Kansas State Wildcats
Encyclopedia
Kansas State University
's (variously "Kansas State", "K-State" or "KSU") athletic teams are called the Wildcats. The official color
of the teams is Royal Purple, making Kansas State one of very few schools (including also Syracuse
and Harvard
) that have only one official color; white and silver are generally used as complementary colors.
Kansas State participates in the NCAA's Division I (Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision) and is a member of the Big 12 Conference
since 1996. Previously, Kansas State competed in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
until 1912; the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1913 to 1928; and the Big Eight Conference
from 1928 to 1996 (known as the Big Six from 1928–47 and the Big Seven from 1947–57). Because the Big 12 does not sponsor rowing
, the women's rowing team competes as an affiliate of Conference USA
.
The Kansas State Wildcats are represented in the following NCAA Division I varsity sports:
In the 2007–2008 school year, Kansas State was the only school in the nation to have a consensus All-America in both football (Jordy Nelson
) and men's basketball (Michael Beasley
). Also, in 2007 Kansas State led the Big 12 Conference
with a 64 percent graduation rate for all sports. The Wildcats were 2nd in the Big 12 with a 69 percent graduation rate in football.
. Athletic Directors of note over the years at Kansas State University
include:
Division I with a record of 299–509–41.
Fortunes changed in 1989, when the athletic department hired Bill Snyder
as head coach. Success and high rankings followed, culminating in a #1 national ranking
during the 1998 season and a Big 12 Conference championship in 2003
. Between the years of 1993 and 2003, Snyder's teams went 109–29–1 and attended eleven straight bowl games. Bill Snyder retired following the 2005 season, and Ron Prince
was named the new head coach.
In his first season, Prince guided the Wildcats to the school's first winning record (7–6) in three years and a spot in the inaugural
Texas Bowl
. Prince's second and third seasons both ended with 5–7 records. With three games left in the 2008 season, it was announced that Prince would not return for the 2009 season. Prince was replaced by former head coach Snyder, who returned to the school for a second stint.
The team plays its home games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium
, and the KSU Marching Band (also known as the Pride of Wildcat Land) performs at all home games.
, nicknamed the "Octagon of Doom".
. Kansas State has gone on to capture 17 conference crowns in the sport. The program has also appeared in 25 NCAA basketball tournament
s. Kansas State lost to the University of Kentucky
for the national championship in 1951, reached the Final Four
four times, the Elite Eight 12 times, and the Sweet Sixteen 16 times. K-State has finished ranked in the Top Ten of the AP Poll
on eight occasions (most recently in 2010
), and in the top twenty 13 total times. When Street & Smith
's Annual listed the 100 greatest college basketball programs of all time in 2005, K-State ranked 22nd.
After a lengthy period with little success during the 1990s and 2000s, the team recently returned to prominence. Following a twelve-year absence, the team returned to the NCAA tournament
after the 2007–08 season, under first-year head coach Frank Martin
. Following that season, Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley
was named an All-American and Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. In the 2009–10 season
, the team spent much of the year ranked in the Top 10 of the AP Poll
and finished second in the Big 12 with an 11-5 record. The team received a #2 seed for the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
, and beat North Texas
, BYU and Xavier
to advance to the Elite Eight. The season ended for Kansas State with a loss to Butler
on March 27, 2010.
.
The women's team has participated in 18 total NCAA basketball tournament
s and AIAW tournament
s (pre-NCAA), the second-most appearances in the Big 12 Conference. K-State has finished ranked in the Top 10 of the AP Poll
on three occasions (1984, 2003, 2004), and in the top twenty nine times. Following the 2005–2006 season, Kansas State was crowned champion of the Women's National Invitation Tournament
.
The current head coach is Deb Patterson
. Under Patterson, the team has attended eight NCAA tournaments and won two conference championships.
. The Wildcats went on to win a Missouri Valley Conference championship in 1928 and Big Six Conference championships in 1930 and 1933.
Other milestones in the team's history include Earl Woods
, the father of golfer Tiger Woods
, becoming the first African-American baseball player in the Big Seven Conference in 1952, as well as all-time coaching wins leader Mike Clark winning the Big Eight Coach of the Year award in 1990.
