There\u2019s no doubt that Kansas State has some talented players sprinkled on its roster. There is also no doubt that aging head coach Bill Snyder deserves all the credit in the world, as he has more than once made this program contend nationally \u2013 at a football school that could well be a Bowl Subdivision team (or worse) \u2013 without him. <\/p>\n
Big 12 Conference 2013 College Football Previews: Kansas State Wildcats<\/a><\/b> But you can\u2019t talk for very long about the 2013 edition of the Wildcats without facing some grim realities.<\/p>\n Reality #1: Battering ram, do-everything QB Collin Klein is gone. Accounting for over 3,500 yards of offense, 39 TDs and a nod as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, Klein was a large part of the reason the Wildcats had double-digit wins last year. <\/p>\n Battling to replace Klein will be last year\u2019s backup Daniel Sams, as well as lauded junior college transfer Jake Waters, who broke records in JUCO last year and should probably win the starter\u2019s job. <\/p>\n It\u2019s true, Kansas State still has talented scatback RB John Hubert (Hubert nearly cracked 1,000 yards and had 15 majors), a good WR in Tyler Lockett and an unheralded offensive line, which must be the glue that binds everything together. <\/p>\n With Hubert, a talented pivot like Waters and Sams available for an athletic change-of-pace in the backfield, the Wildcats\u2019 attack should still be potent. But none of these components are comparable to Klein. Safety Ty Zimmerman is a beauty on this defense and must continue to lead the secondary, but there just isn\u2019t enough returning experience or upper-echelon talent to keep the Wildcats out of high-scoring shootouts. Some new faces must step up, and maybe senior LB Tre Walker will be one that does. <\/p>\n Unfortunately, there doesn\u2019t seem to be much to get excited about on \u201cD\u201d in Manhattan, Kansas in 2013.<\/p>\n Reality #3: Ultimately, while he is a very vital cog, a head coach can only do so much. The Wildcats have improved steadily since Snyder came out of retirement in 2009. In a matter of seasons, they have gone from a six-win team to a Big 12 Championship. <\/p>\n Yet, the upward trend is unsustainable for a program that loses so much to expired eligibility and with a coach that \u2013 although fantastic \u2013 is in the twilight of his life. <\/p>\n Snyder works magic, but a double-digit win season out of 2013\u2019s crop of Kansas State players would be an altogether Houdini-like effort from the old sideline general. <\/p>\n Expect this year\u2019s Wildcats team to be around seven wins, with a strong offense and a defense that has a steep learning curve.<\/p>\n 8\/30\/13 8:30 PM ET NDSU 2013 Football Previews – Big 12 – Wildcats There\u2019s no doubt that Kansas State has some talented players sprinkled on its roster. There is also no doubt that aging head coach Bill Snyder deserves all the credit in the world, as he has more than once made this program contend nationally \u2013 at a football […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":64952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[59304,59743,49957,49954,59671,16473,191,2847,59746,50099,50100,50101,20300,50098,19417],"class_list":["post-64907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ncaa-football","tag-2013-bcs-lines","tag-2013-big-12-football-previews","tag-bcs-sportsbook-odds","tag-big-12-football-predictions","tag-big-12-gambling-odds","tag-big-12-odds","tag-big-12-picks","tag-kansas-st","tag-kansas-st-football","tag-kansas-st-football-predictions","tag-kansas-st-gambling-odds","tag-kansas-st-schedule","tag-kansas-st-wildcats","tag-wildcats-bcs-futures","tag-wildcats-predictions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64907"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64954,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64907\/revisions\/64954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHead Coach: Bill Snyder<\/b>
\n2012 Record: 11-2<\/b>
\nK-State Gambling Odds to win BCS Championship: 150-1<\/b>
\nK-State Gambling Odds to win Big 12: 14-1<\/b><\/p>\nCheck out our in-house Handicapper!!! Buy Razor Ray’s College Picks in 2013!<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n [soliloquy id=”82219″]
\nReality #2: The Wildcats have virtually no one on defense. K-State loses its entire starting front seven from last season. It doesn\u2019t matter how many talented freshmen or JUCO transfers you recruit \u2013 attrition like that hurts. <\/p>\nWildcats2013 Schedule<\/h3>\n
\n9\/7\/13 6:30 PM ET ULL
\n9\/14\/13 7:00 PM ET MASS
\n9\/21\/13 TBD @TEX
\n10\/5\/13 TBD @OKST
\n10\/12\/13 TBD BAY
\n10\/26\/13 TBD WVU
\n11\/2\/13 TBD ISU
\n11\/9\/13 TBD @TTU
\n11\/16\/13 TBD TCU
\n11\/23\/13 TBD OKLA
\n11\/30\/13 TBD @KU <\/p>\nClick here to check out MORE 2013 college football previews for the NCAA Football Season!<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"