SportsLine's model revealed its college football picks for Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. Kansas State Wildcats in the Rate Bowl 2024 on Thursday

Kansas State did not finish the regular season the way it wanted to. Not by a long shot. In the thick of the Big 12 race — potentially the College Football Playoff — heading into the final month, the Wildcats stumbled to three losses in their final four games.

Sitting cross legged underneath a tent blocking the bright Arizona sun and in front of a banner that reads “RUTGERS TEAM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVENT,” quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis smiles as he points to the page he is reading to a local grade school girl.

Rutgers faces Kansas State in the Rate Bowl. It won’t have star running back Kyle Monangai, who has opted out of the game.

Rutgers football on Tuesday took some time to give back to the local community here in the leadup to the Rate Bowl.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — As Chris Klieman bounced around the midwest, going up and down the coaching ladder from a Division III DC to a national champion head coach at the FCS level before becoming Kansas State’s head coach, the Rutgers football program occasionally came onto his radar.

Big Ten college football postseason matchup. It's between Kansas State and Rutgers at Chase Field on Thursday.

Many of Rutgers football's NFL-bound players are playing in the Rate Bowl against Kansas State, a chance to get critical game film for scouts to see.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Rutgers is off and running in the Valley of the Sun. The Scarlet Knights held their first practice on local land at Indian School Park on Monday ahead of their Rate Bowl matchup against Kansas State in Phoenix on Thursday.