The Wildcats have not traditionally been competitive on the national scale, but in 2009
the team made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament
. Kansas State has qualified four times for the Big 12 Conference
tournament since its formation in 1996. The most recent appearance came in 2009. The Wildcats also earned a berth in the Big 12 Conference
tournament in 2002
, 2007
, and 2008
. In 2008, Hill led the Wildcats all the way to the championship game against Texas, eventually falling 15–7, just one win shy of their first tournament championship.
Hill's teams have also earned the school's first national rankings in the USA Today/ESPN Coach's Poll in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The Wildcats call Tointon Family Stadium
home.
Through the end of the 2008–2009 season, K-State athletes have won individual NCAA national championships 39 times. The program also produced 104 women's outdoor All-Americans, 63 men's outdoor All-Americans, 71 women's indoor All-Americans, and 106 men's indoor All-Americans. Fourteen Kansas State athletes have attended 12 Olympic Games and have won seven medals.
The current head coach is Cliff Rovelto. Rovelto has won a number of coach of the year awards during his term at Kansas State, and served as an assistant for the U.S. Track & Field team at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics
in Helsinki.
Former coach Ward Haylett
, who is enshrined in the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, left a strong imprint on the Kansas State program. Haylett was head coach at the school from 1928–1963.
in Manhattan, Kansas
.
Kansas State's women's volleyball team began intercollegiate competition in 1974. The team is among the all-time winningest programs in the NCAA
.
As of the close of the 2011 season, the team has participated in 13 NCAA tournament
s, including ten consecutive tournaments from 1996 to 2005. K-State also participated in the AIAW tournament in 1977. K-State has finished ranked in the top twenty of the AVCA
poll six times, and in the top 25 on eleven occasions. The team most recently participated in the NCAA tournament in 2011.
The current head coach is Suzie Fritz. Fritz has led the Wildcats to several NCAA Tournament appearances and the school's first conference title in volleyball in 2003. As of the close of the 2008 season, Fritz also holds the second-highest winning percentage among all K-State's volleyball coaches after compiling a record of 148–70 (.679). In eight seasons as head coach, through the end of the 2008 season, Fritz has coached six All-Americans.
, which would seat 16,300. The rivalry continued strong through the 1980s, but faded as Kansas began a 24-game win streak against the Wildcats in Manhattan in 1984. On January 30, 2008 #22 Kansas State upset #2 Kansas
84–75, winning against Kansas in Bramlage Coliseum
for the first time with the aid of freshmen Michael Beasley
and Bill Walker
. Kansas State currently trails in the all-time series, 90–180.
gained his first win against the Jayhawks
and over the next 12 years Kansas would only beat the Wildcats once, in 1992, until KU finally won again in a home game in 2004. The rivalry intensified again in the 2000s as Kansas returned to relevance under Mark Mangino
and the Wildcats struggled under Ron Prince
. Kansas State currently trails in the all-time series, 37–63–5.
consistently competed for the Big 12 North championship. Until the 1990s, however, the series was severely one-sided, with Kansas State losing 29 consecutive games to Nebraska until November 14, 1998 when the #1-ranked Wildcats beat #11 Nebraska 40–30. Kansas State subsequently beat Nebraska in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Despite their success against Nebraska for four years in the early 2000s the overall record between the schools is demonstrative of Nebraska's dominance. Nebraska leads the series 78-15-2.
in the United States
), the leadership of K-State athletics took a strong stance in support of racial integration.
Harold Robinson played football for Kansas State with an athletic scholarship. In doing so, Robinson broke the decades-long "color barrier" in Big Seven Conference athletics. Harold Robinson later received a letter of congratulations from Jackie Robinson
, who had integrated major league baseball in 1947 while playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
(the father of golf
great Tiger Woods
). An indicator of the controversial nature of this position is reflected in an article published in The Tulsa World
about an incident that occurred in the early 1950s during a baseball game:
.
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
's (variously "Kansas State", "K-State" or "KSU") athletic teams are called the Wildcats. The official color
School colors
School colors are the colors chosen by a school to represent it on uniforms and other items of identification. Most schools have two colors, which are usually chosen to avoid conflicts with other schools with which the school competes in sports and other activities...
of the teams is Royal Purple, making Kansas State one of very few schools (including also Syracuse
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
and Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
) that have only one official color; white and silver are generally used as complementary colors.
