The Kansas State Wildcats are one of college football’s most underrated stories.

Under coach Chris Klieman, the 17th-ranked Wildcats (4-1 Big 12) have won seven of their first eight games, keeping them in the mix for a College Football Playoff berth.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that Kansas State could wind up a Big 12 champion either. The Wildcats travel to play a Houston team on Saturday that regresses nearly every week. Outside of a season finale road game against No. 11 Iowa State on Thanksgiving weekend, the Wildcats avoid a ranked vs. ranked matchup in their next three games.

Despite what appears to be a more manageable schedule on paper, Klieman said Monday he is pleased with how his team has responded when staying poised in close games.

“That’s something that we’ve been preaching the older guys have been preaching that one play at a time the next play we can’t do anything about what has happened now let’s move forward,” Klieman began.

“Same thing happened this week we had a lead and lost the lead,” Klieman said. “Then found a way to keep chipping away and end up getting the lead and not relinquishing it. That’s a collective effort by coaches support staff our players our leadership. It’s a credit to our players really that they’ve stayed the course when we’ve had adversity.”

Given the new 12-team format, the Wildcats’ season could take an exciting turn. College Football News publisher Pete Fiutak included Kansas State as one of three teams still alive for postseason play.

For now, the Wildcats have to take care of business ahead of next week’s initial College Football Playoff Rankings.

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Zain Bando is a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats On SI. He can be reached at zainbando99@gmail.com and on Instagram/’X’ @zainbando99.

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