MANHATTAN, Kan.—No way were Kansas State and Colorado going to win the Big 12 North.
The Wildcats were in a rebuilding year after coach Bill Snyder came out of retirement and the Buffaloes, despite coach Dan Hawkins’ bold predictions, didn’t have the talent to compete with the likes of Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.
A title run became even more farfetched when Kansas State lost to Louisiana-Lafayette and got pummeled by Texas Tech, while Colorado had hard-to-swallow losses to Colorado State and Toledo.
Well, guess what?
When Kansas State (4-3, 2-1 Big 12) and Colorado (2-4, 1-1) meet Saturday in Manhattan, it will be for at least a share of the Big 12 North lead.
“It’s so funny, you go from your season is a disaster to holy smokes you’re going to win the north,” Hawkins said.
Kansas State figured to be in for a long season, even with Snyder’s return from a three-year retirement. The Wildcats were coming off consecutive losing seasons and Snyder was behind in the recruiting race, ending up with a class that most recruiting services rated as the worst in the Big 12.
The season got off to a rough start with an eked-out win over Massachusetts followed by a disheartening loss to Louisiana-Lafayette of the Sun Belt Conference. Even after a tight win over Iowa State in the conference opener, the Wildcats seemed to be headed toward another trip to the bottom of the standings after a 66-14 drubbing at Texas Tech.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Kansas State bounced back, beat Texas A&M. Not a nail-biter, either. An annihilation, total domination, a 62-14 beatdown in a 100-point turnaround from the previous week.
“It probably tells us that we’re a little bit goofy and we have no idea where we are,” Snyder said.
Expectations were high in Boulder, thanks to Hawkins’ proclamation of “10 wins and no excuses.”
It was looking more like 10 losses the way the Buffaloes started the season.
But after the loss to in-state rival Colorado State and a nationally televised embarrassment against Toledo, Colorado started to gradually pull it together. The Buffaloes shut out Wyoming, played close for three quarters against West Virginia, then outplayed second-ranked Texas in the first half before eventually losing.
The big step came last week.
Entering as 9 1/2-point underdogs at home, Colorado jumped out to a 24-3 lead and held off Kansas’ high-flying offense just long enough to pull out a 34-30 win. The students stormed the field after and the Buffaloes walked away re-energized, carrying with them the belief that the start of the season was a fluke.
“I think all of us were shocked at the way the season started,” Colorado cornerback Jalil Brown said. “All of us decided that we have to let the young guys know that we can be a good team. We went out there and pushed a little more at practice, the training room, the film room and it paid off. The young guys bought into it and they’re stepping up.”
Next up for these two teams is to see how they handle prosperity.
They certainly know adversity.
Kansas State already seemed to be in decline before Snyder retired, winning no more than seven games in a season since taking the Big 12 championship in 2003. The Wildcats continued to (mostly) beat up on non-conference opponents, but struggled in the Big 12, winning five of 17 games the past three seasons under coach Ron Prince.
Colorado seemed to be in perpetual rebuilding mode after Hawkins took over in 2006. Unable to produce the same kind of magic he had at Boise State, Hawkins has won no more than four conference games in a season and was 14-27 before last week’s win over Kansas.
Now, for once, both teams get a chance to build on something instead of trying to regroup—with first place on the line, no less.
“In order to get ready for the next game, you always have to keep things in perspective,” Snyder said. “You have to be careful about how you think about the previous game. You have to put the past behind you in order to focus on the next game.”