Kansas State participates in the NCAA's Division I (Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision) and is a member of the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
since 1996. Previously, Kansas State competed in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. It is commonly called "The Kansas Conference", and as the name implies, all members are located in Kansas...
until 1912; the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1913 to 1928; and the Big Eight Conference
Big Eight Conference
The Big Eight Conference, a former NCAA-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football, was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association by its charter member schools: the University of Kansas, University of Missouri, University...
from 1928 to 1996 (known as the Big Six from 1928–47 and the Big Seven from 1947–57). Because the Big 12 does not sponsor rowing
College rowing (United States)
Rowing is one of the oldest intercollegiate sports in the United States. However, rowers comprise only 2.2% of total college athletes. This may be in part because of the status of rowing as an amateur sport and because not all universities have access to suitable bodies of water. In the 2002-03...
, the women's rowing team competes as an affiliate of Conference USA
Conference USA
Conference USA, officially abbreviated C-USA, is a college athletic conference whose member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports...
.
Athletics department
Kansas State offers fourteen sports at a varsity level. Entering the 2009–2010 school year, Kansas State has captured 64 total conference championships through the years (not counting competition in the old Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference). Kansas State has not won any team NCAA championships, but has had 26 individual national champions.The Kansas State Wildcats are represented in the following NCAA Division I varsity sports:
|
|
In the 2007–2008 school year, Kansas State was the only school in the nation to have a consensus All-America in both football (Jordy Nelson
Jordy Nelson
Jordy Ray Nelson is an American football wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Packers in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Kansas State....
) and men's basketball (Michael Beasley
Michael Beasley
Michael Paul Beasley, Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association . He plays both forward positions, and shoots his jump shot left-handed, though he is also ambidextrous...
). Also, in 2007 Kansas State led the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
with a 64 percent graduation rate for all sports. The Wildcats were 2nd in the Big 12 with a 69 percent graduation rate in football.
Administration
Athletics at Kansas State University are administered by the University's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. The department is headed by the Athletic DirectorAthletic director
An athletic director is an administrator at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic programs...
. Athletic Directors of note over the years at Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
include:
| Z.G. Clevenger | (1916–1920), first Athletic Director, member of College Football Hall of Fame College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move... |
| Mike Ahearn Mike Ahearn -External links:... |
(1920–1947), considered "Father of Kansas State Athletics" |
| H.B. "Bebe" Lee | (1956–1969), member of National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics is a professional organization for college and university athletic directors in the United States. NACDA boasts a membership of more than 6,100 individuals and more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico... Hall of Fame |
| Ernie Barrett Ernie Barrett Ernie Drew "Black Jack" Barrett is a retired American basketball player. He played collegiately for the Kansas State University.... |
(1969–1975), known as "Mr. K-State" |
| DeLoss Dodds DeLoss Dodds DeLoss Dodds is the current men's athletic director of The University of Texas at Austin. During his tenure beginning in the fall of 1981, Texas has claimed 13 National Championships and 103 conference titles through September 29, 2011.... |
(1978–1981) |
| Steve Miller Steve Miller (athletics) Steve Miller is an American athlete, coach and businessman from Chicago.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Miller attended college in his home state of Illinois at Bradley University in Peoria and Governors State University in University Park, earning respectively Bachelor of Science degrees in English... |
(1988–1992) |
| Max Urick | (1993–2001) |
| Tim Weiser | (2001–2008), resigned from K-State to become the Big 12's deputy commissioner |
| John Currie John Currie John Currie was a U.S. soccer player who earned two caps with the U.S. national team in 1937. His first game with the national team in a 7-2 loss to Mexico on September 12, 1937. His second game was two weeks later, a 7-3 loss to Mexico.-References:... |
(2009-Current) |
Football
Kansas State's football team officially began play in 1896. The first game recorded in the team's record books is a 14-0 loss to Fort Riley on November 28, 1896. Despite some shining moments in the 1920s and 1930s, by 1989 the school was statistically the worst program in NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I with a record of 299–509–41.
Fortunes changed in 1989, when the athletic department hired Bill Snyder
Bill Snyder
Bill Snyder is the head football coach at Kansas State University. He was rehired to the position on November 24, 2008, making Snyder one of the rare college football head coaches to have non-consecutive tenure at the same school. Snyder previously served as head coach at the school from 1989 to...
as head coach. Success and high rankings followed, culminating in a #1 national ranking
Coaches Poll
The USA Today Coaches' Poll is the current name for a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and Division I college basketball teams....
during the 1998 season and a Big 12 Conference championship in 2003
2003 Kansas State Wildcats football team
The 2003 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the college football season of 2003-2004. The team's head football coach was Bill Snyder. The Wildcats played their home games in KSU Stadium. The team finished the season with a win-loss record of 11 and 4, and a...
