The first game of the 2025 college football season intrigues me.
First and foremost, we need to go ahead and note that this game is between two Big 12 teams, which could be part of a fascinating case study on the sort of innovative marketing pushes from the Big 12. On top of that, this matchup features the most recent runner up in the Big 12 championship game and that team that made it there isn’t favored in this game here.
And then there’s the element of how the Texas Tech Red Raiders will be facing off against the Kansas State Wildcats later this year as part of the slate of games that will challenge the Red Raiders in some pretty notable ways.
So, yeah, this game is worth keeping an eye on. Also, it’s worth noting that Kansas State is currently notable favored against Iowa State according to the ESPN Analytics Matchup Predictor.
ESPN Analytics Matchup Predictor has the Kansas State Wildcats with a great shot at beating the Iowa State Cyclones
According to that mathematical and magical thing that is happening right now with the ESPN Football Power Index, the Wildcats have a 62.3 percent chance of being able to come out on top of this game. While that isn’t an overwhelming sort of percentage of winning for Kansas State, it’s still a pretty impressive number for Kansas State.
There’s generally an expectation that both of these teams could be pretty good. There’s an expectation that both of these teams could be competing for a Big 12 championship this season. And with all of that considered, having Kansas State sitting at a 62.3 percent chance of beating Iowa State?
I mean, that’s just pretty impressive. And I would imagine Kansas State winning would be pretty interesting. It’d also be the first sort of win that a team would need to not just make the playoffs, but also to showcase that they could competitive while there.