Collin Klein threw a touchdown pass and ran for two scores and No. 7 Kansas State beat No. 23 Texas 42-24 on Saturday night for its third conference title in 117 years and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.

The Wildcats had never played for a conference championship in their last game at home, and had never had a player end the regular season in such close contention for the Heisman Trophy as Klein.

Neither of his main competitors, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel nor Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, played this weekend. So Klein, a multitalented senior, had the stage all to himself, one last chance to burnish his credentials for what would be Kansas State’s first Heisman.

In front of their sixth sellout in seven home games, the Wildcats (11-1, 8-1 Big 12) tied their team record for victories in a season and matched Oklahoma’s Big 12 record.

— Associated Press —

Kansas State senior linebacker Arthur Brown is one of four finalists for the 2012 Lott IMPACT Trophy, the organization announced Thursday.

Brown is K-State’s first finalist for the award, which recognizes college football’s Defensive Player of the Year who best exemplifies Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity. Brown was joined on the finalist list by linebackers Jarvis Jones (Georgia), Manti Te’o (Notre Dame) and Chase Thomas (Stanford).

In his second season for the Wildcats, Brown leads the team with 80 tackles, including six for loss and one sack. The Wichita, Kan., product also has two interceptions and five passes defended. His first pick of the season came at No. 15 West Virginia when he snapped Geno Smith’s then-NCAA record of 273-straight attempts without an interception. A week later against 14th-ranked Texas Tech, Brown intercepted a pass and returned it 37 yards for his first career touchdown.

A former transfer from the University of Miami, Brown has averaged 7.5 tackles per game in 24 contests at K-State, including at least five tackles in 10 of 11 games this season. He notched a career best 13 stops against North Texas, while he had 11 at Baylor and 10 in K-State’s win at No. 5 Oklahoma.

Brown and the other three finalists will travel to Newport Beach, Calif., on Dec. 9, for the award’s gala in which former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice will be the keynote speaker. The winner of the Lott IMPACT Trophy will be selected by a national panel of more than 300 former coaches, players, members of the media, members of the Lott IMPACT Foundation Board of Directors and former Lott Trophy winners.

Sixth-ranked Kansas State (10-1, 7-1) will take on No. 18 Texas (8-3, 5-3) Saturday in the regular-season finale at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game will kick off at 7 p.m., and will be shown to a national audience on ABC.

— KSU Sports Information —

Kansas State senior quarterback Collin Klein added two more accolades Wednesday as he was named a finalist for both the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award and the Manning Award.

Klein is one of five finalists for the Walter Camp Award, which is voted on by the Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports information directors, and will be announced on Thursday, December 6, during the 6 p.m. (ET) edition of ESPN SportsCenter.

The Loveland, Colo., product is one of 10 finalists for the Manning Award, which is the only award to take into account a quarterback’s bowl performance. The winner is selected by a panel of national media covering college football – as well as Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning – and will be announced following the BCS National Championship Game.

In addition to the Walter Camp and Manning awards, Klein is also one of three finalists for the Maxwell and Davey O’Brien awards, which will be presented at The Home Depot College Football Awards show on Thursday, December 6, at 6:30 p.m. (CT) on ESPN.

Klein has guided the Wildcats to their 10th 10-win season in school history and a 7-1 mark in Big 12 play. The quarterback has accounted for 34 touchdowns to rank 11th nationally in touchdown responsibility, while he is third and tops among quarterbacks with 20 rushing scores. He is the only quarterback from a BCS AQ school in the BCS era to rush for at least 20 touchdowns and pass for at least 10 touchdowns in multiple seasons.

In 11 games, Klein has completed 172-of-258 passes for 2,306 yards and 14 touchdowns while totaling 787 rushing yards on 171 attempts. He ranks 10th in school history in passing yardage and touchdowns, while he is tied for eighth in completions. Additionally, his current season pass efficiency rating of 155.00 ranks third in school history, while he is tied for second in rushing touchdowns behind his school-record 27 scores last season.

With his outstanding senior campaign, Klein has put together one of the best careers in K-State history as both a passer and a runner, ranking in the top 10 in school history in rushing touchdowns (1st; 53), touchdown responsibility (1st; 81), scoring (2nd; 324), total yards (3rd; 6,741), passing efficiency (3rd; 140.16), rushing attempts (3rd; 565), rushing yards (5th; 2,352), completions (5th, 345), passing touchdowns (7th; 28), passing yards (8th; 4,389) and pass attempts (9th; 558).

