Kansas State will face TCU for the Big 12 title on December 3 in Arlington, Texas after the Wildcats defeated rival Kansas in the state 47-27 on Saturday night. Here’s what you need to know:
TCU (12-0, 9-0 Big 12), who secured their spot in the Big 12 championship game with their 17-10 win over Texas on Nov. 12, ended an undefeated regular season 12-0 on Saturday afternoon and a 62-14 blast of the state of Iowa.
Kansas State (9-3, 7-2 Big 12) has won three straight games since its last loss to Texas on Nov. 5. The Longhorns’ win over Baylor on Friday meant the Wildcats had to beat Kansas to stay ahead of Texas in conference standings by a loss and avoid a tiebreak that would have sent the Longhorns into the championship game.
TCU will play in their second Big 12 title game since joining the league and are looking for their first conference championship since sharing the crown with Baylor in 2014. Kansas State last earned a share of the Big 12 title in 2012 and will seek its first Big 12 Championship Game win since 2003.
The Big 12 title game will air Dec. 3 at 12 p.m. ET on ABC.
backstory
When those teams last met in Fort Worth on Oct. 22, Kansas State backup quarterback Will Howard had to fill in for an injured Adrian Martinez and had given the Wildcats a 28-10 lead midway through the second quarter. Kansas State suffered many injuries that night and couldn’t withstand the TCU rally to a 38-28 win, but Howard’s emergence was a turning point for the Wildcats. Since that night, they’ve gone 4-0 and averaged 43.5 points per game when bowling with Howard as quarterback. They could also climb into the top 10 in the CFP rankings this week. As close as Baylor, Oklahoma State and others came to upsetting the Horned Frogs during the regular season, this is their toughest challenge yet.
(Photo: USA Today)