Big 12 fines Iowa State, Kansas State $500K each for opting out of bowl games, declaring coaching change is not a viable reason
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The Big 12 has fined Iowa State and Kansas State $500,000 each for opting out of bowl games.
The conference announced the fines Sunday in a statement declaring that coaching change is not a viable reason for not fulfilling bowl obligations.
"The Big 12 conference is issuing a $500,000 institutional fine to Iowa State and Kansas State for opting out of their participation in the conference’s bowl pool,” the statement reads. “While the conference acknowledges the difficult timing around coaching changes, the Big 12 is responsible for fulfilling its contractual obligations to its bowl partners."
Each program is in the midst of a coaching change. At Iowa State, head coach Matt Campbell left the program Friday to take the head coaching position at Penn State. It hired former Washington State head coach Jimmy Rogers to replace him.
At Kansas State, head coach Chris Klieman announced that he is retiring. Kansas State hired former Wildcats quarterback Collin Klein to replace him. Klein has worked as the quarterbacks coach at Kansas State and offensive coordinator at Texas A&M.
Each program opted out of participating in a bowl game Sunday morning. Both schools cited input from players in making the decision. Iowa State (8-4) cited player health in its statement as a reason to opt out. It did not mention coaching transition.
"Members of the athletics administrative team and the previous coaching staff met with the players this morning and had a robust discussion about the team's ability to play in a postseason bowl game," Iowa State's statement reads. "After that discussion, the players voted not to play in a postseason game due to the lack of healthy players to safely practice and play."
Kansas State (6-6) in a statement from athletic director Gene Taylor did cite coaching transition as well as "player availability" as a reason for opting out.
"Following our recent coaching change and conversations with our player leadership and commissioner Yormark, I determined that we will not accept a bowl invitation this afternoon," Taylor said, via the statement. "This decision was not taken lightly, but with our coaching staff transition and several uncertainties regarding player availability, I felt it was not in our best interest to try to field a team that was not representative of Kansas State University."
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