Kansas St Wildcats 2025 College Football Preview
Posted July 5, 2025
2024 Recap
Record – 9-4
ATS – 4-9
The Cats were in good shape heading into the final month of the season as they emerged victorious in seven of their first eight games with their only loss coming on the road vs BYU. And then disaster struck as they found a way to lose to Houston (!), and they followed that up with a home loss to the mighty Sun Devils. Game, set, match. Their Big 12 dreams went GLUG GLUG GLUG down the tubes. In the postseason, things didn’t look great midway thru the 3Q in the Rate Bowl but Kansas St found a way to come back and squeak out a 44-41 victory over Rutgers.
Kansas St Wildcats 2025 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Wlldcats featured a potent ground game LY (215 YPG, #11 FBS) and they averaged an impossibly impossible 6.1 YPC (#2 FBS, New Mexico). QB Avery Johnson was very good LY (25-10 TD to INT; 605 rush, 7 TD) but he made a few too many mistakes and didn’t play his best when it counted in November. Johnson is back to lead the offense and he’s got a nice set of WR/TE weaponry to utilize including emerging star WR Jayce Brown (823, 17.5, 5 TD), TE Garrett Oakley (5 TD), and WR Jerand Bradley (BC last season; 744, 6 TD at Texas Tech in ’22). It stings to lose 1,300-yard RB DJ Giddens to the NFL but they’ve still got a deep RB room led by Dylan Edwards (546, 7.4, 5 TD) and SE Louisiana transfer Antonio Martin Jr. (1,228, 5.3, 11 TD). The offensive line loses three excellent players from LY’s unit but they’ve still got star center Sam Hecht and a few other talented seniors to lead the way.
DEFENSE
Kansas St allowed 343 YPG LY (#43) and they were particularly stout vs the run (119 YPG, #28), and they also managed to get to the QB on a regular basis (35 sacks, #2 Big 12). This year’s stop unit looks particularly strong up front as they return most of the key contributors from last year’s squad, although it’ll hurt to lose #1 sack producer Brendan Mott (8.5). The LB corps appears rock solid with the return of Desmond Purnell, (4.5 sacks, 9.5 TFL, 5 QBH), Austin Romaine (#1 tackles, 7.5 TFL), and the addition of Ohio St (!) transfer Gabe Powers. The secondary could be a problem area as the Cats lost a pair of NFL DCs from the secondary, but we’ll see how things go. The back end may get smoked occasionally thru the air but this is still a top-five Big 12 defense.
SPECIAL TEAMS
It’s nice to bring back punter Simon McClannan and PR/KR Dylan Edwards but the Wildcats need to find a replacement for their excellent PK Chris Tennant (17/21 FG, 44/45 XP LY).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Things get REAL in a hurry as the Wildcats tangle with Iowa St (!) across the pond in Ireland on August 23rd. They’ve also gotta face Army, a scrappy North Dakota squad, and Arizona (non-conference designation) before Big 12 action starts up again. The list of conference assignments is tougher than average as they only get one of their four nastiest opponents (Texas Tech) at home whilst the other three are either on the road, or on another continent.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Sept 12 (at Arizona)
This matchup comes after a sneaky-tough and draining opening three-game stretch and they’ve gotta travel down to Tuscon for this event. It won’t have the same intensity level as if it were classified as a conference game and we wouldn’t be surprised if Kansas St fails to put up an “A” or even “B” effort in this one.
Season Win Total
Market consensus July 5
Over 8.5 -105
Under 8.5 -125
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
18 of our 22 model have them finishing with eight or nine regular season wins. They’ll be a tough out every week, but on the other hand, we don’t see many FREE SQUARES on the schedule.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
HC Chris Klieman is still COOKING vs the point spread (45-31, 59%) despite going 4-9 vs the number in 2024. DEGENERATE NATION should take note that Klieman is particularly deadly at home (25-13 ATS, 66%; 3-3 in 2024).
Manhattan, Kansas is nicknamed “The Little Apple” as a playful comparison to the “Big Apple” that is New York City. Now that New York City has descended into a 3rd-world communist hellscape, the folks in the GREAT STATE of KANSAS would prefer that you refrain from using the “Little Apple” reference. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
“Here we go again. Again.” <Tugg Speedman> <Scorcher VI: Global Meltdown>
Yup, Kansas St is among the top contenders in the Big 12 once again this year, and it’s truly a pleasure watching this team drive the rest of the conference crazy on a yearly basis. The Cats have a very talented dual-threat QB that can lead them to a Big 12 Championship but Johnson will have to take his game to another level if that’s to happen in 2025. Kansas St looks really good almost everywhere on the roster but not GREAT in any one spot. In the meat grinder that is the Big 12, the best we can say is that they’ll be in contention come November, and they’ve got a legit shot to play for the title in December. Mark November 22nd on you calendar so you don’t miss the big game in Salt Lake City vs the Utah Utes.