MANHATTAN — The purple masses of the Little Apple will descend upon the Big Apple for the holidays as Kansas State athletics director John Currie announced Friday that the Wildcats have accepted an invitation to play Syracuse in the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 30 in New York City.
The game will be played in the world-renowned Yankee Stadium at 2:30 p.m. (CST), with a nationwide television audience watching on ESPN. K-State’s trip to the state of New York will be the third all-time for the Wildcats football program — its first since 1966 — and will mark the ’Cats’ first postseason appearance in the state.
K-State (7-5) will be playing in its 14th bowl game in school history and 12th under Bill Snyder as the Wildcats are 6-5 all-time in bowls under the legendary head coach. The Wildcats’ last trip to the postseason was back in 2006, when it played another Big East opponent, Rutgers, in the inaugural Texas Bowl.
“We couldn’t be more excited to showcase our football program, Kansas State University and our national alumni and fan base in the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl, and I am pleased to accept the invitation on behalf of President Kirk Schulz, Coach Bill Snyder and our entire institution,” Currie said.
The Wildcats’ seven regular season victories in 2010 were the most since 2006 and included home wins over UCLA, No. 25 UCF and traditional Big 12 Conference power Texas. K-State also kept the Governor’s Cup trophy in Manhattan for the second straight season under Snyder with a 59-7 win over in-state rival Kansas.
“We are proud of the young men in our program and the courage they have shown this season to get Kansas State University back to a bowl game, and we are very pleased to represent the Big 12 Conference in the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl against Syracuse,” said Snyder.
The Orange earned its first bowl bid since 2004 on the strength of a 7-5 record in head coach Doug Marrone’s second season. Syracuse finished Big East play with a 4-3 record, which included a 19-14 win at No. 20 West Virginia.
K-State has faced Syracuse on two occasions all-time on the gridiron with both coming in bowl games. The Wildcats defeated the Orange, 35-18, in the 1997 Fiesta Bowl before dropping a 26-3 contest in the 2001 Insight.com Bowl. The game will also mark the fifth time that Kansas State has faced a Big East opponent in the postseason.