Joining Klein on the finalist list for the Walter Camp Award was running back Kenjon Barner (Oregon), wide receiver Marqise Lee (USC), quarterback Johnny Manziel (Texas A&M) and linebacker Manti T’eo. Both Klein and Manziel were finalists for the Manning Award along with Matt Barkley (USC), Tajh Boyd (Clemson), Jordan Lynch (Northern Illinois), Marcus Mariota (Oregon), AJ McCarron (Alabama), Braxton Miller (Ohio State), Aaron Murray (Georgia) and Geno Smith (West Virginia).

No. 6 Kansas State takes on 18th-ranked Texas at 7 p.m., Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in a nationally-televised contest on ABC.

— KSU Sports Information —

Tim Hardaway Jr. brought the ball up the court, then dribbled between his legs and headed to the left. Then he flashed back to his right, rose up and knocked down a midrange jumper.

The crowd at Madison Square Garden gasped at the crossover, which was reminiscent of his famous father’s most memorable move. Michigan fans jumped up and cheered. Kansas State coach Bruce Weber called timeout, but it didn’t work.

Hardaway scored 23 points to power No. 4 Michigan to a 71-57 victory over the Wildcats in the final of the NIT Season Tipoff on Friday night.

Glenn Robinson III had 12 rebounds, and Trey Burke and Jon Horford had 10 points apiece for the Wolverines. Hardaway made 10 of 15 shots from the field before he was kneed in the head with less than four minutes left. He returned to the bench in time to celebrate with the rest of his team and collect the tournament MVP award.

”This is what he works for. He works hard at not just being a shooter but to have an in-between game, be a rebounder,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. ”The biggest thing is his work ethic. That just doesn’t happen. He’s got great DNA, but DNA doesn’t get you there alone.”

Hardaway wasn’t available to talk to reporters, but Michigan trainer John DoRosario said the junior passed his concussion tests and was cleared to fly home. The Wolverines’ next game is Tuesday against No. 16 North Carolina State.

Rodney McGruder had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Angel Rodriguez scored 10 for Kansas State (5-1).

Michigan (5-0) won the tournament, previously known as the Preseason NIT, for the first time. It was the Wolverines’ first title in a significant preseason tournament since the 1997-98 season, when they beat Syracuse to capture the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.

”Those who stay will be champions,” Beilein said, citing the aphorism of former football coach Bo Schembechler. ”So whenever we have a chance to do something like this, we embrace it and go for it like there’s no other games in the season.”

Speaking of football: Although this appears to be one of Michigan’s best basketball teams since the Fab Five era, fans at the Garden chanted ”Beat Ohio!,” looking ahead to Saturday’s football game against the archrival Buckeyes.

The Wolverines struggled at the end of the first half against Kansas State while Trey Burke and Jordan Morgan sat on the bench in foul trouble. But Hardaway took over after the break.

”I knew we were going to come out in the second half and make adjustments,” Burke said. ”I knew that Tim was the hot hand, and they were playing and waiting for me to get to the lane.”

Hardaway made four baskets in the first eight minutes as Michigan got out to a 49-30 lead. His crossover, on which he juked Kansas State’s Will Spradling far out of position, made it 43-27, and Michigan kept up the pressure, taking a 21-point lead with a little over 10 minutes to play.

From there, it was mostly a formality.

In its semifinal, Kansas State overcame a pesky Delaware team that should contend in the Colonial Athletic Association, but Michigan was several notches above the Blue Hens and the Wildcats didn’t have much of an answer. They got off to a slow start in each half, and spent most of their effort trying to chip away at Michigan’s lead.

”We spotted them six to start and spotted them eight or so the second half and that’s the game and you’re just playing catch-up,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said..

Michigan had a 10-point advantage midway through the first half, but gave some of it back after Morgan and Burke each got two fouls. The Wildcats were outshot 48 percent to 29 percent in the half, but only trailed by five at 29-24.

The Wildcats should be favored in their next four games before they face No. 7 Florida on Dec. 22. They open the Big 12 season Jan. 5 against Oklahoma State.

Michigan’s road isn’t as easy – the Wolfpack come to Ann Arbor on Tuesday, and Michigan returns to New York on Dec. 15 for a game against West Virginia at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

”We got to go prove it again,” Beilein said. ”The season is a marathon. This is maybe the first 400 yards or something of that marathon, but we ran it well.”

— Associated Press —

Collin Klein and second-ranked Kansas State can still get to a BCS game. Getting to the BCS championship game is all but lost.

”Anger, frustration, obviously disappointment,” Wildcats tight end Travis Tannahill said as he described his feelings after a 52-24 loss at Baylor on Saturday night. ”Confused. We just don’t know what went wrong. We had a good week of practice. We felt prepared, everything we’ve done the last 10 games.”

Except win.

”It’s a hard one,” Klein said.

Glasco Martin ran for three touchdowns, Lache Seastrunk had 185 yards rushing with an 80-yard score and the Bears again upset the BCS picture with a late-season victory.

