By Richard Shank
Shank’s Scoop
Lights will be on early this Saturday, Oct. 17, in anticipation of a two-hour trip to Manhattan for the Sunflower Showdown, an annual event to watch the University of Kansas and Kansas State University tangle on the gridiron. The rivalry is the fifth-longest continuous series in college football.
The first Kansas and Kansas State football game was played in 1902, but at first it was not an annual event. Eight years later, in 1911, the two schools signed on the dotted line stating the game will be held annually, and the location of the games will alternate between Lawrence and Manhattan, two towns barely 85 miles apart.
Kansas holds a 64-54 edge with five ties. Since the arrival of Coach Bill Snyder at Kansas State in 1989, the Wildcats have a 30-6 winning edge over KU.
The 2025 contest played in Lawrence provided a pregame prediction stating KU just might top the Wildcats, who had won the 15 previous contests. At game’s end, though, K-State left Lawrence following a 42-25 drubbing of the Jayhawks.
From what I am told, the Kansas State and Kansas University rivalry saw its origin even before the game of football was invented in 1869. Kansas State, the nation’s first land-grant college, opened its doors in 1863, and three years later, in Lawrence, the University of Kansas was born. It is written that both schools competed to become “Kansas’ official college.” I am not certain who won out on that one, but the past 160 years have shown both institutions have much to be proud of.
The most lopsided game in the history of the rivalry was in 2002 when K-State upended the Jayhawks by a score of 64-0.
The 1995 contest was a little historic in that both teams were ranked in the top 25, a first in the history of the rivalry. Kansas was ranked sixth and Kansas State was picked 14th entering the game.
Both teams were as fired up as could be and were hoping for a big victory as they entered what is now Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Oct. 28, 1995. Bad luck plagued the Jayhawks almost from the start when they fumbled a punt early in the game, leading to asafety. Soon thereafter, Kansas State blocked a KU punt deep in Kansas territory. Kansas State walked off the field that day with a 41-7 lopsided victory.
Perhaps one should not rehash the bad times in the history of both programs, but at least one story is so hilarious it is worth repeating.
It is safe to say 1987 was not a watershed year for either program, which produced a story talked about by sports pundits from across the nation. As the Nov. 7, 1987, game approached, sportscasters couldn’t find enough nicknames to call the contest. So, several dubbed the game “The Toilet Bowl.” Another sportswriter added a little more humor to the game by calling it “Futility Bowl.”
Kansas entered the game with a 1-7 record while the home team Wildcats were sitting at 0-8 for a combined record of 1-15. The only win by either team was an early-season KU victory over Southern Illinois.
On the Friday leading up to the game, a national sportscaster said the two teams were so bad they would probably play to a tie. And they did just that with a 17-17 score.
As this season approaches its midpoint, it remains to be seen how this year’s teams will finish. K-State has a new coach, and KU has a new stadium to play its games in.
Entering the stadium from the west and walking past the statue of Coach Bill Snyder, we can thank him for the part he played in flipping Kansas State’s fortunes from one of the worst collegiate football programs in the history of the game to one of the 20 best.
I will always remember attending a Notre Dame football game approximately 25 years ago. That day, I had occasion to visit with a fan from upstate New York. He asked if I was a Notre Dame grad, and I responded my sheepskin was from Kansas State and thought he might ask, “where is that school located?” So, it was a little surprising when the fan responded quickly and said, “You have the best football coach in America at Kansas State.”
It was refreshing to hear those words from a man living in New York.
On Oct. 7, Coach Snyder had a birthday, his 87th. He remains a fixture in Manhattan and is a regular at football games and basketball, too.
Coach Snyder must be very pleased that his star quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Collin Klein is leading K-State’s football fortunes as head coach.
Coach Snyder, may you have many more happy birthdays.
And I hope to see you all Saturday at the KU-K-State football game.
Richard Shank is a retired AT&T manager and external representative for Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. He can be reached at shankr@prodigy.net or by calling 620-664-1517.