Alex Barnes (34) leads the Wildcats onto the field prior to Kansas State's 2018 home game with Oklahoma State. Much to the surprise of Kansas State football fans — as well as those Wildcat faithful attempting to plan weddings, vacations and road trips — the K-State athletics department released the 2019 football schedule on Thursday morning. The 2019 schedule includes five Big 12 home games — featuring a Thursday-night primetime contest against TCU — and a return trip to SEC opponent Mississippi State. That return trip to Starkville, Mississippi, comes in Week 3 of the season, and comes the weekend prior to the first of three off Saturdays for the Wildcats during the 2019 slate of games. “We are pleased to announce our full 2019 schedule, which includes seven games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, five of which are Big 12 Conference matchups,” Athletics Director Gene Taylor said via a press release from the school. “Our gameday atmosphere continues to be one of the best in the Big 12, and I know the K-State Nation will be in full force not only the rest of this current season but also in 2019, which features our first Thursday-night home game since the 2015 season. “The select few non-Saturday conference matchups that are played each year continue to be a big part of our league’s television arrangement, and we look forward to having the eyes of the college football world on Manhattan against TCU.” Here is a quick analysis of the 2019 schedule from GoPowercat.com publisher Tim Fitzgerald.<doc-sep>Who’s ready for some Thursday night football? K-State will take on TCU at home on a Thursday next season, according to a schedule released by the football team today. The season will open Aug. 31 with a home game against Nicholls State, followed a week later with Bowling Green, also at The Bill. Then, on Sept. 14 the Wildcats will travel to Starkville in an attempt to exact revenge on the Bulldogs of Mississippi State. Conference play will open in Stillwater, where we can only hope the Pokes will still be in as much disarray as they are this season. The K-State will camp out in Manhattan for all of October, with Baylor, the aforementioned Thursday night Frog Party, and an Oct. 26 date with the Sooners. A short road trip to Lawrence opens November, followed by a jog to Austin to try to reestablish dominance over the Longhorns. Then the Cats will return home to welcome West Virginia before traveling through the vortex to Lubbock Nov. 23, and rounding out the regular season Nov. 30 with Farmageddon in Manhattan. Here’s a look at the full schedule without any literary flourish:<doc-sep>Thursday night prime time served Texas Tech well after a showcase of incredible defensive effort. “Texas Tech is a defensive team!” coming from ESPN’s commentators will echo in our minds for a good while. Offensively, Jett Duffey was able to grind and pull out a win despite missing key linemen and notable wide receiver TJ Vasher. The product was ugly but hard-fought football. The reward? A 4-2 record. Now we’re in week eight and looking down the barrel at some tough (but breakable) cookies! The only way we can get to those guys, though, is if we go through a truly daunting and truly impressive but possible push over: theeee.... KANSAS BASKETBALLERS IN PADS Hear me out. This should be #respectKansasweek because, unlike our overly proud neighbors in the capital, we don’t want to end up with an embarrassing scar on our athletic program. The basketballers in pads have been cause some strain this year for teams. No, not scares (not yet) but they have refused to go away by putting points on the board every quarter. It will certainly be no sleeper as Tech takes on Kansas for homecoming weekend, with a game at Iowa State looming after - but who really cares, they’re two easy dubs! Let’s talk about the important. WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DRINKING? If you’ve been keeping tabs on the weather in Lubbock, it has plummeted from an appropriate summer-85 to the inappropriate “hell-to-the-no” of dead ass winter. Seriously, do we still own the toughest weather city award? Saturday won’t be unbearable by any stretch, as it shows mid sixties as a high - but dang it we’re having a drink that’ll warm you up anyways! THE BOILERMAKER! No, not Purdue - well, kind of but I bet you can’t even tell me what a boilermaker is. Not the drink! The person! NO, NEVERMIND, JUST READ MY WORDS. A Boilermaker is a beer-cocktail of sorts in that you order yourself a fine beer and bring it together with a fine whiskey (or trash and trash, we don’t judge). In some places I’ve seen people chug the beer then chase it with the whiskey but I’m 101% positive that the best way to do this is drop the whiskey in the beer and chug the entirety. The beer will give you the liquid carbs and courage to stand outside in mild weather and the