Three questions about Kansas State football ahead of this week's Sunflower Showdown

MANHATTAN — Kansas State football's 59-25 victory over Baylor on Saturday once again demonstrated just how significant home field advantage has been for the Wildcats this season.

Not only are the Wildcats 6-0 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, but in those six games they have outscored their opponents 272-72, posted two shutouts and allowed a single field goal in two others.

The Wildcats (7-3 overall, 5-2 Big 12) are back on the road next Saturday when they head to Lawrence for a 6 p.m. renewal of the Sunflower Showdown against Kansas (7-3, 4-3) that will be televised by Fox Sports 1.

K-State's lopsided victory over Baylor, combined with Kansas' 16-13 home loss to Texas Tech, also opened the door for the Wildcats to climb back into the national rankings. They already entered the weekend at No. 25 in the College Football Playoff poll, and on Sunday they returned to the USA Today Coaches' Top 25 at No. 24, and The Associated Press' poll at No. 23.

With two games left in the regular season, here are three questions for the Wildcats before they play KU on Saturday for the Governor's Cup.

Related: Kansas State football recap: Wildcats roll to 59-25 win over Baylor

What does K-State have to play for?

A top-two finish and a trip to Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 championship game is still in play — albeit a longshot — for the Wildcats.

Thanks to Oklahoma State's blowout loss at Central Florida on Saturday, K-State is now part of a four-way tie for second in the Big 12 standings at 5-2 alongside the Cowboys, Oklahoma and Iowa State. Texas, which survived a late rally by TCU, is alone in first place at 6-1.

That is the good news. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they would not fare well in most tiebreakers, which means in addition to winning the last two regular-season games next week at KU and then at home against Iowa State, they would need both Oklahoma State and Oklahoma to lose a game.

Barring a shot at the championship game, K-State should be highly motivated to extend its winning streak over a much-improved KU team to 15 games in what is the most anticipated Sunflower Showdown in some time.

Related: Kansas State football quarterback Will Howard has a day to remember in win over Baylor

Will the Wildcats face another backup quarterback at KU?

Kansas already has played most of the season without starting quarterback Jalon Daniels, but Jason Bean has been a more-than-adequate replacement. Now Bean's status is uncertain after he suffered what coach Lance Leipold described as a head injury in the Jayhawks' loss to Texas Tech.

When Bean went out, KU turned to true freshman walk-on Cole Ballard, who completed 9 of 20 passes for 124 yards with one interception.

K-State already has faced backups at quarterback against UCF, Texas Tech, TCU and Texas. The Wildcats' only loss in those four games came in overtime at Texas and Bean's injury is one reason the Wildcats are early 8-point favorites to make it 15 straight wins against the Jayhawks.

How valuable is K-State lineman Cooper Beebe?

Kansas State All-American Cooper Beebe already has showed his value as an offensive lineman during his Wildcat career.

As a sophomore he was a Big 12 all-conference selection at left tackle, and then last year he switched to his more natural position at left guard and was named the league's top offensive lineman. And just when he thought he had settled in at guard, starting right tackle Christian Duffie suffered an offseason injury that forced Beebe to fill in on occasion at that spot.

Now that Duffie is back healthy and Beebe is back permanently at left guard, he has broadened his horizons again, this time to include the defensive line. An injury to backup nose tackle Damian Ilalio led coach Chris Klieman to call on Beebe briefly against Texas, and then again in the Baylor game, where he recorded his first tackle.

"Beebs is happy as heck when I run over to the offense and say we need you for these three plays," Klieman said with a smile. "He wants to be up for the Heisman because he's one of the best two-way players. He's not Travis Hunter (Colorado receiver/defensive back), but he's one of the best two-way players.

"With us not having Damian, we have to (use Beebe). Now we think we'll get Damian back next week, so Beebs will probably be out."

Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Three questions for Kansas State football ahead of Sunflower Showdown