It’s been a good run for Kansas City college football fans. For the second year in a row, Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State will all be playing in a bowl game. Before last season, the last time all three area schools went “bowling” was in 2003.
The Missouri Tigers landed the most coveted bowl invitation of the trio: the Cotton Bowl Classic. They’ll be one of the “New Year’s Six” teams playing on Dec. 29 and 30, putting them one level below the four teams chosen for the College Football Playoff, on Jan. 1 and 8.
Among the New Year’s Six, the unbeaten Florida State Seminoles, at 13-0, are the most notable — they were left out of the CFP while Alabama and Texas, both 12-1, will compete for the national championship.
With the 43-game bowl schedule well underway, there’s plenty on the holiday menu. Last year, all three area teams lost their holiday matchups. They’ll be looking to change that this year.
Here’s a breakdown of the three bowl games for the Jayhawks, Wildcats and Tigers.
Kansas at UNLV, Guaranteed Rate Bowl
- Where: Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona
- When: Tuesday, Dec. 26 at 8 p.m. Central time
- Watch: ESPN, ESPN+ and the ESPN app
Coach Lance Leipold’s ascending Kansas Jayhawks, 8-4, will meet UNLV, 9-4, from the Mountain West Conference. The Rebels are coached by Barry Odom, who’s familiar to fans in this area for playing and coaching at Mizzou.
Odom is in his first season as the Rebels’ head coach after working as an assistant at Arkansas the previous three years. He was Mizzou’s head coach from 2016 to 2019 before being fired.
How the Jayhawks got here
KU got off to a 4-0 start for the second straight season under Leipold, capped by spoiling BYU’s Big 12 debut with a 38-27 win. But KU’s early-season success came to a crashing halt with a 40-14 loss at Texas. The Longhorns went on to win the Big 12 championship and advanced to play unbeaten Washington in a CFP semifinal at the Sugar Bowl (Jan. 1, 7:45 p.m. Central time, ESPN and ESPN app).
The Jayhawks’ biggest win of the year was against No. 6 Oklahoma, 38-33. It was their first win against a top-10 team in Lawrence since 1984, and gave KU bowl-eligibility in back-to-back seasons for the second time in program history (the first was in 2007 and 2008).
Who to keep an eye on
Whoever plays quarterback for KU. Senior Jason Bean was projected at the outset of the season to back up returning starter Jalon Daniels, but Bean took most of the snaps this season after Daniels got injured.
And KU fans got a look at the future when Cole Ballard, the son of former Chiefs executive Chris Ballard, made his first start against K-State. The Wildcats won, 31-27, but the Jayhawks enjoyed a 20-16 halftime lead with Ballard filling in.
Bean started the regular-season finale at Cincinnati, but Ballard’s abilities as a true freshman have whetted KU fans’ appetite for what’s to come — perhaps even in this season’s bowl game.
Kansas State vs. North Carolina State, Pop-Tarts Bowl
- Where: Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida
- When: Thursday, Dec. 28 at 4:45 p.m. Central time
- Watch: ESPN, ESPN+ and the ESPN app
The Kansas State Wildcats, 8-4, will take on North Carolina State, 9-3, in what was formerly known as the Tangerine Bowl. It will be the first football game ever between the two schools, and the Wildcats’ first trip to Florida for a bowl game.
The Wolfpack’s Dave Doeren, who grew up in Shawnee, Kansas, is in his 11th year as head coach. Doeren’s first job as a football coach was as an assistant at Shawnee Mission Northwest High School. He was also a KU assistant coach from 2002 to 2005.
Doeren has swirled in controversy since postgame comments to his team were picked up on camera by the ACC Network. After beating cross-state rival North Carolina, Doeren used derogatory language to describe the Tar Heels, according to ESPN.com.
How the Wildcats got here
The Wildcats were 3-1 after their crushing loss at Missouri on Sept. 16. They also suffered a gut-wrenching Nov. 4 defeat at Texas in overtime, 33-30. Prior to that, K-State had beaten TCU and Houston in back-to-back weeks by a combined score of 82-3.
They also continue to hold the upper hand against KU, notching their 15th straight win over the Jayhawks.
Who to keep an eye on
Another emerging freshman at quarterback, Avery Johnson of Maize, Kansas, was so impressive in his seven games that incumbent quarterback Will Howard has announced he’ll enter the transfer portal and play his final year elsewhere.
At Texas Tech on Oct. 14, Johnson rushed for five touchdowns, the most by a freshman in KSU history.
Missouri at Ohio State, Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
- Where: AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas
- When: Friday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. Central time
- Watch: ESPN, ESPN+ and the ESPN app
The ninth-ranked Tigers, 10-2, will challenge the seventh-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes,11-1. It’s the first time the two schools will meet in a bowl game. OSU’s only loss this season was against its arch-rival, Michigan, the top-seeded team in the CFP.
Mizzou and OSU’s last regular-season encounter was in 1998, a 35-14 victory for the Buckeyes in Columbus. Mizzou’s only win against OSU in 12 meetings was a 22-21 win in 1976, though a game in 1946 ended in a 13-13 tie.
How the Tigers got here
The Tigers were catapulted by a game-ending 61-yard field goal by Indiana native Harrison Mevis against then-No. 15 K-State in the third game of the season, and they seized the momentum for a 5-0 start on the year. Mevis’ kick was the longest in SEC history and one yard away from tying the school record, held by bare-footed kicker Tom Whelihan in 1986.
The Tigers suffered their first loss of the season against LSU, surrendering a season-high 49 points. Mizzou’s only other loss was on the road against Georgia, who will take on the unbeaten Seminoles in the Orange Bowl (Dec. 30, 3 p.m. Central time, ESPN).
Who to keep an eye on
Cody Schrader could be the biggest Schrader out of the St. Louis sports scene since former NASCAR driver Ken Schrader. The Tigers’ running back is in his second year, after transferring from Truman State in Kirksville, Missouri, and earned a spot on the team as a walk-on. For that reason, Schrader earned this year’s Burlsworth Trophy, awarded to the best college football player in the nation to start their career without an athletic scholarship.
Mizzou fans got a hint of his abilities last year, when Schrader had a team-leading 746 yards rushing. This year, the 5-foot-9 graduate student more than doubled that with 1,525 yards.
