One week ago I wrote about Kansas State facing a must-win game against West Virginia in just the Wildcats' third Big 12 Conference battle.
Things certainly have changed.
The Wildcats not only rallied from a 21-point second half deficit to knock off Bob Huggins' Mountaineers, K-State followed it up by clawing back from seven points down in the final minutes to stun No. 20 Iowa State in Ames on another Barry Brown game-winner:
The comeback against West Virginia was the largest in school history.
The win over the Cyclones represented Bruce Weber's 23rd win at K-State over a Top 25 opponent, the most of any coach in program history.
Brown was named Big 12 Player of the Week following back-to-back 20-plus point outings and game winners over the Mountaineers and Cyclones.
Kam Stokes has returned from injury and settled into a great role for the Wildcats, averaging 12 points and 5.0 assists against just 0.5 turnovers a game in the two-game surge.
Oh, and Dean Wade is back, too - much sooner than expected - and chipped in with a team high nine rebounds in Ames.
That doesn't mean everything is perfect.
The Wildcats, picked to finish second in the Big 12 and No. 12 in the preseason Top 25, currently sit tied with four other teams for third place in the Big 12 and are still outside the Top 25 (although receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Polls).
The offense is still struggling, and both Wade and Stokes may well battle their injury situations throughout the season.
Clearly, there's still work to be done.
That doesn't mean you can't praise what Weber, his coaching staff and his players have done in the last week and the trajectory they appear to be on going forward, however.
Many fans were (admittedly, to their credit) quick to jump to panic mode, and some went as far as to suggest Weber had lost his team.
While the first point is a matter of opinion and could be debated, those behind the scenes will assure you this team was not even close to being "lost."
Concerned? Certainly, but not bailing on the season.
K-State's players believed (and believe) this is who they always were, and the Wildcats firmly believe they're in the thick of the Big 12 Conference race.
There is confidence within that they're able to achieve any and all goals they laid out for themselves before the season tipped off.
To continue moving in the right direction, however, K-State faces a pair of tough challenges Wednesday night:
1. Dealing with success - Weber has acknowledged he thinks it's possible his players thought things would be "too easy" heading into this season and may have taken some things for granted.
The off-season work and preparation was there, but the understanding of how to deal with the target being on your own back in game situations may have been lacking.
Can K-State keep the praise and success from biting the Wildcats again?
2. No. 20 Oklahoma - This is a very, very good Sooner team.
Oklahoma is experienced (the most experienced in the country, by some metrics), well coached (Lon Kruger), tested (only Big 12 team to play more true road games than K-State) and proven (13-3 with wins over the likes of TCU, Oklahoma State, Northwestern, Creighton, USC, Wichita State, Notre Dame and Florida, among others).
Oh, and toss in the fact K-State has struggled - heavily - in its last two trips to Norman and Wednesday night's contest with the Sooners becomes a tad more worrisome.
No, this is nowhere near a must-win like last week's mid-week meeting with the Mountaineers.
It is, however, a heck of an opportunity to show a season has REALLY turned around and the Wildcats could be a legitimate competitor in this league race.
