 6-7 mark. Bill Snyder has not had a losing ATS record within the conference since he returned for his 2nd stint in Manhattan. Pretty amazing stuff. The defense looks to be an improved group and you know they are going to be well coached and flying under the radar. However, we feel that their ATS upside is limited given the potential hot mess at QB and the retooled offensive line. We recommend waiting on this team until October rolls around.
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