THE TOP 5
1) Kansas State will be making its fourth all-time appearance in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship on Saturday, as the 13th-ranked Wildcats will square off with third-ranked TCU at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The game will be televised nationally on ABC beginning at 11 a.m., with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe calling the action.
2) K-State is 9-3 this season with all three losses coming against teams that are currently ranked in No. 3 TCU, No. 18 Tulane and No 21 Texas. The Cats are bowl eligible for the third time under Chris Klieman and will advance to their 24th bowl appearance in school history, including the 11th in the last 13 seasons. Klieman is the first coach in school history to send three of his first four squads to the postseason.
3) Last time out, K-State scored 30 first-half points and used a dominant second-half defensive performance to top Kansas, 47-27. Deuce Vaughn ran for 147 yards and had 82 receiving yards, while Malik Knowles had two rushing touchdowns. Defensively, K-State held Kansas to just six points and 96 yards in the second half while holding the Jayhawks to their second-lowest offensive output of the year.
4) Deuce Vaughn has 1,295 rushing yards this season to record his second-straight season with 1,000 rushing yards – just the third player in school history with multiple 1,000-yard seasons. He ranks second in school history in career rushing yards (3,341) and moved into seventh place in school history for a season with his performance last week.
5) The Cats have been solid on defense, allowing just 19.4 points per game and 357.3 total yards per game. This week, they rank second nationally in turnover margin, ninth in interceptions, 10th in fourth down defense, 14th in scoring defense and 17th in pass efficiency defense. The Cats have kept each of their Big 12 opponents this year under their season scoring average entering its game against K-State while also holding three conference opponents without a touchdown.