. Between the years of 1993 and 2003, Snyder's teams went 109–29–1 and attended eleven straight bowl games. Bill Snyder retired following the 2005 season, and Ron Prince
Ron Prince
Ron Prince is an American football coach who currently is the assistant offensive line coach with the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL. From 2006 through 2008, Prince was the head football coach at Kansas State University. He was one of six African-American head coaches in the NCAA Division I-Bowl...
was named the new head coach.
In his first season, Prince guided the Wildcats to the school's first winning record (7–6) in three years and a spot in the inaugural
2006 Texas Bowl
The 2006 Texas Bowl, part of the 2006 college football season, was played on December 26, 2006 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The game featured the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Kansas State Wildcats....
Texas Bowl
Texas Bowl
The Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, formerly known as the Texas Bowl, is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that was held for the first time in 2006 in Houston, Texas. The bowl replaced the now-defunct Houston Bowl, which was played annually from 2000 to 2005...
. Prince's second and third seasons both ended with 5–7 records. With three games left in the 2008 season, it was announced that Prince would not return for the 2009 season. Prince was replaced by former head coach Snyder, who returned to the school for a second stint.
The team plays its home games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium
Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium
Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium is a stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Kansas State University Wildcats football team. It is named after head coach Bill Snyder and his family...
, and the KSU Marching Band (also known as the Pride of Wildcat Land) performs at all home games.
Basketball
The men's and women's basketball teams play their home games in Bramlage ColiseumBramlage Coliseum
Fred Bramlage Coliseum is a 12,528-seat multi-purpose arena in Manhattan, Kansas. The arena's primary function is as home to the men's and women's basketball teams for Kansas State University. The building also holds offices for Kansas State Wildcats baseball, Intercollegiate Athletics, and Sports...
, nicknamed the "Octagon of Doom".
Men's basketball
Kansas State's men's basketball team began competition in 1902. The program has a long history of success. The first two major conference titles captured by the school were won in the sport, in 1917 and 1919, in the Missouri Valley ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference is a college athletic conference whose members are located in the midwestern United States...
. Kansas State has gone on to capture 17 conference crowns in the sport. The program has also appeared in 25 NCAA basketball tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
s. Kansas State lost to the University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky, also known as UK, is a public co-educational university and is one of the state's two land-grant universities, located in Lexington, Kentucky...
for the national championship in 1951, reached the Final Four
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
four times, the Elite Eight 12 times, and the Sweet Sixteen 16 times. K-State has finished ranked in the Top Ten of the AP Poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
on eight occasions (most recently in 2010
2009–10 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team
The 2009–10 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University in the 2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Frank Martin, who served his 3rd year at the helm of the Wildcats. The team played its home games in Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan,...
), and in the top twenty 13 total times. When Street & Smith
Street & Smith
Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as pulp fiction and dime novels. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks...
's Annual listed the 100 greatest college basketball programs of all time in 2005, K-State ranked 22nd.
After a lengthy period with little success during the 1990s and 2000s, the team recently returned to prominence. Following a twelve-year absence, the team returned to the NCAA tournament
2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2007–08 basketball season...
after the 2007–08 season, under first-year head coach Frank Martin
Frank Martin (basketball coach)
Frank Martin is the head men's basketball coach at Kansas State University. Martin was announced as Kansas State's 22nd head men's basketball coach on April 6, 2007, following the resignation of Bob Huggins, who departed for West Virginia University...
. Following that season, Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley
Michael Beasley
Michael Paul Beasley, Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association . He plays both forward positions, and shoots his jump shot left-handed, though he is also ambidextrous...
was named an All-American and Big 12 Conference Player of the Year. In the 2009–10 season
2009–10 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team
The 2009–10 Kansas State Wildcats men's basketball team represented Kansas State University in the 2009-10 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Frank Martin, who served his 3rd year at the helm of the Wildcats. The team played its home games in Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan,...
, the team spent much of the year ranked in the Top 10 of the AP Poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
and finished second in the Big 12 with an 11-5 record. The team received a #2 seed for the 2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
2010 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The first and second round games were played at the following sites:*March 18 / 20*March 25 / 27*March 26 / 28Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held on April 3 and 5 in Indianapolis, Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium, hosted by the Horizon League and Butler University, as per the NCAA's...
