MANHATTAN, Kan. – Thanks to the backing of 18 returning starters, Kansas State was ranked 19th in the nation in the Preseason Amway Coaches Poll released on Thursday.

It was the first time the Wildcats were ranked in the preseason coaches’ poll since checking in at No. 21 in 2014. K-State also ranked 21st in the 2012 preseason survey, while this year’s ranking is the highest since the Wildcats were 12th in 2004.

Other Big 12 programs joining the Wildcats in the 2017 Preseason Amway Coaches Poll were Oklahoma (8th), Oklahoma State (11th), West Virginia (20th) and Texas (23rd).

K-State returns 44 letterwinners from last year’s squad that earned a 9-4 record, featured by a 6-1 mark over the final seven games. The season was capped by a 33-28 victory over Texas A&M in the 2016 Texas Bowl. The Wildcats, who were predicted to finish third in the Big 12 by the league’s media, placed four players on the Preseason All-Big 12 team in fullback Winston Dimel, offensive lineman Dalton Risner, defensive back D.J. Reed, and defensive end Reggie Walker.

Head coach Bill Snyder, a 2015 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame, begins his 26th year at the helm of the Wildcats with a 202-105-1 record, including a 118-80-1 mark in Big 8/12 play.

The Wildcats open the 2017 season with the ninth-annual K-State Family Reunion against Central Arkansas at 6:10 p.m., on Saturday, September 2. K-State then hosts Charlotte on September 9 prior to traveling to Nashville, Tennessee, for a matchup against SEC foe Vanderbilt on September 16.

— K-State Athletics —