Kansas State Can Make National Noise With Victory Over Oklahoma

The No. 8 Kansas State Wildcats (7-0) take on the No. 9 Oklahoma Sooners (6-1) in a Saturday afternoon matchup that has K-State primed to make national headlines with a victory.

Over the past couple of weeks the Wildcats have slowly climbed the polls and BCS standings with victories over Baylor and Texas Tech, throw in the blowout victory of the Kansas Jayhawks and K-State has entered the discussion for national prominence. But even those victories and perceived prominence hasn't changed a whole lot as the Wildcats come into Saturday's matchup with Oklahoma as 14-point underdogs, at home.

It's nothing new for K-State to be the underdog and to have people doubt how far along this team, and this program are from teams like Oklahoma and their opponent in two weeks, Oklahoma State. But they just continue to play fundamentally sound football and let their play on the field speak for itself. That's the way Bill Snyder has done it in the past and that's the way he'll continue to do it in the future.

This will be the biggest game for Kansas State football since 2003 when they beat Oklahoma for a Big XII Championship. The biggest difference between that Wildcat team and this one is that the 2005 team was expected to play well that year and be in the mix for a Big XII title. This years' team has come out of nowhere to throw their name in the hat as a team ready to compete for a conference championship. Saturday's game will determine how close they are to that goal.