How to Watch: Big 12 Championship, #10 K-State vs. #3 TCU

Dec 3, 2022 - 4:57 PM

The date was November 8, 2014.

Kansas State, 7-1 and ranked seventh with their only loss being the mistake-ridden collapse at home against fifth-ranked Auburn, faced 7-1 and sixth-ranked TCU, whose only loss was to Baylor, also 7-1. All three Big 12 teams were still solidly in playoff contention; indeed, the Big 12’s ultimate exclusion would be a massive controversy in the College Football Playoff’s opening season.

The Frogs prevailed on that day with a 41-20 win. On December 3, 2014, TCU was ranked third. K-State was ranked 9th.

It’s now December 3, 2022, and TCU is again ranked third while K-State is ranked ninth in that poll we don’t acknowledge, 10th in the playoff rankings.

The Wildcats are going to have to hope for a different result this time.

The Game

The 10th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats (9-3, 7-2 Big 12) face the TCU Horned Frogs (12-0, 9-0) in the 2022 Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship.

After TCU’s 38-28 come-from-behind win back in October, the series between the two schools is now deadlocked at eight wins a piece, with K-State holding a 6-5 edge during the Big 12 era.

Chris Klieman is 3-1 against the Frogs, while first-year TCU head coach Sonny Dykes is obviously 1-0 against K-State.

Obviously, as the conference championship game, it’s big for both teams. But there are also pragmatic factors aside from being able to claim league supremacy. For TCU, the stakes are immense; a win would solidify their place in the playoff field, while a loss would send them tumbling to the Cotton Bowl — or worse, the Alamo, setting off a chain reaction which pushes every other non-purple Big 12 school down the ladder. For the Wildcats, this game means nothing other than the opportunity to hoist a trophy as they should be headed to the Sugar Bowl regardless of the outcome whether it be as Big 12 Champion or runner-up.

Kickoff

Saturday, December 3, 11:00am CT at AT&T Stadium (80,000) in Arlington, Texas.

K-State has visited Arlington on one other occasion, but not for a Big 12 title game. It was last September, when the Cats opened the season by breezing past Stanford 24-7.

Tickets

SeatGeek is the official sales outlet for initial purchase seats, and has those available for prices ranging from $65-$220. You can save a few bucks on the secondary market, but not much if budget’s your strictest concern; most tickets there are at least $60, but some of those $220 seats are going for $150 or so if you’re of a mind to save money on an upgrade.

Weather

At kickoff, it should be partly cloudy and 50°, with temperatures rising into the mid-50s by game’s end.

Odds

TCU opened as a 2.5-point favorite per DraftKings , but the money’s been coming in on the Cats and the K-State line has closed to +1.5. The over is at 61.5, indicating a 31-30 TCU victory. The money line is -125 for the Frogs, +100 for the Cats.

In other words, this is expected to be a battle.

Television

ABC, with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and every Wildcat’s favorite sideline reporter Holly Rowe. In addition, College Gameday will air from Arlington leading up to kickoff, with Rece Davis, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, David Pollack, and Pat McAfee joining Herbstreit. For those in town, the Gameday crew will be set up in Lot C of the Stadium, on the northwest side.

Radio

As always, Wyatt Thompson, Stan Weber, and Matt Walters will be on hand on the K-State Sports Network, although their availability in outlying areas of the network might be overriden by ESPN Radio’s rights; the ESPN Radio call will be courtesy of Mike Couzens and Max Starks. The game will be available via satellite on SiriusXM 80 or 81, both on tuner and on the app. We’re unsure which announcers will be on which channel at this time.

Internet Streaming

The game will stream on the ESPN platform. K-State radio’s audio feed is available via kstatesports.com. Live stats provided by StatsBroadcast, with the usual caveat about possibly being only available to the media.

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