Let's put some perspective on what Bruce Weber has accomplished in his time as the head coach at Kansas State.

When Weber arrived to replace Frank Martin in 2012, K-State had not won any part of a conference championship in basketball since 1977.

That means from 1978 through 1986, Jack Hartman (who won three regular season titles in 1972, 1973 and 1977) won zero conference championships.

From 1986-1990, Lon Kruger won zero conference championships.

From 1990-1994, Dana Altman won zero conference championships.

From 1994-2000, Tom Asbury won zero conference championships.

From 2000-2006, Jim Wooldridge won zero conference championships.

In Bob Huggins' lone season, 2006-07, K-State didn't win the league and went to the NIT.

From 2007-2012, Frank Martin won zero conference championships.

Now, in seven years, Weber has won two Big 12 titles.

For clarity, in the 34 years prior to K-State hiring Bruce Weber, the Wildcats won the league exactly - well - never, under Hartman, Kruger, Altman, Asbury, Wooldrige, Huggins and Martin.

Not only is he far and away the most successful coach in league play over the last 40 years for the Wildcats, he's nearly the only other coach - anywhere in the league - who's made any kind of dent in Kansas' Big 12 dominance since arriving in Manhattan.

Only three teams (Kansas, K-State and Texas Tech) have tasted a Big 12 crown since Weber's arrival. The Jayhawks have six times, K-State twice, and Tech once.

Again, for clarity, in Weber's seven years he has more conference titles than Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech and West Virginia.

Combined.

Care more about tournament success than conference titles?

If so, Weber's trip to the Elite Eight a year ago ties for the Wildcats' furthest trip into March since a 1964 Final Four appearance.

Any way you want to slice it, Weber is easily one of the greatest coaches in K-State basketball history and clearly the best of the last 40 years.

I'd imagine a large majority of Wildcat fans will happily acknowledge this.

Whether they believed from the start, jumped on board mid-way through or didn't fully believe until this very moment, most in purple have gained a proper appreciation for Weber (and his staff, consisting of Chris Lowery, Chester Frazier and Brad Korn) at this point.

This was hard to picture happening just two seasons ago.

Some in the media believed it to be their job to rally the fan base in a belief Weber should be fired three (and four) years ago, which, of course, would have taken away the coach who since has taken K-State to three straight NCAA Tournaments (counting this year) following Weber's two-year dip, an Elite Eight appearance and a streak-snapping Big 12 title this year.

Some have come to accept - and admit - their view of Weber was skewed from the beginning. Which, to be fair, can be understood if not agreed with.

Their was anger directed at John Currie for seemingly forcing out Frank Martin. And Weber - Martin's replacement hand-picked by Currie - became an easy place to direct that anger. Vocally.

The anger didn't go away when Weber immediately shared the Big 12 title in his first season. Instead of praising Weber for doing better with Martin's players in league play than Martin was ever able to do, many devalued the accomplishment because it was with Martin's players.

Always came off an odd (and telling) stance to me which side of that argument somebody decided to take.

Year two was good, too, as a young roster exceeded expectations, beat Kansas and returned to the NCAA Tournament.

When the Marcus Foster fiasco helped tank the following season - and the rebuild around Dean Wade, Kam Stokes and Barry Brown took a year to get off the ground - many had no patience with Weber despite what he proved capable of his first two seasons.

They called for his job loudly, and with passion that seemed personal for some.

Luckily for Wildcat fans, however, Currie - and then Gene Taylor - did have patience. They didn't listen.

They've been rewarded with regular-season success, tournament success, championships and - in a time when this is rare - a clean, honorable program in a sport filled with corruption.

I still sense some will never think of Weber's name the way they fondly remember the likes of Hartman, Kruger, Huggins, Martin or even football's Bill Snyder.

That, I'll never understand.

Others, however, do see Weber for what he is and appreciate him for what he's accomplished: An incredibly successful seven-year stretch working against peers paying for players and a local media/fan-base who fought - hard - against buying in and providing the support (some fans) or impartial coverage (some media) that could have accelerated his success.

Or, at least, been fair to him.

Weber has won, anyway, something he has to silently be very, very proud of.

K-State fans should be, too.