Fresh off a bye week and a late fourth quarter rally at Iowa State – it’s largest comeback win in a conference road game since 2004 – 20th-ranked Kansas State readies for Thursday’s showdown with No. 5 Auburn in Manhattan. The game, which will kick at 6:30 p.m., will be televised nationally by ESPN.

A LOOK AT THE GAME

• Auburn leads the all-time series between the two schools, 3-0.

• The 2014 matchup is the second in a home-and-home series that began in 2007 (a 23-13 AU win).

• The No. 5 Tigers will be the highest ranked non-conference opponent to play in Manhattan since No. 2 Penn State visited in 1969 (17-14 PSU win).

• Under Bill Snyder, K-State has only faced one other ranked non-conference opponent at home, a 27-20 Wildcat win in 2002 over 11th-ranked USC.

• K-State is 4-0 under Snyder in non-conference home games against “high-visibility conference” programs.

• The four wins were: (2012 vs. Miami; 2010 vs. UCLA; 2002 vs. USC; 1994 vs. Minnesota).

• Also, K-State has played a total of seven games against “high visibility conference” programs since 2006 and is 3-4 in those games vs. Louisville [0-2], Auburn [0-1], UCLA [1-1] and Miami, Fla. [2-0].

• The game will be K-State’s fifth Thursday night appearance since 1992 as the Cats are 3-1 under Bill Snyder on Thursday night including a 1-1 mark at home.

• K-State has defeated Iowa State (1992) at home and Kansas (1994, 2010) on the road in Thursday night games with the lone loss coming at home against sixth-ranked Nebraska in 2010.

BYE WEEK NOTES

• Giving K-State an extra week to prepare has traditionally been good news for the Wildcats.

• The Cats have had 22 previous mid-season bye weeks under head coach Bill Snyder and have turned the extra week of preparation into a 16-6 record the following week.

• Since Snyder’s return in 2009, K-State is 5-2 when coming off a bye week during the season.

NON-CONFERENCE NOTABLES

• Since 1990, K-State has won 65 of its 69 (.943) regular-season non-conference games under Bill Snyder, including 59-of-62 (.952) at home.

• K-State has had perfect regular-season non-conference ledgers in 14 of the last 21 years.