FiveDimes recently released over/under regular season win totals for college football teams.
Here is an early-season look at the Kansas State Wildcats in the Big 12.
Over/Under
FiveDimes has Kansas State at 7 wins. Last year, the Wildcats went 9-3 in the regular season. The line features a more favorable under at -110, while the over is at -130.
The upside
There isn’t a team that does more with so little than Kansas State. And the Wildcats are usually a good bet to exceed expectations.
The Wildcats will return an experienced secondary to battle high-flying Big 12 offenses. There are a few holes to replace up front, but the Wildcats have shown with head coach Bill Snyder that filling holes, especially on the defensive end, isn’t normally a problem.
The key for Kansas State is that Snyder will once again return. With him, he’s been able to work through replacements and compete for a Big 12 title almost every year.
An easy non-conference schedule should help Kansas State get off to a good start. Games against South Dakota, UTSA and Louisiana Tech should equal three of the eight wins needed to get the over. The Wildcats won’t receive another breather until season’s end when it goes to Texas Tech, hosts Iowa State, travels to Kansas and finishes the season at home against West Virginia. The Wildcats will likely be favored in the first three and final four games of the 2015 season.
What transpires in the middle will determine whether the Wildcats go over 7.
The downside
The Big 12 is rugged and the Wildcats have plenty of holes to fill on both sides of the ball.
Kansas State must replace its starting quarterback and best wide receivers. If Joe Hubener starts, it would be his first start ever…at any level. He didn’t play QB in high school, so Hubener will likely depend on his running skills behind a quality offensive line.
The Wildcats have shown to be able to keep up with Big 12 offenses with non-NFL quarterbacks, but Kansas State will attempt to take that trend to the next level with a completely unproven quarterback.
Sandwiched between the previously mentioned games in which the Wildcats should be favored, Kansas State must travel to Oklahoma State and Texas, and host the top-two ranked Big 12 teams, Baylor and TCU. It’s plausible that Kansas State won’t be favored in any of those games, meaning the Wildcats will have to have at least one upset to reach over 7 wins.
The verdict
Snyder has proven that it doesn’t matter who suits up for the Wildcats. He is a proven winner and the Wildcats have won eight or more regular season games in three of the last four seasons.
However, there are too many holes to fill, and bettors who bet the over, must depend on the Wildcats not getting upset, and upsetting at least one team en route to eight wins. It’s too difficult to trust Kansas State to get to eight wins when it has so many replacements at key positions. Take the better odds with the under.
