Call Kansas State&#x92;s 24-19 victory over Oklahoma an upset if you wish. By ranking, reputation and recent history, the outcome was unexpected.</p><p>But as the season progresses, the guess here is the game will lose that identity. The Wildcats were the better team Saturday and by season&#x92;s end will finish ahead of the Sooners in the Big 12 standings.</p><p>And it will happen for a second straight year. The Sooners smashed K-State in Manhattan last season, but the Wildcats were the Big 12&#x92;s second-place team. Oklahoma tied for third, which is why the Wildcats went to the Cotton Bowl and Oklahoma the Insight.</p><p>The bigger revelation from Saturday is the altered course of the Big 12 race. Kansas State over Oklahoma, and West Virginia unimpressive against Maryland presents a new reality.</p><p>It&#x92;s Wildcats and Mountaineers, or Mountaineers and Wildcats depending on your poll of choice. Kansas State landed at No. 7 and West Virginia No. 9 in The Associated Press poll on Sunday. They go 7-8 with West Virginia leading in the USA Today coaches poll.</p><p>The Wildcats, who haven&#x92;t been slotted this high since 2003, spent a couple of weeks last season ranked 10th, but this is different.</p><p>A year ago, Kansas State turned a remarkable early-season stretch in which it won four straight as underdogs into jet fuel for the rest of the season. The Wildcats didn&#x92;t seem superior to most on the schedule. Even coach Bill Snyder acknowledged the good fortune that smiled down on the program as it consistently snatched victory from defeat.</p><p>That was a wild and fun ride to 10 victories. But what&#x92;s happen in the season&#x92;s first month has the potential to become more gratifying. Through four games, two against major opponents in Miami and Oklahoma, the Wildcats left no doubt.</p><p>Miami has two ACC road victories, and its one loss was in Manhattan by 39. The Sooners under Bob Stoops had never lost to a ranked team in Norman. But when a tight game reached its critical juncture, Kansas State asserted its will with 38- and 77-yard touchdown drives, wonderfully executing on big third-down plays, keeping the Sooners&#x92; defense gassed.</p><p>Check out K-State&#x92;s fourth-quarter offensive numbers: 133 total yards, seven first downs and 14 points, and the game ended with the Wildcats in victory formation. That&#x92;s the definition of wanting it more.</p><p>Something else to consider about this team&#x92;s potential is the ability of playmakers around quarterback Collin Klein. Make no mistake, he was nails against the Sooners, especially late. But running back John Hubert ran for 130 tough yards. The group of receivers and tight ends has been stellar, and defensively, the Wildcats hounded senior quarterback Landry Jones into one of the worst games of his career.</p><p>Since Snyder returned, there&#x92;s been a sense that restoring Kansas State to its peak power of the late 1990s and early 2000s couldn&#x92;t happen. The Wildcats couldn&#x92;t recruit the talent and depth it takes to consistently play at that double-digit victory level of the past.</p><p>Saturday&#x92;s outcome provides the most overwhelming evidence against that misguided notion.</p><p>The jury remains out on Oklahoma, which has an underwhelming victory at UTEP, a big-margin victory against an overwhelmed Florida A&M and now a home loss opening conference play. The Sooners don&#x92;t often play from behind in the conference race, but that&#x92;s where they find themselves.</p><p>As for Kansas State, the cover is blown. No more plucky overachiever role.</p><p>&#x93;We like to be underdogs,&#x94; Hubert said after the Oklahoma game. &#x93;It gives us the confidence to go out and play hard.&#x94;</p><p>That&#x92;s all changed now. Only two Big 12 games have been played, and TCU&#x92;s victory over Kansas only confirmed suspicions about both teams. What happened in Norman changed how we look at the league&#x92;s leader. It has a purple hue.