A month remains in the regular season, and the ball bounces funny in the Big 12 North every weekend. But for all the uncertainty left for a collection of programs that have yet to qualify one for a bowl game, we know enough to reach some conclusions about Kansas State. </p><p>First, the Wildcats have become the division favorite, and not just because they sit atop the jumbled standings. The final three quarters Saturday, when K-State charged back at Oklahoma and threw a fright into the Sooners, was as impressive an accomplishment produced by a North team this season. </p><p>With two of its three games remaining at home, starting with Saturday morning&rsquo;s Sunflower Showdown against Kansas, Wildcats victories can turn the big Thanksgiving weekend of Nebraska-Colorado and Missouri-Kansas into a moot point when it comes to the title race while K-State sits idle. Winning the division might happen for the Wildcats.</p><p> What <em>has</em> happened is more important to those most heavily invested in the program. Kansas State&rsquo;s improvement from the opening kickoff until now is nothing less than amazing. To progress from an escape in the opener against Division I-AA Massachusetts and a loss at Sun Belt also-ran Louisiana-Lafayette to mauling Texas A&M and pushing an Oklahoma team that&rsquo;s won 64 of 66 on home turf under Bob Stoops is why coaches coach.</p><p> Improving over the course of the season is precisely the opposite direction taken in the final two years under Ron Prince. The 2007 season opened with a hard-fought loss at Auburn and a triumph over Texas in the first month. It ended with four straight losses. Last season, the Wildcats stood 4-2 and collected a victory at A&M before things spiraled out of control with five straight losses and no postseason once again.</p><p> Those teams couldn&rsquo;t handle adversity. This group responded to a 52-point loss to Texas Tech with a 48-point victory over Texas A&M in seven days. The Wildcats are far from a powerhouse, but they&rsquo;ve played to their strengths, like riding running back Daniel Thomas and stocking their special teams. They have patched up weaknesses, and it may be enough to get Kansas State to Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 championship game in December. </p><p>My preseason thought was Kansas State would be better directed, organized and disciplined in Bill Snyder&rsquo;s return. But losing a first-round draft pick quarterback in Josh Freeman and entering the season with one of the top defensive players, end Brandon Harold, out with a knee injury, would keep things in a rebuilding mode. The Wildcats wouldn&rsquo;t lose the close ones. They certainly wouldn&rsquo;t be out-prepared or outcoached. </p><p>Still, it would be asking too much to overtake three programs in Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri coming off bowl victories and hungry for more. But the Jayhawks, Cornhuskers and Tigers have had their issues. All played well enough to find a spot in the polls early and poorly enough lately that none appear on the latest top 25 ballots in the wire service lists. Kansas State does. The Wildcats received a No. 25 vote in the coaches&rsquo; poll. </p><p>Those happen to be Kansas State&rsquo;s final three opponents, and each of them will carry a big-game feel starting Saturday. The Jayhawks have won three straight and four of five in the series that once served as the height of embarrassment when the program dropped 11 in a row to Kansas State. </p><p>Kansas, like the Wildcats, comes into the game off a loss, but carries a different fame of mind. The Jayhawks have dropped three straight. They kicked away an opportunity for a season-defining triumph at Texas Tech on Saturday by being outscored 28-0 in the fourth quarter. Worse, Mark Mangino either feared for Todd Reesing&rsquo;s safety, an indictment of the offensive line, or lost confidence in the winningest quarterback in school history when he yanked him in the fourth quarter. </p><p>With a victory Saturday, Kansas can put on the brakes and stake a claim in the division race, something Kansas State, surprisingly, already has achieved.</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="subhead">Hook &rsquo;em</span></strong></p><p>Texas is No. 2 in the new BCS standings, right behind No. 1 Florida. <strong>Story, B6</strong></p><p></div>