December has become an ugly month for college football.
Players are leaving teams all over the country, but the transfer portal isn’t currently open. That means there is no good news for anyone to share. Every transfer is outgoing. Each announcement is doom followed by gloom. It will stay that way until teams start adding new talent next month.
Coaches are switching schools and everyone is complaining about tampering. Players (and some teams) are opting out of bowl games.
The College Football Playoff even has critics, because only two of the first-round games are projected to be competitive.
Many are eager to voice their frustrations. But no one seems to have a solution to the chaos.
That’s too bad, because this gap between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs is an annoying stretch of time you won’t find in the NFL.
But I digress …
Let’s dive into your questions about the Kansas State Wildcats. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Which two remaining K-State football players should Collin Klein push the hardest to stay instead of transfer? -@garrettb1983 via X.
Avery Johnson and Austin Romaine.
Klein was the assistant coach who originally recruited Johnson to K-State. It would be fun to see him play for Klein as a senior quarterback.
Romaine is an excellent linebacker. He could bring talent and leadership to the defense next season.
But if I can be brutally honest for a moment, there isn’t anyone on the current K-State football roster who is irreplaceable. The Wildcats are coming off a 6-6 season in which they produced just one first team all-conference player — offensive lineman Sam Hecht. And he is an outgoing senior.
They were a mediocre team with average talent.
Fans shouldn’t want Klein to try and run it back with this roster. They should want him to bring in impact transfers of his own.
There are certainly some players that K-State would rather see stay than go. No one is happy about losing Jayce Brown and Qua Moss. But neither of those is a crushing loss. The other outgoing transfers barely move the needle.
I see no reason for anyone to panic about K-State’s current list of transfers. Every available roster spot gives Klein an extra opportunity to recruit better talent out of the transfer portal.
That is what the Wildcats need to compete for future Big 12 championships.
Why do folks get uptight about players moving on? -@jamesglessner92 via X.
It’s simply hard for most fans to come to grips with the transfer portal.
In the old days, we didn’t see many transfers. And when transfers did happen, most of them were understandable, like a backup quarterback seeking extra playing time elsewhere after spending two or three years on one roster. However, there were a few occasions when starters decided to transfer, and that was often a sign that something was amiss with the team they were leaving behind.
Fair or not, that is the conclusion some fans still jump to when they see more than a dozen players transfer away from K-State in the same cycle. But it’s not a mass exodus of players. Every team, good and bad, is going to lose transfers this month.
That’s a fact of life in the current era of college football, even though some haven’t come to grips with that yet.
Why did Jayce Brown decide to transfer? And will his departure influence Avery Johnson? – Jeff M. via e-mail.
I don’t have a specific reason for you.
But he strongly considered a transfer last season, so it’s not a huge surprise that he pulled the trigger now that his head coach and position coach are no longer at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It will be interesting to see where he ends up. Veteran players like Brown, who have put up good numbers in a power conference, can fetch a hefty price tag in the transfer portal. For his sake, it would be fun to see him play for a Florida-based team. It’s also possible he will explore his options in the NFL Draft.
On Avery Johnson, it’s silly to think that K-State losing its top wide receiver will have no influence on him. He is friends with Brown and they share a strong connection on the field. But there are going to be plenty of talented pass-catchers in the transfer portal.
Klein can make Johnson happy by signing some of them.
Any confirmation from K-State on Jordan Peterson and timing? -@ScumRepub via X.
Nothing has really changed on that front.
Texas A&M assistant coach Jordan Peterson is expected to follow Klein to K-State and serve as defensive coordinator next season. When the Wildcats choose to announce that he has been hired will depend on how many games the Aggies win the College Football Playoff.
If they lose to Miami on Saturday, I’m guessing he will be in Manhattan sooner rather than later. If Texas A&M advances on the bracket, both sides will need to figure out a plan for him.
Christian Ellsworth is also expected to make the jump from Texas A&M to K-State.
Klein was asked about that transition earlier this week, and he said that stuff would naturally work itself out in the near future.
The Big 12 is reportedly in advanced talks for a capital deal with RedBird Capital and Weatherford Capital (via Collegiate Athletic Solutions) for up to $500 million in capital, structured as an opt-in credit line for member schools (around $30M each). What is K States position on this? -@bfullingt1 via X.
As long as the conference isn’t selling off equity to investors like a transaction on “Shark Tank,” I think K-State is fine with an infusion of cash that it can pay back over time.
How much has David Castillo improved since his freshman year? – Butch J. via e-mail.
The sophomore guard has moved mountains with his play this season.
I am beginning to wonder if he is Kansas State’s best player.
Last season, Castillo averaged 2.4 points, 0.8 assists and 0.6 rebounds per game. It was hard for Jerome Tang to justify playing him. Now, he is averaging 13.5 points, 2.3 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game. I was shocked Tang only played him 23 minutes against Creighton.
How much did Kansas State’s basketball win at Creighton help its chances of making a run to the NCAA Tournament? – Andrew B. via e-mail.
College basketball statistician Bart Torvik is giving K-State a 7.9% chance of reaching March Madness at the moment. He currently ranks the Wildcats as the 31st team out of the field.
That is an improvement from where the Wildcats were last week.
Unfortunately, Creighton isn’t very good at basketball this season. The Bluejays are 6-5 with blowout losses to Gonzaga, Iowa State and Nebraska. No one should have to apologize for beating a Big East team on the road. But it wasn’t exactly a signature win for K-State.
Creighton did hammer Xavier 98-57 on Wednesday, though. K-State can hope its win at Creighton will improve with age.
In any case, most computer models are projecting the Wildcats to win 15 games this season. That simply isn’t enough to put them on the bubble.
I think they need 20 wins to make it into March Madness, which means they will need to exceed expectations by around five wins the rest of the way.
K-State is capable of pulling off a few upsets. When the Wildcats are hot from the 3-point line, they can compete with just about anybody. Problem is, they can lose badly to a team like Bowling Green when the shots aren’t falling.
The Wildcats rank 211th nationally in consistency at Haslametrics. That stat perfectly describes this team. They are volatile enough to beat NCAA Tournament teams but also lose to weak opponents. Maybe they can find consistency as the season marches on. They will need to in order to make a push for March Madness.
Is Jerome Tang on the hot seat? Will they fire him if they miss the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year? -@chris_harrison1 via X.
There will be considerable fan unrest if K-State falls short of the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season.
Bruce Weber was shown the door after he missed the postseason that many times in a row.
Many will want the same fate for Tang if he doesn’t get things turned around soon.
But it didn’t cost K-State much money to bid farewell to Weber. It will cost the Wildcats a whopping $18.7 million to get rid of Tang before April 30, 2026. That could be a big enough deterrent to keep him off the hot seat.
My Christmas recommendations
Movies: Christmas Vacation, Jingle All the Way, The Night Before, Dear Santa and Die Hard.
Songs: Feliz Navidad, Christmas in Hollis, Last Christmas (Jimmy Eat World version), Lit this Year, and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (Reel Big Fish version).
Drink: Celebration IPA from Sierra Nevada or egg nog with a splash of bourbon.
Food: Fried turkey. Who says it’s only for Thanksgiving?
This story was originally published December 19, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
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Kellis Robinett
The Wichita Eagle
Kellis Robinett covers Kansas State athletics for The Wichita Eagle and The Kansas City Star. A winner of more than a dozen national writing awards, he lives in Manhattan with his wife and four children.
