Title: Unfinished Business: The 1998 Kansas State Wildcats
In the fall of 1998, the quiet agricultural town of Manhattan, Kansas, became the epicenter of one of college football’s most astonishing stories. Netflix’s latest documentary, Unfinished Business, dives headfirst into the remarkable, heart-pounding season of the 1998 Kansas State Wildcats—arguably the greatest team in the program’s storied history. For fans who lived it and those discovering it for the first time, the documentary is an emotional, electrifying chronicle of triumph, heartbreak, and the thin line between glory and devastation.
Under the indomitable leadership of head coach Bill Snyder, a man often dubbed the “architect of miracles,” the Wildcats embarked on a dream campaign. Snyder, who inherited a moribund program in 1989, had transformed Kansas State from the laughingstock of college football into a national powerhouse. In 1998, all his work culminated in a perfect 11-0 regular season, propelling the Wildcats to the No. 1 spot in the BCS rankings heading into the Big 12 Championship Game.
Netflix’s documentary offers a cinematic blend of archival footage, exclusive player interviews, and dramatic reenactments. Viewers are thrust into the electric atmosphere of that unforgettable season. They’ll relive the dominant performances of quarterback Michael Bishop, whose cannon arm and bruising runs made him a Heisman finalist. His 77-yard touchdown against Nebraska—the Wildcats’ first win over the Huskers since 1968—is portrayed with spine-tingling precision, capturing both the explosion in the stadium and the catharsis of an entire fanbase.
The Wildcats outscored opponents by an average of 34 points during the regular season. Their defense, led by linebacker Mark Simoneau, was ferocious, fast, and feared. Yet what makes the 1998 season so compelling is not just the victories—it’s the crushing fall from grace that followed.
Unfinished Business does not shy away from the haunting night of December 5, 1998. In the Big 12 Championship Game, Kansas State faced Texas A&M. With a national title shot within reach, the Wildcats squandered a 15-point fourth-quarter lead. In double overtime, they fell 36-33, and with the loss went not only their national championship dreams but also a BCS bowl invitation. The documentary captures the stunned silence, the tears in the locker room, and the disbelief in Snyder’s eyes.
The film draws strength from its emotional resonance, not just statistics. It explores how that season reshaped Kansas State’s identity, elevating a program from obscurity to perennial contender. For Bishop, Simoneau, Darnell McDonald, and countless others, it was a season of a lifetime—marked not by a trophy, but by resilience and pride.
More than two decades later, the echoes of 1998 still reverberate through the “Little Apple.” Unfinished Business is more than a documentary. It’s a tribute to a team that changed what it meant to believe in the impossible.
