The Wildcats lost at home to Marshall in September, and followed it up with losses to #13 Texas in Austin, and Oklahoma State in Stillwater.

In one of the most stunning upsets in national conference championship history, Kansas State upended Oklahoma, consensus No.

This was the fourth consecutive win for the North Division champ in an odd-numbered year – Nebraska in 1997 and ’99, Colorado in 2001 and KSU in 2003.

Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder’s squad played fundamental football in the Wildcats’ third trip to the title game, amassing 519 yards of total offense and clutch defense in the red zone to produce victory.

Snyder's Wildcats then began a 35–0 run almost 15 minutes later in game time as tight end Brian Casey caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ell Roberson.