KSO Panel: Predicting Kansas State's final regular season record

What will be Kansas State's final regular season record in 2021?

I started at 7-5 but jumped to 8-4.

I think Kansas State starts 3-0 but lose to Oklahoma State in Stillwater and at home to Oklahoma. They'll defeat Iowa State at home and knock off Texas Tech.

One of the bigger toss-up games on the schedule is TCU, who has such a boom or bust potential, but I think the Horned Frogs slip past the Wildcats. K-State then turns around and wins three in a row versus Kansas, West Virginia and Baylor.

They finish the year by falling to Texas.

I've shared it on quite a few platforms, so my prediction probably isn't news to anyone.

While I believe they escape the non-conference slate unscathed, but barely, the tricky Big 12 start spells some doom, in my opinion. Before pulling off the upset against Iowa State, they'll be tripped up by Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

The only game Kansas State loses the rest of the way is at home to TCU. I typically hate the Horned Frogs and their outlook, but I've come around on them having a pretty big season for Gary Patterson. That's a tough one for the Wildcats.

9-3 it is.

I believe there will be a non-conference loss and that it comes versus Nevada. Of the first three Big 12 contests, the only win I see is versus Oklahoma State in Stillwater. They'll fall short after opening Big 12 action with a victory until they make the trip to Lubbock.

That leaves them at 3-3 at that point.

After defeating Texas Tech, TCU knocks the Wildcats off in Manhattan. That pushes them back to .500 at 4-4. However, K-State responds with three wins in a row against Kansas, West Virginia and Baylor to push their record to 7-4.

The lead-up to the final league game of the season in Austin will be electric. The game is on Black Friday. Unfortunately, it will provide a similar result as two years ago, with a close loss to Texas.

It's either this or 15 wins.

I believe the non-conference slate goes well for K-State, beginning with a win over Stanford and finishing with a narrow victory over Nevada.

The first half of the Big 12 schedule is a rough one. There is potential for three losses to start league action. However, the last six games should equal a 5-1 finish and have the Wildcats bowling again.

I have been on 7-5 for a while and I'm going to stick with it.

While I am pretty optimistic about the offense, I will have to see it to belief it with the Kansas State defense. Having said that, I can't predict the Wildcats to beat one of the top teams in the league until I see the defense play high level football.

And while K-State has a five-game stretch in the league where they could win all five if they play well, will they be able to stay away from the injury bug and come ready to play that many weeks in a row?

In my mind, this is their worst-case scenario.

I think Kansas State will either be 4-0 before the home contest with Oklahoma or 3-1. However, I'm anticipating a split between games with the Sooners and Iowa State. I'm just not sure which one is the loss and which one is the victory.

The only other games that concern me are versus West Virginia and Texas. They could drop both. If they drop one before the Oklahoma game, split with the Sooners and Iowa State and are tripped up by the Mountaineers and Longhorns, that's the four losses of 2021.