When was the last time Kansas State had a sports year this bad?

MANHATTAN — With multiple disappointing seasons, an off-the-rails men's basketball season and no postseason appearances across major sports, Kansas State athletics had a memorable 2025-26 season that many would prefer to forget.

Not since 2020-21 have the four major programs (football, baseball, men's and women's basketball) all missed or skipped out on postseason action. That year also didn't include half of the drama that came in 2025-26.

It's the first year since 2013 in which both basketball programs were swept by Kansas. Not since 1985-86 had Kansas State had to hire a new head football and men's basketball coach in the same academic calendar.

The first of the coaching changes happened after Chris Klieman's sudden retirement after a disappointing 6-6 season in which the Wildcats were expected to compete for a Big 12 championship. After his retirement, the Wildcats declined to play in a bowl game they had earned by winning their final regular-season game, ending a streak of four consecutive bowl appearances.

Football was disappointing from the start, beginning the year with a 24-21 loss to Iowa State in Dublin, Ireland, before going 1-3 through four games, featuring a comeback win to beat FCS North Dakota, a shocking loss to Army at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and a loss at Arizona the next week.

The season's highlight was a 42-17 beatdown of Kansas, extending K-State's winning streak over the Jayhawks to 17. Among other notable storylines from the year were Dylan Edwards' lack of availability, the inability to close out games at Baylor and Utah, and Klieman's emotional postgame presser following the Wildcats' loss to the Utes.

As frustrating as it was, it didn't even prepare K-Staters for what was to come with men's basketball.

Jerome Tang's fourth season started with some hope, showcasing a high-scoring offense behind a high-priced roster. Once Big 12 play came around, the Wildcats went downhill quickly.

The Wildcats went 1-11 to start conference play, though the postgames turned out to be the main story and somehow worse than what was happening on the floor. Several strange press conferences, including after K-State's Feb. 11 blowout loss to Cincinnati, in which he ripped into his players, became too much for the university to handle. He was fired on Feb. 15 because of it.

That didn't end the season's dysfunction, which lasted until the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, where the Wildcats were bounced by BYU, finishing the year 12-20.

Women's basketball at least provided hope for the future with its young roster. Its youth showed throughout an inconsistent season, but provided a highlight at the end. The Wildcats won three games, the final two in thrilling fashion, at the Big 12 Tournament, becoming the first 12-seed to reach the league tournament's semifinals. They then won a game in the WBIT and showed they should be more competitive in 2026-27.

Baseball then started out strong, but flopped in the end. With one of the best offenses in the country, the Wildcats didn't have the pitching to be an NCAA Tournament-caliber team. A nine-game losing streak late in the season ultimately doomed the BatCats, ending their streak of two consecutive NCAA Regional appearances.

Not everything was bad for Kansas State sports, which featured an NCAA Tournament appearance for the volleyball program, its first since 2021, while securing its first victory since 2016. Men's track and field spent time as the No. 1 indoor team in the country, while women's soccer secured its first winning record in program history.

The results of poor seasons also provided plenty of hope heading into the future. Men's basketball replaced Tang with former Belmont coach Casey Alexander, known for his offensive systems, talent identification, and ability to develop talent.

Upon Klieman's retirement, the school moved quickly to bring home Collin Klein, one of the football program's all-time greats, who has developed into one of the game's best offensive minds. The Wildcats will again have high expectations in 2026.

Wyatt D. Wheeler covers Kansas State athletics for the USA TODAY Network and Topeka Capital-Journal. You can follow him on X at @WyattWheeler_, contact him at 417-371-6987 or email him at wwheeler@usatodayco.com

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State ends bad sports year that featured Jerome Tang firing