ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — While TCU went to the national championship game last season, Kansas State is the defending Big 12 champion.
“A big win that probably gave us a little bit of cache as far as what we’re doing is the right way, and our kids believe that what we are doing is the right way," coach Chris Klieman said Thursday during Big 12 media days at AT&T Stadium, where seven months earlier the Wildcats beat TCU in the Big 12 title game.
TCU had the Big 12's first undefeated regular season since 2009 before that overtime loss to the Wildcats. The Horned Frogs still got in the four-time College Football Playoff, beating Michigan in the semifinal game before losing to Georgia.
Kansas State is going into its fifth season under Klieman after his championship-filled time at FCS power North Dakota State.
“It’s a new year, and we’ve been talking about that since we got back in mid-January, that you need to stay humble. You need to eat crumbs. You need to stay hungry,” Klieman said. “What you did yesterday is great, but it pales in comparison to what you can do today.”