Welcome back Wildcat fans. It’s strange to have two bye weeks in one season, but with the new structure of the Big 12 Conference, Kansas State has managed to have two this season.

Tonight the Cats are back in action against new conference foe Arizona State. The series between the Wildcats and Sun Devils dates back to 1964, but this will be the first time the two face off in Manhattan, Kansas.

The last time these two teams played, K-State ended a five-game losing streak with a big win in the 2002 Holiday Bowl, which would become a springboard for the Cats to the 2003 season and K-State’s first Big 12 championship season. A win today for K-State would accomplish something similar, keeping the Cats at least in the conversation for the Big 12 Championship game later this season.

But it won’t be easy because Arizona State is actually good this year and, like K-State, is led by a great running back. Playing at home certainly helps, and hopefully the Cats have gotten healthy this past week, but the cracks that showed in the loss to Houston are something to worry about. Expect Arizona State to try to exploit the same deficiencies as the Cougars.

K-State needs to win this game to stay in the Big 12 hunt (and a possible CFP berth). A loss isn’t catastrophic, but would all but relegate the Cats to just a mid-tier bowl game.

We have a 6:00 PM CT kickoff for tonight’s game from Bill Snyder Family Stadium, and you can catch the action on ESPN (or online at WatchESPN.com) with Dave Flemming (Play-by-Play), Brock Osweiler (analyst ), and Stormy Buonantony (sideline) on the phone.

If you don’t have ESPN or can’t access the stream, the game can be heard on the 28-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analyst), and Matt Walters (sideline) call the action. The game will also be available on SiriusXM Satellite Radio Ch. 106 or 199, and available online at K-Statesports.com. Live stats will also be available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateFB) will also be part of the coverage.

Go cats!