Manhattan ? 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 today 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 pull it together gradually. 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.