The Kansas State Wildcats are one of four Big 12 teams with a number next to their name Tuesday night during the initial College Football Playoff rankings reveal on ESPN.

They were joined by No. 20 Colorado, No. 17 Iowa State, and No. 9 BYU.

Under coach Chris Klieman, the Wildcats sit on the outside looking into the newly expanded top-12 at No. 19. Kansas State is vying for not only a postseason berth but also the opportunity to compete for a conference championship next month.

The Wildcats had a four-game winning streak snapped last Saturday in upset fashion to the Houston Cougars, 24-19. Early in the fourth quarter, the game began to slip away despite holding onto a 19-10 lead.

A critical interception from quarterback Avery Johnson deep in Wildcats territory was the beginning of an eventual collapse. Kansas State went scoreless for the remainder of the game, entering the bye week with no room for error moving forward.

Kansas State travels to Arizona State a week from Saturday, continuing a common trend of consistent night games for the Wildcats this season. It returns to Manhattan to play Cincinnati in the final home game of the regular-season Nov. 23rd before traveling to Iowa State in a potential win-and-in game Thanksgiving weekend.

Despite the loss to the Cougars, the Wildcats remain in the thick of the conference championship chase. They hold head-to-head tiebreakers against Colorado, West Virginia and Kansas, but find themselves looking up at unbeaten BYU. Both teams played each other Sept. 28, which saw the Cougars win in a rout, 38-9.

Kansas State fell five spots to No. 22 in the latest AP Poll.

Zain Bando is a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at zainbando99@gmail.com and on Instagram/’X’ @zainbando99.

Follow our coverage and updates on Facebook

X: @KStateOnSI

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – More active weather is coming into the Plains with widespread rain and some snow that impacts northwest Kansas Wednesday and Thursday. Travel into Colorado could be impacted by several inches of snow, so plan accordingly if headed that way through Friday morning.

Meanwhile for Kansas, much of the day on Wednesday is dry with highs in the 50s.

A slow-moving system arriving for Thursday and Friday will spread rain throughout the central Plains, and it will be locally heavy considering how much humidity will be in place. Amounts of 1-2 inches look likely throughout central and western Kansas, with slightly lower amounts east of I-135. Heaviest rain should come Thursday to Friday afternoon, and then start winding down into the night.

Drier weather is set to return on Saturday as the big system lifts away from Kansas. Travel weather will be much better (regionally) throughout the upcoming weekend.

Wichita Area Forecast:

Tonight: Mostly clear. Wind: W/SE 5-10. Low: 40.

Tomorrow: Mostly sunny. Wind: SE 5-15. High: 60.

Tomorrow Night: Becoming mostly cloudy. Wind: E/NE 5-15. Low: 43.

Thu: High: 56 Mostly cloudy; overnight showers and storms.

Fri: High: 52 Low: 46 Rain likely.

Sat: High: 56 Low: 47 Becoming mostly cloudy; breezy.

Sun: High: 65 Low: 39 Mostly sunny.

Mon: High: 63 Low: 42 Mostly sunny.

Tue: High: 67 Low: 46 Partly cloudy; breezy.

Copyright 2024 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com

Taylor Swift’s fans have decoded a message that she shared with fellow attendees after she watched her boyfriend Travis Kelce’s NFL team secure a win on Monday.

The pop star has been seen cheering on Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kelce and his teammates at a number of games, since they went public with their romance in September 2023. Earlier this year, Swift was on hand as the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.

For his part, Kelce has also been seen among the crowd at several stops on Swift’s record-breaking Eras Tour, which took her around the world for more than 18 months and saw her wrap the U.S. leg on November 3 in Indianapolis.

One day after she performed at her last U.S. Eras show, Swift was on hand to support Kelce as his team secured 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In video footage shared on X, Swift was seen waving and blowing kisses to game attendees, who turned around to greet her in her private suite at Missouri’s Arrowhead Stadium.

At one point, Swift was seen dramatically mouthing a statement to fans as she walked in the VIP suite.

A Swift fan account suggested that the singer was expressing feeling the pressure, on behalf of her partner. Decoding her statement, a caption from the account read: “Taylor after the game, ‘Stressful!’”

At the Week 9 matchup, Swift was joined by her brother, Austin Swift, and her mother, Andrea Swift, who was photographed wearing a black jacket emblazoned with the words, “In my Chiefs Era”.

Taylor Swift sported a vintage Chiefs jacket, which she teamed with black denim shorts and a pair of knee-high boots.

Kelce’s family members were also in attendance, including his mother, Donna Kelce, and his brother, Jason Kelce, who was accompanied by his wife, Kylie Kelce.

Brittany Mahomes, who is married to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, was also seen in the VIP suite.

Kelce has supported Taylor Swift at her shows. A video of the athlete leaving his girlfriend’s second Indianapolis show, while being followed by a camera crew recently went viral, strengthening theories that the pop star is filming a documentary about her tour.

This isn’t the only clip of Kelce supporting his girlfriend that has gone viral. A video on TikTok showed the tight end smiling and dancing to “So High School” alongside Taylor Swift’s mom.

Meanwhile, Taylor Swift’s support of her partner last season brought a flood of media attention—much to the exasperation of some football fans.

“I’m just there to support Travis,” the singer told Time in late 2023. “I have no awareness of if I’m being shown too much and p****** off a few dads, Brads, and Chads.”

Addressing the cameras often panning her way, Swift said: “I don’t know how they know what suite I’m in. There’s a camera, like, a half-mile away, and you don’t know where it is, and you have no idea when [the] camera is putting you in the broadcast, so I don’t know if I’m being shown 17 times or once.”

“Football is awesome, it turns out,” Swift added. “I’ve been missing out my whole life.”