, and beat North Texas
North Texas Mean Green men's basketball
The North Texas Mean Green men's basketball team represents the University of North Texas in NCAA Division I college basketball, competing as a member of the Sun Belt Conference....
, BYU and Xavier
Xavier Musketeers men's basketball
The Xavier Musketeers team is the basketball team that represents Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. The school's team currently competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference...
to advance to the Elite Eight. The season ended for Kansas State with a loss to Butler
Butler Bulldogs men's basketball
The Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team represents Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Horizon League, of which it has been a member since 1979...
on March 27, 2010.
Women's basketball
Kansas State's women's basketball team began intercollegiate competition in 1968. The team is among the top 15 all-time winningest programs in the NCAANational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
.
The women's team has participated in 18 total NCAA basketball tournament
NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Women's Division I Championship is an annual college basketball tournament for women. Held each April, the Women's Championship was inaugurated in the 1981–82 season...
s and AIAW tournament
AIAW Women's Basketball Tournament
-1973 tournament:The 1973 AIAW Women's Basketball Tournament was held on March 22–25, 1973. The host site was Queens College in Flushing, New York...
s (pre-NCAA), the second-most appearances in the Big 12 Conference. K-State has finished ranked in the Top 10 of the AP Poll
AP Poll
The Associated Press College Poll refers to weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling sportswriters across the nation...
on three occasions (1984, 2003, 2004), and in the top twenty nine times. Following the 2005–2006 season, Kansas State was crowned champion of the Women's National Invitation Tournament
Women's National Invitation Tournament
The Women's National Invitation Tournament , formerly the National Women's Invitation Tournament, is a college basketball tournament with a preseason and postseason version played every year...
.
The current head coach is Deb Patterson
Deb Patterson
Deb Patterson is the current head women's basketball coach at Kansas State. She is the all-time winningest coach in school history. On December 20, 2008 she won her 250th career game....
. Under Patterson, the team has attended eight NCAA tournaments and won two conference championships.
Baseball
Kansas State's baseball team began play in 1897. The Wildcats earned what is believed to be the school's first varsity championship in 1907 under coach Mike AhearnMike Ahearn
-External links:...
. The Wildcats went on to win a Missouri Valley Conference championship in 1928 and Big Six Conference championships in 1930 and 1933.
Other milestones in the team's history include Earl Woods
Earl Woods
Earl Dennison Woods was a US Army infantry officer who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was a college-level baseball player and writer, but is best remembered as the father of professional golfer Tiger Woods...
, the father of golfer Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
, becoming the first African-American baseball player in the Big Seven Conference in 1952, as well as all-time coaching wins leader Mike Clark winning the Big Eight Coach of the Year award in 1990.
The Wildcats have not traditionally been competitive on the national scale, but in 2009
2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
The 2009 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was held from May 29 through June 24, 2009 and is part of the 2009 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 286 teams on May 25, 2009...
the team made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament
NCAA Division I Baseball Championship
The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship tournament is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the College World Series....
. Kansas State has qualified four times for the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
tournament since its formation in 1996. The most recent appearance came in 2009. The Wildcats also earned a berth in the Big 12 Conference
Big 12 Conference
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...
tournament in 2002
2002 Big 12 Baseball Tournament
The 2002 Big 12 Baseball Tournament was for the first time held at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in Arlington, TX from May 22nd through May 26th. Texas won their first tournament and earned the Big 12 Conference's automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament...
, 2007
2007 Big 12 Baseball Tournament
The 2007 Big 12 Baseball Tournament was held at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, OK from May 23 through May 27. Texas A&M won the tournament and earned the Big 12 Conference's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. This was the second year the conference used the...
, and 2008
2008 Big 12 Baseball Tournament
The 2008 Big 12 Baseball Tournament was held at AT&T Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, OK from May 21st to May 25th, 2008. This was the third year the conference uses the round robin tournament setup...
. In 2008, Hill led the Wildcats all the way to the championship game against Texas, eventually falling 15–7, just one win shy of their first tournament championship.
Hill's teams have also earned the school's first national rankings in the USA Today/ESPN Coach's Poll in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The Wildcats call Tointon Family Stadium
Tointon Family Stadium
Frank Myers Field at Tointon Family Stadium is a baseball stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. It is the home field of the Kansas State University Wildcats college baseball team. The stadium holds 2,000 people and opened for baseball in 1961...
home.
