Kansas State has managed to avoid a sure loss this season by dumping Fresno State and replacing it with Montana State from a lower division. According to the Fresno Bee, KSU paid $250,000 to weasel out of the game after Fresno beat the Wildcats in 2004 and 2007. These facts were reported in the Kansas City Star's print edition, but dropped from the on-line edition (below). 04-02-2008
K-State adds Montana State, drops Fresno State for football By HOWARD RICHMAN, The Kansas City Star Kansas State will play Montana State in a football game Sept. 6, the school announced Tuesday. The Wildcats dropped Fresno State from the schedule and replaced the Bulldogs with Montana State. The game will be played at a time yet to be determined at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan. Montana State, a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) program located in Bozeman, finished 6-5 in 2007. Texas A&M beat Montana State 38-7. The Bobcats, though, have gotten the best of a Big 12 opponent in recent years. They beat Colorado 19-10 in 2006 at Boulder. K-State opens 2008 at home Aug. 30 against North Texas.
Feedback (4-02-2008): "I am just assuming that you hold some KU allegiances, so I understand your evident hatred for Kansas State, but how can you maintain any journalistic credibility when you question K-State's schedule after what your fighting Manginos did last year?
"Kansas State will play Auburn, Louisville, UCLA, Miami (FL), and Oregon in the next few seasons. Those are all scheduled since Prince took over. KU played in the Orange Bowl last year by playing arguably the easiest schedule in BCS history."
"I am not trying to make excuses, but it has been widely reported that Fresno plays as dirty (off the field) as any team to ever visit Manhattan. When they came here, they left the locker rooms in shambles and actually did several thousand dollars of damage to their hotel (Holiday Inn). When we went there, they supplied no hot water to the visiting locker room, and our medical training room was broken into with our equipment being stolen.
Again, not saying that getting out of the game is excusable, but they are not exactly a class act up there in Fresno. There are some extenuating circumstances outside of "Prince is afraid of another loss".
On a separate note, I am a loyal reader of your site, and enjoy your thoughts on most issues (outside of your agenda against all things purple)."
Ron Prince trying to schedule an easy victory.
Summary: KSU's head football coach Ron Prince used to brag about the Wildcats' tough schedule and playing quality non-conference opponents like Auburn. It looks as if he is now trying to line up cream puffs like Benedictine to pad his record, and is willing to have KSU pay $500,000 to do it. The Wichita Eagle scooped the KC Star (below) by nine days on the story. 03-19-2008 K-State looking to drop Fresno BY JEFFREY MARTIN The Wichita Eagle If all goes as coach Ron Prince plans, Fresno State will be dropped from the Sept. 6 slot on Kansas State's 2008 home football schedule, replaced by a Football Championship Subdivision team to be determined. K-State senior associate athletic director Jim Epps, who is handling the athletic department's day-to-day operations after Tim Weiser announced his resignation Feb. 21, said today that discussions between K-State and Fresno State began about three weeks ago. "Ron brought the issue up about seeing if we could divest Fresno and find a (FCS) opponent," Epps said. "So I got a hold of (Fresno State athletic director) Thomas Boeh and said, 'I know it's late, but we want to work with you. We want to see if we can find another opponent.' " According to Epps, deals for home games with Idaho State and Nicholls State fell through. Epps is currently in negotiations with a third FCS (formerly I-AA) school. Epps said his counterpart at that school said he'd know this week if they were able to drop an opponent to "pick up a money game," setting the odds at 50-50. It's going to cost K-State a good amount if the Wildcats are able to break their contract with Fresno State. In a March 13 report in the Fresno Bee, Boeh said the fee would be $500,000. But Epps said Tuesday that if both parties were able to arrange suitable replacements, the amount could be negotiated. "But if Boeh says, 'Keep your money -- we can't find an opponent,' then we're playing," said Epps, who hasn't spoken to Boeh since last week."... This thing has a pulse beat, but it's faint." Right now, the Bulldogs aren't having much luck. "Kansas State expressed interest in not playing," Boeh told the Bee. "Right now, we're exploring options, but it's very late in the process to find schools (with matching openings and the willingness to play Fresno). "We're not going to put ourselves in a disadvantage." The Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 45-29 in November in Fresno, the second meeting of a three-game deal signed in 2004. Back then, there was speculation K-State would try to back out of the deal. Asked Tuesday about the timeline, Epps said, "The week before we played Fresno, there was a casual conversation between Ron and Tim about getting out of the game. Tim said he was going out to Fresno, and he's said he'd broach the subject (with Boeh). "The following week, the Monday or Tuesday after the game, Tim said we weren't going to do that." On Dec. 17, Epps more or less confirmed those comments to The Eagle: "We asked Ron, 'Do you want to consider an alternate opponent?' He said forget it. So, the schedule is set." Prince could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Epps was asked Tuesday why K-State might want to drop Fresno. "I'd say the obvious -- to moderate the schedule. Fresno isn't chopped liver." But why now? "That's the $64 question," he said.
