It's official: Kansas State football to face Alabama in Sugar Bowl on New Year's Eve

Arne Green, Topeka Capital-Journal
·3 min read
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Kansas State coach Chris Klieman hoists the Big 12 championship trophy as confetti falls around him following the Wildcats' 31-28 overtime victory over TCU on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Kansas State coach Chris Klieman hoists the Big 12 championship trophy as confetti falls around him following the Wildcats' 31-28 overtime victory over TCU on Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

If Kansas State thought winning its first Big 12 championship in a decade was sweet, imagine topping it off with a trip to New Orleans and the Sugar Bowl.

That's exactly where the No. 10-ranked Wildcats are headed, for a first-ever meeting with perennial national power Alabama on New Year's Eve in the Caesars Superdome.

Actually, the Crescent City most likely was K-State's destination regardless of Saturday's Big 12 championship game outcome at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, but a 31-28 overtime victory against the Horned Frogs sealed the deal. The Wildcats take a 10-3 record, their best in four years under Klieman, to the Sugar Bowl against a 10-2 Alabama team that just missed out on the College Football Playoffs as the No. 5 pick by the selection committee.

K-State ended up at No. 9 in the final CFP rankings.

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“We are excited to represent the Big 12 Conference in the Allstate Sugar Bowl,” K-State coach Chris Klieman said in a statement. “I am really proud of our team, especially our seniors, and our staff for their resolve this season.

"A lot of people doubted this team throughout the year, and they just continued to put their heads down and go to work every day. We look forward to heading to New Orleans for the first time in school history and preparing for a great team in Alabama.”

It will be the Wildcats' first trip to the Sugar Bowl but their seventh to one of the currently designated New Year's Six games. They have been to the Fiesta Bowl three times, winning once, and the Cotton Bowl another three, though that game was not so designated when they went in 1996, 2000 and 2011.

“We are excited to head to New Orleans as Big 12 champions,” K-State athletics director Gene Taylor said. “Congratulations to coach Klieman and our team for a phenomenal season, and now we look forward to showcasing our football program and Kansas State University in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

"We had an amazing crowd yesterday in Arlington, and I know our fans will continue to uphold their national reputation for traveling to bowl games when we head to New Orleans later this month.”

For Alabama, the Sugar Bowl is more of a consolation prize. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was still lobbying for a College Football Playoff spot Saturday night despite two regular-season losses and the fact that his team did not qualify for the SEC championship game.

This will be K-State's 24th all-time bowl game and the third in four years under coach Chris Klieman. In 2019, Klieman's first season, the Wildcats lost the Liberty Bowl to Navy, 20-17, and then handed him their first FBS postseason victory last year in a 42-20 Texas Bowl blowout of LSU.

The Sugar Bowl will mark the Wildcats' second postseason visit to Louisiana. Their first ever bowl game, under coach Jim Dickey, was the 1982 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, where they lost to Wisconsin, 14-3.

More:Kansas State football report card vs. TCU: A look at K-State's Big 12 championship grades

Bill Snyder took K-State to 19 of the next 20 bowls in his two stints as head coach, including its first victory, a 52-17 decision against Wyoming in the 1993 Copper Bowl. Ron Prince was responsible for the other, a 37-10 Texas Bowl loss to Rutgers in 2006 in the first season of Snyder's three-year retirement.

While K-State's bowl history is relatively recent — the Wildcats have an all-time 10-13 record — Alabama's is legendary. The Crimson Tide own the NCAA records for both bowl appearances with 75 and victories with 45.

The Crimson Tide have won 193 games in 16 years under Saban, placing him second only to Bear Bryant in Alabama history. Saban has won six national titles, most recently in 2020.

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football to face Alabama in Sugar Bowl on New Year's Eve