Track and field
Kansas State began competing in track and field in 1904. The team has won twenty conference championships. Its athletes have also achieved considerable national success.Through the end of the 2008–2009 season, K-State athletes have won individual NCAA national championships 39 times. The program also produced 104 women's outdoor All-Americans, 63 men's outdoor All-Americans, 71 women's indoor All-Americans, and 106 men's indoor All-Americans. Fourteen Kansas State athletes have attended 12 Olympic Games and have won seven medals.
The current head coach is Cliff Rovelto. Rovelto has won a number of coach of the year awards during his term at Kansas State, and served as an assistant for the U.S. Track & Field team at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics
2005 World Championships in Athletics
The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...
in Helsinki.
Former coach Ward Haylett
Ward Haylett
-External links:...
, who is enshrined in the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, left a strong imprint on the Kansas State program. Haylett was head coach at the school from 1928–1963.
Volleyball
The team currently plays in Ahearn Field HouseAhearn Field House
Ahearn Field House is one of the athletic buildings on the campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. It is currently home to the K-State volleyball team and indoor track and field squad, and houses facilities for the and the ....
in Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan, Kansas
Manhattan is a city located in the northeastern part of the state of Kansas in the United States, at the junction of the Kansas River and Big Blue River. It is the county seat of Riley County and the city extends into Pottawatomie County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 52,281...
.
Kansas State's women's volleyball team began intercollegiate competition in 1974. The team is among the all-time winningest programs in the NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
.
As of the close of the 2011 season, the team has participated in 13 NCAA tournament
NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship
The NCAA has contested team championships in women's volleyball since 1981. The following is a list of the champions of each division with their record for the year in which they won the championship, and the runner up, city, site and other final four participants for division I...
s, including ten consecutive tournaments from 1996 to 2005. K-State also participated in the AIAW tournament in 1977. K-State has finished ranked in the top twenty of the AVCA
American Volleyball Coaches Association
The American Volleyball Coaches Association is an organization of nearly 5,000 members, incorporated as a private non-profit educational corporation in 1981, as the Collegiate Volleyball Coaches Association....
poll six times, and in the top 25 on eleven occasions. The team most recently participated in the NCAA tournament in 2011.
The current head coach is Suzie Fritz. Fritz has led the Wildcats to several NCAA Tournament appearances and the school's first conference title in volleyball in 2003. As of the close of the 2008 season, Fritz also holds the second-highest winning percentage among all K-State's volleyball coaches after compiling a record of 148–70 (.679). In eight seasons as head coach, through the end of the 2008 season, Fritz has coached six All-Americans.
Kansas State Wildcats vs. Kansas Jayhawks (Sunflower Showdown)
Since the early 1900s when Kansas State and Kansas began competing in baseball, basketball, and football, the two teams schools and fans have developed a passionate rivalry.Men's Basketball
The rivalry on the hardwood peaked in the 1950s when both teams were national title contenders. A facilities race also began in the 1950s, starting with the construction of Kansas State's Ahearn Fieldhouse, which was one of the largest basketball facilities in the country with a capacity of 14,000 when opened in 1951. Kansas soon answered with Allen FieldhouseAllen Fieldhouse
Allen Fieldhouse is an indoor arena at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. The arena, named in honor of Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, who coached the university's men's basketball team for 39 years, is one of college basketball's most historically significant and prestigious buildings...
, which would seat 16,300. The rivalry continued strong through the 1980s, but faded as Kansas began a 24-game win streak against the Wildcats in Manhattan in 1984. On January 30, 2008 #22 Kansas State upset #2 Kansas
2007-08 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team
The 2007–08 Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team represented the University of Kansas for the NCAA Division I men's intercollegiate basketball season of 2007–2008. The team was led by Bill Self in his fifth season as head coach. The team played its home games in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence,...
84–75, winning against Kansas in Bramlage Coliseum
Bramlage Coliseum
Fred Bramlage Coliseum is a 12,528-seat multi-purpose arena in Manhattan, Kansas. The arena's primary function is as home to the men's and women's basketball teams for Kansas State University. The building also holds offices for Kansas State Wildcats baseball, Intercollegiate Athletics, and Sports...
for the first time with the aid of freshmen Michael Beasley
Michael Beasley
Michael Paul Beasley, Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association . He plays both forward positions, and shoots his jump shot left-handed, though he is also ambidextrous...
and Bill Walker
Bill Walker
-Australian rules football:* Bill A. Walker , former Essendon player* Bill J. Walker , former Fitzroy player* Bill J. V. Walker , former University player...
