The game featured the
Navy Midshipmen of the
American Athletic Conference (AAC) and the
Kansas State Wildcats of the
Big 12 Conference. This was the first meeting between the two programs.
Navy Navy entered the game with a 10–2 record (7–1 in conference), ranked 21st in the
AP Poll. The Midshipmen finished tied with
Memphis atop the West Division of the AAC; the Tigers advanced to the
AAC Championship Game due to their win over Navy in September. Navy faced two ranked FBS teams during the season, defeating
SMU and losing to
Notre Dame. Navy averaged 360.82 yards rushing per game during the regular season, 49 yards more than any other FBS team. Their 10 regular season wins, including a December 14 victory in the
Army–Navy Game, was a seven-win improvement over their
2018 team that finished 3–10. This was Navy's second Liberty Bowl; their
1981 team appeared in that season's
Liberty Bowl, losing to
Ohio State, 31–28.
Kansas State Kansas State entered the game with an 8–4 record, having recorded three more wins than their
2018 team. They were 5–4 in conference, finishing in a four-way tie for third place in the Big 12. The Wildcats defeated both ranked FBS teams they faced,
Oklahoma and
Iowa State. Kansas State head coach
Chris Klieman previously led
North Dakota State to four FCS titles. During the regular season, the Wildcats allowed only 21.5 points per game and had the third-best passing defense based on passing yardage. Jordan Brown led the offense with 698 yards in only 10 games; as a team, they averaged 189 rushing yards per game.{{cite web|url=https://www.ksnt.com/news/top-stories/k-state-to-face-navy-in-liberty-bowl/|publisher=
KSNT|access-date=December 9, 2019|title=K-State to face Navy in Liberty Bowl |first=Sully |last=Engels ==Game summary==