Kansas State Wildcats Odds to win the College Football National Championship with Expert Betting Predictions

On the surface, Bill Snyder pulled off some magic in his 25th year at the helm of the Wildcats. He finished 9-4 despite a challenging start and far from the most talented team out there. That sounds impressive. The problem, though, is that they lost to the four best teams they played - Stanford, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. So, they won the games they couldn't afford to lose - including their last four - but they ultimately weren't a great team. Really, that is much of the Snyder era in a nutshell. He is masterful at getting as much as he can out of what he has, and he is every bit of the legend people think he is, but being at Kansas State means almost never having enough of the talent and depth you need to be a real contender.

2016 in a Nutshell

We've covered much of this already. The first half of the season was pretty ugly. They lost their opener against at Stanford. Then they beat up on two weaklings before losing at West Virginia. Then they beat Texas Tech at home before losing at Oklahoma and dropping to 3-3. The backend of the season was better - they lost only to Oklahoma State and beat Texas A&M in their bowl game - but by then the damage had been done.

Key Additions and Departures

The offense improved as the season went along, and the key pieces are back - QB, two running backs and the top receiver - are all back for more. Receiver Carlos Strickland II joins the team as a transfer from Cal, and he is a former four-star that could be a big addition. Four key linemen are back, too, and they have some decent depth. They are in decent shape offensively.

The two best players on what was a fairly average defense last year were linebacker Elijah Lee and and end Jordan Willis. As you can probably guess, the problem is that both have moved on - Willis to the Bengals and Lee to the Vikings. They were the only two drafted players from the team last year. Snyder has never been afraid of mining the JUCO ranks, though, and he again has a good dose of experienced players to hopefully fill the gap. The team doesn't play shut-down defense by any means - they bend often and hope not to break too much. Given that, they stand a reasonable chance of replicating what they had last year.

The recruiting class was outside of the Top 50. They added 23 new players, and not a single one was a four- or five-star. It will take patience and luck for these guys to become big contributors - though the junior college guys have the edge as we mentioned earlier because of age and experience.

Kansas State Wildcats Schedule Analysis

The schedule is much easier out of the gate this year than it was last year, and they have a good look at 3-0. Then they go through a month of total hell - Baylor, at Texas, TCU, Oklahoma. More than one win from that group would be remarkable. Then come three easier games before a tough one at Oklahoma State. They close with a manageable one against Iowa State but by then it could be too tough. They will almost certainly make it to seven wins, but more than eight wins is a whole lot to ask. It's a decent schedule but far from an ideal one.

2017-18 Kansas State Wildcats Betting Odds and Trends

The Wildcats are at +6600 to win the national title at BetOnline , which puts them behind 20 other teams. At this level I don't even bother evaluating the price - there is no possible way this team is going to win it, so I wouldn't bet them at +500 or +5,000,000. They are the fourth choice to win the Big 12 at +800. I don't see that happening, either, so there is no value there.

This was not a good team to bet on last year. They were a dismal 6-7 ATS and went "over" the total seven times and "under" six times. No long-term profits there no matter how you slice it.

2017-18 Kansas State Wildcats Predictions and College Football Picks

The offense will be solid. The defense will be unremarkable. And they will win eight games give or take. Given his offseason cancer scare, this could easily be the last year for Bill Snyder, so I will be cheering for him to go out on a high note. However, I sadly just don't see it happening. This is not a particularly relevant team and certainly not one worth betting on in futures markets.

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