A week after the Wildcats (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) took over the No. 1 spot in the BCS standings following defending national champion Alabama’s loss, it now looks like it’s going to somebody else’s turn at the top.

Maybe Notre Dame, which could get its championship shot after Kansas State and No. 1 Oregon both lost. And the Crimson Tide suddenly is back in the title picture, along with a couple of other SEC teams.

Also, K-State quarterback Klein may be a Heisman Trophy front-runner no more after throwing three interceptions and getting sacked twice while being pressured and harassed all night. He threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns, but had only 39 yards on 17 carries with a score.

On first-and-goal from the 6 in the fourth quarter, Klein had four straight carries and couldn’t score – twice trying from the 1.

”I don’t know if I would call it getting smacked in the mouth, but they took it to us,” coach Bill Snyder said. ”I really thought we prepared well, but as we found out, we didn’t. I don’t think we handled the situation as well as we should have been able to.”

Nick Florence, Baylor’s successor to Heisman winner Robert Griffin III, completed 20 of 32 passes for 238 yards, and ran nine times for 47 yards. Both of his passing touchdowns came in the first half when the Bears (5-5, 2-5) jumped out to a 28-7 lead.

”All week we believed we were going to beat them and if we did we weren’t going to be surprised when it happened,” Florence said.

It was on the same weekend last November, on another Saturday night in Waco, when Griffin and Baylor upset then fifth-ranked Oklahoma after two teams ahead of the Sooners had already lost that day.

Kansas State has plenty of time for this loss to simmer. The Wildcats have Thanksgiving week off before playing their regular season finale Dec. 1 at home against No. 18 Texas.

If the Wildcats beat Texas, they will be guaranteed at least a share of the Big 12 title and get the league’s automatic BCS spot.

That may be the only solace after such a crushing loss against Baylor, which still needs to win another game to be bowl eligible.

The Bears hadn’t beaten an opponent ranked so high since a 13-7 win over No. 2 Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day 1957. They tied No. 1 Texas during the 1941 season.

Students and fans dressed in gold swarmed the field to celebrate when Saturday night’s game ended.

Klein, who finished 27 of 50 passing, had thrown only three interceptions the first 10 games.

After Martin’s 2-yard TD put Baylor up 28-7 with 2:54 left in the first half, Kansas State scored 10 consecutive points before the break – and then got the ball to start the second half, only to have Klein throw his second interception.

Martin finished with 113 yards rushing.

There was a classic 13-yard run by Klein to start the second half, then two deep incompletions before he was picked off by Sam Holl, who returned it to the Kansas State 38. Four plays later, after a Florence 13-yard keeper, Martin scored on a 4-yard run to make it 35-17.

”We gained a little bit of momentum and we just couldn’t sustain anything consistently over time,” Klein said. ”We definitely knew we were going to have to play well to win. They just played better than we did.”

The Wildcats then got a 50-yard kickoff return from Tramaine Thompson, but Klein had three consecutive incompletions leading to a punt that pinned Baylor at its 1.

Florence threw an interception, Randall Evans grabbing the ball at the 1 but immediately getting dragged down by intended receiver Terrance Williams. Klein plunged in from a yard out on the next play, but that would be the last score for the Wildcats.

On the first play after Klein was picked off by Joe Williams in the end zone late in the third quarter, Seastrunk took a handoff and raced 80 yards for the score.

Chris Harper had 11 catches for 123 yards for the Wildcats.

Baylor scored less than 2 minutes into the game on Florence’s 38-yard TD to Tevin Reese after completing passes to different receivers on each of the first four plays.

The Bears then tried a short kickoff that K-State recovered. To make it worse, a 15-yard penalty for interfering with the returner set the Wildcats up at the Baylor 38 and led to Klein’s 8-yard TD run.

A holding call wiped out a 95-yard return by Antwan Goodley on the ensuing kickoff, but the Bears regrouped to go 75 yards in 11 plays for Florence’s 12-yard TD run that made it 14-7.

Early in the second quarter, Klein was picked off by Williams on a deep throw.

K-State had a fumble recovery nullified by an offside call. The Wildcats jumped again on a third-and-9, and Florence took off running for a 10-yard gain, plus an additional 15 yards when Dante Barnett was flagged for unnecessary roughness for lowering his shoulder and a hard hit on the Baylor quarterback, who threw an interception two plays later.

About the only stretch that Klein really looked like himself was that closing 2 minutes of the first half.

On the first play after Martin’s score, Klein threw a 36-yard pass to Harper and 5 yards to Tyler Lockett. After a pass interference penalty against Baylor in the end zone put the ball at the 7, Klein threw a TD to Harper,

Baylor then went three-and-out, with Barnett preventing a first down with his open-field tackle of Reese on third down.