whisky well.. does stuff that whisky does. Pick up at your local bar today. WHAT SHOULD YOU BE EATING? Honestly, why not. CHILI IS GREAT, ESPECIALLY ON MILD DAYS. You may think that you have a good chili and you’d probably be at least a little bit right, but do you have a great chili? No. I have a great chili, but because I’m not going to give you my recipe for chili success what better second than Kevin Malone’s chili recipe! There’s an excellent series called Binging with Babish which culminates all the steps in an easy to watch and not read structure, because who has time for reading (except you, who has made it this far in the AP). WHATS THE BEST PART OF THE GAME? The best part of this game is going to be watching the defense play a Kansas team that has been able to put up points against Oklahoma State and West Virginia. The basketballers in pads are certainly no push over, and Tech has an opportunity to build their defensive resume by holding Kansas scoreless or as close to it as possible. The homecoming game will also serve as a good opportunity to build more momentum as the team goes up to Ames next weekend to take on a hot Iowa State team. 5 REASONS TO DISLIKE KANSAS 1. Even if you beat them 10000000 - 0 they’ll always be able to say “pff, see you in basketball” and you’re going to be legitimately fearful. (Except maybe not this year!) 2. They were able to pull off an overtime win extraordinaire against famed Texas Longhorns but haven’t been able to do anything sense. 3. They have an athlete in Pooka Williams but despite winning mid-season awards Kansas will still find a way to waste Williams’ talent. 4. What even does the state of Kansas do for the United States? Buffer zone between eastern and western states? 5. Spooky SZN, folks AT THE END OF THE DAY This is #respectKansasweek so we’re just hoping that both teams can go out and have a good time on Saturday. Kansas has an athletic program and they compete with other legitimate athletic programs in the Big 12. We respect their presence. And we hope this game gets our players ready for Iowa State. RESPECTFULLY. Respectfully. Don’t be a University of Texas.<doc-sep>
David Beaty is surounded by issues and problems with few solutions in sight. The 2019 Kansas football schedule was released by Kansas Athletics Thursday morning. The Jayhawks will open the 2019 season at home to Indiana State on Aug. 31. The Sycamores currently sit in ninth in the Missouri Valley Conference with a record of 2-4, (0-3). The Sycamores did face a notable Power 5 opponent in their non-conference schedule, which came in a 31-7 road loss to Louisville. Next, the Jayhawks will host Coastal Carolina on Sept. 7. The Chanticleers struggled against South Carolina to open the season, falling 49-15. Coastal Carolina currently sits at the bottom of their Sun Belt group with a record of 3-3, (1-2). Additionally, it will be the first time the Jayhawks have played the Chanticleers. To round out the non-conference schedule, the Jayhawks will travel to Chestnut Hill, Mass. to face Boston College. This will be the first-ever game between the two programs. Boston College represents the toughest test of the pre-Big 12 schedule, as the team currently sits at 5-2 (2-1), good enough for third in the ACC Atlantic. The Eagles were ranked for a week this season but will lose at least 13 starters because of graduation. For the ninth consecutive season, Big 12 play will involve a nine-game round robin schedule. KU will open Big 12 play at home to West Virginia on Sept. 21. The Mountaineers will be in the midst of a new era at quarterback with the impending departure of Will Grier. Next, the Jayhawks will travel to Fort Worth to take on TCU on Sept. 28. Before the bye week, KU will host Oklahoma on Oct. 5. The Sooner’s offense could look entirely different should standout Kyler Murray choose to leave school for the MLB. Coming out of the bye, the Jayhawks will travel to Austin on Oct. 19 to take on the Longhorns. Texas could be in the midst of a breakout season should talented quarterback Sam Ehlinger and coach Tom Herman continue on their current trajectory. Coming home, KU will host Texas Tech on Oct. 26 before the ever-important Sunflower Showdown on Nov. 2. That game against K-State could prove challenging for the Jayhawks, regardless of who the coach of either program is. The Wildcats will have a slew of senior starters given the fact that juniors dominate the current starting lineup. The Jayhawks will finish the road slate on a two-game road trip, facing off against Oklahoma State on Nov. 16 where the Jayhawks will look to break their nine-game losing streak to the Cowboys. Then, KU will travel to Ames, Iowa to take on Iowa State on Nov. 23. The Cyclones could be poised take another solid step forward under head coach Matt Campbell. To wrap up the 2019 season, KU will host Baylor on Senior Day.