Day in and day out they face the best. They put in the hard work on the practice field and in the weightroom just like their teammates. Yet when Saturdays come around, they stand on the sideline, knowing the likelihood of them seeing the field is minimal.

That's the life of the Kansas State scout team, where the effort and sweat put in during the week is represented by the starters on the playing field.

"The scouts have the best opportunity of anybody because they are working against the best that we have available and that gives them a chance — if they approach it that way, it gives them the opportunity to become better players daily," said K-State coach Bill Snyder. "They make a lot of progress that way."

Still, Snyder admits, it can be challenging at times to get the point across to young players.

"It's an easy (message) to express, it's a difficult one to receive on the other end I think," Snyder said. "I think they understand it, but at the end of the day, it's so easy to say, 'I'm gonna stand on the sidelines, so why do I have to provide my greatest effort today on Monday or Tuesday, or Wednesday, when Saturday — when everybody else is out enjoying the game playing, I'm gonna be sitting there watching?'"

The K-State scout team is just as important now as ever before, but Snyder admits he doesn't have the depth for those units that he prefers. At times, the Wildcats have had to design their practice schedule to give the scout team rest due to the heavy workload and lack of numbers.

Recently, the flu bug has ran rampant in the K-State locker room, making it even more difficult as players from the scout team are being forced to move up to the second-team. Because of that, Snyder has had to make even more adjustments to the practice schedule this week as they prepare to take on 22nd-ranked Oklahoma Saturday at 6 p.m.

"We thought we kind of had answer that we were gonna work with and then a number of guys got ill," he said. "That changed that up."

Snyder said due to the lack of numbers, the Wildcats' first teams would spend more time working against each other this week on the practice field. That, he said, can be a double-edged sword.

"The problem with that is somebody has to give up some of their preparation time and emulate your opponent," he said.

Despite being thin, Snyder said he is pleased with several on his scout team, which includes first-year transfers Chris Harper and Brodrick Smith along with several freshmen who are redshirting this season.

"There's a few that really have done well that I'm pleased with," Snyder said. "There are some young guys, young freshmen in particular, who have made it important to try and improve the capabilities that they have by working with the scout squad.

"It's a hard message to absorb and really implement in their daily practice routine but we have some that do. We really do."