Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Bill Snyder doesn’t say if he really expected his team to be perched at the top of the Big 12 North Division midway through his first season back at Kansas State.

But the relative parity of the North Division has resulted in a chance where any team can dream of claiming the North title.

	Jeff Moffett/Icon SMI
	Brandon Banks is one of the new additions and reasons Kansas State is a success story this season.

And the plucky Wildcats have jumped on it in Snyder’s first season back after a three-year coaching sabbatical. Their surprising run to the top has been one of the biggest shockers in college football this season.

“Nothing really surprises me very much, having been around the game for as long as I have," Snyder said. "I can't tell you that was projected. Nor was the way the Big 12 North is perceived at this point.

"But anything can happen. I'm not sure where we are now and what reality is."

The immediate future is remarkably clear for the Wildcats heading into their pivotal Sunshine Showdown game against Kansas Saturday in Manhattan. If they can keep winning, they have the inside track to their first North Division championship since 2003.

Few would have perceived that to happen before the start of the season. The Wildcats and Iowa State were fashionable contenders to battle to stay out of the North Division cellar.

But the 5-4 Wildcats can likely claim the title by winning their last two home games and having Nebraska lose twice.

“A lot of people have doubted us, but it’s been kind of fun to prove them wrong,” senior KSU tackle Nick Stringer said. “It might be a surprise to a lot of people, but not to us. We expected to be where we are at.”

Many wondered about Snyder’s sanity for coming back into coaching considering the recent struggles at Kansas State while programs like Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas seemingly were pointed upward.

The wily Snyder has trumped those recent gains in his first season back in what some are calling “The Manhattan Miracle, Part II.”

Earlier in his career, Snyder turned a losing culture around for the KSU program, becoming just the second program to record six 11-win seasons in a seven-season span. The moribund program he inherited when he was originally hired in 1989 was in the midst of a 0-26-1 losing streak when he arrived.

While this turnaround isn’t as complete, it’s likely as satisfying considering what he inherited.

The Wildcats’ early success is coming despite a mismatched roster. Big 12 leading rusher Daniel Thomas came to the program expecting to play quarterback. Top offensive playmaker Brandon Banks was a high-school track star who chose to attend KSU over San Jose State at the last minute. Quarterback Grant Gregory is a sixth-year senior who transferred from South Florida earlier this summer only looking for a chance to play. And top safety Tysyn Hartman nearly switched to quarterback before last season.

But this group is playing to its potential after working less than a year with Snyder.

“I think for the most part, everybody on the team bought into what Coach Snyder is all about,” said Stringer, who was originally recruited to the program by Snyder in his last recruiting class. “He’s a great coach. And he’s really got people believing in themselves and each other.”

The team had its struggles early, losing to a Louisiana-Lafayette team that Nebraska later beat 55-0.

And their play in the conference has been also uneven. They were trounced in their conference opener by 52 points by Texas Tech but later beat Texas A&M by 48 points.

“These are young guys and they want to do well, but there’s an immense inconsistency that exists game to game and quarter to quarter,” Snyder said. “We’re Jekyll and Hyde from quarter to quarter from where we want to be.”

Earlier in his career, Snyder might have been tested by a team which such maddening inconsistencies.

But after turning 70 last month, Snyder is showing remarkable restraint and coaching prowess with this team. He would be the conference’s Coach of the Year by acclamation if a poll was taken today.

“We’re really kind of a rag-tag outfit, but the youngsters have made progress,” Snyder said. “That’s the main thing. I’m proud of their improvement. The entirety has gotten a little bit better as the season has progressed. We’ve had our dips in the road, but we’ve made a progressive movement to get where we are.”