The 1996 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University in the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head football coach was Bill Snyder. The Wildcats played their home games in KSU Stadium. 1996 saw the Wildcats finish with a record of 9–3, and a 6–2 record in Big 12 Conference play.

The season ended with a loss against fifth-ranked BYU in the 1997 Cotton Bowl Classic—the school's first appearance in a traditional New Year's Day bowl game. 1996 was also the first year of competition for the Big 12 Conference, and Kansas State's home game against Texas Tech was the first athletic event in Big 12 history.

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Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	2:30 p.m.	Texas Tech	No. 21	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS	ABC	W 21–14	43,143
September 7	1:10 p.m.	Indiana State*	No. 21	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 59–3	40,724
September 14	1:10 p.m.	Cincinnati*	No. 17	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 35–0	43,111
September 21	7:00 p.m.	at Rice*	No. 16	Rice Stadium Houston, TX		W 34–7	19,700
October 5	2:30 p.m.	No. 7 Nebraska	No. 16	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	ABC	L 3–39	43,916
October 12	1:00 p.m.	at Missouri	No. 22	Faurot Field Columbia, MO		W 35–10	45,211
October 19	6:00 p.m.	at Texas A&M	No. 21	Kyle Field College Station, TX	FSN	W 23–20	64,155
October 26	1:10 p.m.	Oklahoma	No. 16	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS		W 42–35	43,815
November 9	1:00 p.m.	at Kansas	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS (rivalry)		W 38–12	48,800
November 16	6:00 p.m.	at No. 6 Colorado	No. 9	Folsom Field Boulder, CO (rivalry)	FSN	L 0–12	53,500
November 23	6:10 p.m.	Iowa State	No. 14	KSU Stadium Manhattan, KS (rivalry)	FSN	W 35–20	43,174
January 1	1:30 p.m.	vs. No. 5 BYU*	No. 14	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Cotton Bowl Classic)	CBS	L 15–19	71,928
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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