. Kansas State currently trails in the all-time series, 90–180.
Football
Historically, neither football program has had sustained success. The rivalry intensified for a period in the early 1990s as both teams entered the national rankings. In 1991 Head Coach Bill SnyderBill Snyder
Bill Snyder is the head football coach at Kansas State University. He was rehired to the position on November 24, 2008, making Snyder one of the rare college football head coaches to have non-consecutive tenure at the same school. Snyder previously served as head coach at the school from 1989 to...
gained his first win against the Jayhawks
Kansas Jayhawks football
The Kansas Jayhawks football program is the intercollegiate football program of the University of Kansas Jayhawks. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference....
and over the next 12 years Kansas would only beat the Wildcats once, in 1992, until KU finally won again in a home game in 2004. The rivalry intensified again in the 2000s as Kansas returned to relevance under Mark Mangino
Mark Mangino
Mark Thomas Mangino is an American football coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Kansas Jayhawks college football team from 2002 to 2009. In 2007, Mangino received several National Coach of the Year honors after leading the Jayhawks to their first 12-win season in school history...
and the Wildcats struggled under Ron Prince
Ron Prince
Ron Prince is an American football coach who currently is the assistant offensive line coach with the Indianapolis Colts of the NFL. From 2006 through 2008, Prince was the head football coach at Kansas State University. He was one of six African-American head coaches in the NCAA Division I-Bowl...
. Kansas State currently trails in the all-time series, 37–63–5.
Football
After the creation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, and through early 2000s, the Wildcats and CornhuskersNebraska Cornhuskers football
The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. Nebraska is one of only six football programs in NCAA Division I-A...
consistently competed for the Big 12 North championship. Until the 1990s, however, the series was severely one-sided, with Kansas State losing 29 consecutive games to Nebraska until November 14, 1998 when the #1-ranked Wildcats beat #11 Nebraska 40–30. Kansas State subsequently beat Nebraska in 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Despite their success against Nebraska for four years in the early 2000s the overall record between the schools is demonstrative of Nebraska's dominance. Nebraska leads the series 78-15-2.
Volleyball
Nebraska is the Wildcats' biggest volleyball rival. Both teams have been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 almost weekly for the past decade, and every Kansas State home game against Nebraska is promoted with t-shirts that read "Keep The Red Out."Racial integration at Kansas State
Kansas State historically has been welcoming to all races. As far back as the 1940s and 1950s (a time regarded by many for its lack of civil rightsCivil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
), the leadership of K-State athletics took a strong stance in support of racial integration.
Football
In 1949, African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
Harold Robinson played football for Kansas State with an athletic scholarship. In doing so, Robinson broke the decades-long "color barrier" in Big Seven Conference athletics. Harold Robinson later received a letter of congratulations from Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
, who had integrated major league baseball in 1947 while playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Baseball
In the spring of 1951, the conference color barrier in baseball was broken by Kansas State's Earl WoodsEarl Woods
Earl Dennison Woods was a US Army infantry officer who served two tours of duty in Vietnam, and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He was a college-level baseball player and writer, but is best remembered as the father of professional golfer Tiger Woods...
(the father of golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
great Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Formerly the World No...
). An indicator of the controversial nature of this position is reflected in an article published in The Tulsa World
Tulsa World
Tulsa World is the daily newspaper for the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma, and is the second-most widely circulated newspaper in the state, after The Oklahoman. It was founded in 1905 and remains an independent newspaper,...
about an incident that occurred in the early 1950s during a baseball game:
Men's Basketball
Finally, in the winter of 1951–1952, Kansas State's Gene Wilson broke the conference color barrier in basketball, along with LaVannes Squires at the University of KansasUniversity of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
.
Conference membership history
- ????–1912: Kansas Intercollegiate Athletic AssociationKansas Collegiate Athletic ConferenceThe Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference is an intercollegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NAIA. It is commonly called "The Kansas Conference", and as the name implies, all members are located in Kansas...
- 1913–1927: Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- 1928–1947: Big 6 Conference
- 1948–1957: Big 7 Conference
- 1958–1995: Big 8 Conference
- 1996–Present: Big 12 ConferenceBig 12 ConferenceThe Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference of ten schools located in the Central United States, with its headquarters located in Las Colinas, a community in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Irving...