The Wildcats then had a 10-play drive in 51 seconds, capped by Anthony Cantele’s 23-yard field goal on the last play of the half, right after Thompson’s 22-yard reception.

— Associated Press —

Collin Klein and third-ranked Kansas State bolstered their chances in the national championship chase by doing what Alabama failed to do.

The Wildcats beat one of the newcomers in their conference.

Only a few minutes after No. 1 Alabama lost, Klein threw a 62-yard pass to set up the first of his two touchdown runs and the Wildcats went on to a 23-10 victory Saturday night at TCU.

And on Sunday, Kansas State (10-0, 7-0 Big 12) seems likely to take over the top spot in the new BCS rankings.

”I have no thoughts about it whatsoever,” said coach Bill Snyder, who claimed he didn’t even know about Alabama’s loss until getting in the locker room after the game.

”I just found out. My reaction was, ‘Wow!’,” said Anthony Cantele, who kicked three field goals. ”It doesn’t change what we’re going to do. … We’ll enjoy it for what it is, and get back to work.”

Kansas State’s game had just started and Klein already had a rare turnover when SEC newcomer and former Big 12 team Texas A&M finished off its 29-24 victory at Alabama, the top team in the BCS standings and AP poll.

Kansas State, 10-0 for only the second time under Snyder, was already No. 2 in the BCS standings, one spot ahead of Oregon. The Ducks, No. 2 in the AP poll, played California later Saturday night.

”We still have a lot of things to accomplish. So as far as the rankings, we don’t pay too much attention to that, because we obviously have a lot of work to do,” defensive back Jarard Milo said. ”We’ve just got to keep working and doing what we’re doing as K-State.”

Kansas State plays next Saturday night at Baylor, then has a week off before ending the regular season at home against 19th-ranked Texas.

Klein’s third interception of the season came on only the fourth play against TCU (6-4, 3-4), which is in its first Big 12 season. Freshman defensive end Devonte Fields was back in coverage when he made a diving grab for his first career pick.

The Horned Frogs failed to take advantage by going three-and-out.

By time they got the ball back, they were trailing for good and on way to their third consecutive home loss, all to Big 12 teams. It is the first time since 1997 they have lost three consecutive home games in the same season.

”There is a very fine line, and that is a team that can play for a national championship,” said TCU coach Gary Patterson, who faced his alma mater for the first time.

It was during the timeout for the change of possession after TCU’s punt that Alabama’s game ended.

Klein’s next play was his 62-yard pass to Chris Harper, who got an extra 15 yards or so on the play dragging defenders after making the catch near midfield. That drive ended with the Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback running for a 7-yard TD.

When TCU punted again, Tremaine Thompson had a 33-yard punt return to the Frogs 41. The first of Cantele’s three field goals, a 41-yarder, made it 10-0.

Klein seemingly showed no ill effects from an apparent head injury that had knocked him out in the third quarter of last Saturday’s victory against Oklahoma State.

But outside of the long pass and two TD runs, including a nifty 34-yarder in the third quarter that gave him 19 for the season, it wasn’t Klein’s best game statistically.

The senior quarterback was sacked a season-high three times while completing 12 of 21 passes for 145 yards. He had 15 carries for 50 yards.

”He played reasonably well. He made the plays he had to make in the game, but we were probably a little conservative for him,” said Snyder, adding that it was because of TCU’s defense. ”We could have given him more chances than what we did. He managed the game as he always does.”

Klein wasn’t made available for interviews after the game.

Patterson, TCU’s winningest coach with 115 wins in 12 seasons, started his coaching career as a K-State graduate assistant in 1982, long before Snyder got there, and was part of the Wildcats’ first bowl team. He played there the previous two seasons, as a safety and linebacker who saw a lot of action on scout teams and a little on special teams.

Kansas State was the highest-ranked team to play in Fort Worth since 1970, when No. 2 Texas beat the Horned Frogs 58-0.

TCU didn’t score until against the Wildcats until Jaden Oberkrom’s 35-yard field goal with 6:59 left. Oberkrom was wide right on a 45-yard attempt at the start of the second quarter.

Trevone Boykin threw a 19-yard TD to Brandon Carter with 47 seconds left in the game.

Kansas State led 13-0 after Cantele made a 20-yard field goal with 28 seconds left in the first half. That came after Deante Gray tried to field a punt that sailed over his head, and it was recovered at the Frogs 5.

The Wildcats had yet another scoring chance before halftime when Ty Zimmerman returned an interception 30 yards to the TCU 31. But Cantele was wide right on a 48-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the half.

The Frogs have scored in 252 consecutive games since Nov. 16, 1991, the third-longest such streak in the nation behind Michigan (347) and Florida (307). Kansas State’s streak of 200 games in a row is the eighth-longest in the nation.

— Associated Press —