Kansas State's win over Kansas knocks Texas from Big 12 championship game picture

The Texas Longhorns were hoping Kansas would upset Kansas State on Saturday night to send UT to the Big 12 championship game. But the Wildcats won and will face TCU for the Big 12 crown. Texas will learn its bowl destination next Sunday.
The Texas Longhorns were hoping Kansas would upset Kansas State on Saturday night to send UT to the Big 12 championship game. But the Wildcats won and will face TCU for the Big 12 crown. Texas will learn its bowl destination next Sunday.

With a 47-27 victory over Kansas on Saturday night, Kansas State secured its spot in the Big 12 championship game.

TCU (12-0, 9-0) and Kansas State (9-3, 7-2) will battle for the Big 12 crown next Saturday in Arlington at AT&T Stadium. Before the season started, Kansas State was picked to finish fifth and TCU seventh in the Big 12 preseason poll.

Texas (8-4, 6-3) closed out the regular season in third place in the Big 12 standings. The Longhorns last won a conference championship in 2009 and last played for the Big 12 championship in 2018.

Had Kansas (6-6, 3-6) upended Kansas State and recorded an upset for which Texas was openly rooting, the Longhorns would have reached the championship game. Texas owned the tiebreaker over Kansas State due to a 34-27 win over the Wildcats earlier this month.

That tiebreaker, though, did not come into play.

Texas instead will be left to think about its close calls in Big 12 play. All three of UT's conference losses — 37-34 to Texas Tech, 41-34 to Oklahoma State and 17-10 to TCU — were decided by one score. Texas held a 14-point lead in the third quarter of the Texas Tech game and led Oklahoma State by 10 points in the second half.

Texas now must wait until next Sunday to learn its bowl destination. San Antonio's Alamo Bowl and the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, Fla., are possibilities.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Kansas State keeps Texas football away from Big 12 championship