SE: K-State Excited for Reunion with Texas Bowl, Texas A&M

K-State’s football team will reunite with a familiar bowl and what used to be a familiar foe, though much has changed on both ends, on Wednesday, December 28. The Wildcats, winners of five of their last six games, will match up with Texas A&M in the 2016 AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl, K-State Athletics Director John Currie announced on Sunday.

The Wildcats played in the inaugural Texas Bowl in 2006, one of only two bowl trips in program history without Bill Snyder as K-State’s head coach. It will also mark the first battle with Texas A&M, a former Big 12 school now in the SEC, since K-State won a four-overtime battle against the Aggies in 2011 in Manhattan.

“We’re honored to be at the bowl game,” said Snyder, who did attend the Wildcats’ 2006 bowl game against Rutgers. “We always enjoy these opportunities. Texas A&M is an extremely talented football team. I don’t know a great deal about them at this particular point in time, other than I have great respect for (head coach) Kevin (Sumlin) and Texas A&M in general.”

Sumlin, whose Aggies started the season 6-0 but finished 8-4, shared similar sentiments about Snyder.

“Obviously, Coach Snyder has done this for a long time. He’s one of the most respected coaches currently and probably ever,” the Aggies’ head coach said. “From where Kansas State came from to where it is right now, you’re coaching and playing against a legend. It’s an honor to be able to coach against him.”

For K-State, the trip to Houston will mark its 20th bowl game and seventh in a row. Snyder made 11-consecutive bowl appearances from 1993-2003 and holds a 7-10 record in such games.

"Congratulations to Coach Snyder, his staff and our student-athletes for being selected to the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl," said K-State President Richard Myers. "We are very excited to be headed to Texas and representing the Big 12 Conference. This provides a fitting end to a successful season, and we look forward to our fans continuing a great K-State tradition by turning Houston purple."

The Wildcats, who played Arkansas last year in the Liberty Bowl, will face an SEC school in the postseason for the second year in a row. Snyder said the battle with Texas A&M, which K-State is 7-8 against all-time, could help build the Big 12’s outside reputation to what he believes to be an “upper-echelon conference.”

“I’ve always said the Big 12 Conference, from top to bottom, in my eyes and my thoughts, is right up in the top echelon of conferences in the country,” he said. “If you go back and look at the Big 12 Conference, you see so many teams that someone might consider to be not an upper-echelon program and you see them winning ballgames against some of the best in the conference or playing extremely close with some of the best in the conference.

“I have a very strong feeling about the competitive nature of the Big 12 Conference from top to bottom. The SEC and the success they’ve had goes without saying.”

After starting the season 3-3, K-State captured five wins in its last six games. Doing so gave the Wildcats eight wins prior to the bowl game for the fourth time in the last six years. It also marked the second-straight year they closed the regular season with three wins in a row.

“We became an improved football team collectively across the board,” Snyder said. “That’s been the mantra of our program over years, at least that’s the values of daily improvement. Our players believe in that and consequently have made the effort and commitment to do so, and, at the end of the day, we became a little bit better day in and day out.

“It’s not totally consistent but, at the end of the day, we have gotten better on a very regular basis.”

During their final six games, the Wildcats have averaged nearly 300 yards rushing to boost their per-game average for the season to 232.9, which ranks 25th in the country.

“I’m very proud of our offensive line and the progress they have made throughout the course of the year. That’s one of those groups that truly has made very genuine and consistent improvement throughout the course of the year, and you don’t run the ball well if your offensive line doesn’t execute as you hope they would,” Snyder said, before turning his attention to quarterback Jesse Ertz and the Wildcats’ stable of running backs. “Obviously, Jesse has had a big role in that and certainly, I think, our running backs have done a nice job. I think in the last three ballgames or so, our running backs have really run explosively, and that has an impact on the running game as well. It’s a combination of those four or five things.”

The Wildcats also ran their home sellout streak up to 33 games in 2016 and hope to paint Houston purple with their consistent fan support. Excluding the 1994 Aloha Bowl in Hawaii, K-State’s average attendance in 18 bowl games is nearly 20,000.

“I am very proud of our team and coaches for another terrific season and earning our seventh-straight bowl invitation,” added Currie. “With season ticket holders from 44 different states and a national fan base that features more than 250,000 friends and alumni across the country, including more than 3,000 in the Houston area, we are excited to showcase our football program and Kansas State University in the AdvoCare V100 Texas Bowl against Texas A&M.

“I know our fans are excited to again showcase their unprecedented support, which includes 33-straight sellouts at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, in one of America’s largest cities while our football student-athletes, coaches and staff are provided a first-class experience.”

K-State’s seating allotment for the Wildcats’ upcoming bowl, after accommodating pre-order, student tickets and team needs, currently includes about 6,500 tickets for the general public.

All fans who placed a pre-order will receive the number of tickets that were requested. The K-State Athletics Ticket Office will work over the next week to assign specific seats based on the athletic department priority points and mail pre-ordered tickets. Detailed information regarding bowl ticket order fulfillment has been emailed to fans who placed a pre-order.

Public tickets for K-State fans who did not place a pre-order are available now at the K-State Online Ticket Office and through the K-State Athletics Ticket Office in Bramlage Coliseum or via phone at 1-800-221-CATS beginning again at 8:30 a.m., on Monday. Fans are strongly encouraged to order through K-State’s official allotment to ensure that all Wildcat fans are seated in the official K-State sections of the stadium. The location for K-State’s ticket allotment at the Texas Bowl is among the best of any bowl game with prime sideline seating locations available for $85.

Student tickets, priced at $85, will go on sale at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday to ICAT members, while all remaining students can purchase tickets beginning Thursday at 8:30 a.m.??

The K-State Alumni Association will also provide official travel packages to the bowl game. Visit the Alumni Association’s official bowl travel page - http://k-statesportstours.com – for travel package information.

Kansas State University Athletics

SE: K-State Excited for Reunion with Texas Bowl, Texas A&M

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