After a decisive win by No. 3 Oklahoma over top-rated Nebraska, unranked Texas A&M shocked No. 10 Kansas State 26-10, the results putting a curious twist on the Big 12 standings -- not to mention their national championship implications.

Suddenly, the Aggies are a player in the Big 12 race, tied for second in the South Division with Texas at 4-1 in the conference and 6-2 overall. They have a good chance of getting back into the Top 25 this week, too. And, Oklahoma beware, they seem to be improving every week.

Kansas State's Brice Libel sits on the end of the bench as another tough loss comes to a close.(AP)

"We have enough talent in our locker room to beat anybody in the country," A&M sophomore quarterback Mark Farris said after orchestrating the upset. "They say you have to earn respect, and we felt like we finally got a little bit today."

And Kansas State?

"We're about what you see," coach Bill Snyder said, "which is not real good right now."

But were the Wildcats ever as good as once advertised in another season gone up in smoke? Their plunge from national prominence continues after their second loss in three games. Ranked as high as No. 2 before their loss at home to Oklahoma, the Cats will drop a few more notches this week. Interestingly, though, they're really in no worse shape than before the game began, since Nebraska lost as well. The Cornhuskers still lead the North with a 4-1 record, 7-1 overall, with Kansas State sitting at 3-2 and 7-2.

K-State state can even things up by beating Nebraska, which visits Manhattan on Nov. 11. But that suddenly is a secondary matchup to the one that same day here, when Oklahoma visits Kyle Field. Both games could determine the finalists for the Big 12 championship game.

While A&M is climbing, on the strength of a defense that has allowed just 17 points in its last three games, Kansas State is proving once again that a weak non-conference schedule does little to prepare it for the rigors of big-time college football.

Can you say overrated? Consider:

A scoring offense that ranked third in the nation with an average of 48.4 points per game: Vastly overrated.

Gaudy stats like 455.4 yards per game average total offense were padded with victories against non-conference cupcakes like Louisiana Tech, Ball State and North Texas. The Pussycats were a mere 1-for-6 on third-down conversions in the first half and held scoreless into the intermission for the first time since a 12-0 loss at Colorado on Nov. 16, 1996.

A defense that ranked sixth in the nation, allowing just 250.9 total yards per game, with a rushing defense that ranked fifth allowing 78.9 yards: Ridiculously overrated.

Texas A&M rolled up 230 yards in the first half alone, slapping the Wildcat defense around during an 11-play, 97-yard drive that consumed 4:37. Suddenly, a team that had outscored its opponents 234-66 in the first half this season found itself trailing 19-0 at the intermission after Ja'Mar Toombs ended the long drive by plowing his way up the middle virtually untouched for an 8-yard TD run -- his second of three in the game. To suggest A&M moved the ball at will against Kansas State would be only a slight exaggeration, considering the Aggies were 6-of-9 on third-down conversions in a 19-point first half and an incredible 9-of-18 in the game against a team that had been allowing opponents to convert on just 29 percent of third-down opportunities (36-of-126).

A streak of 60 consecutive victories over seven years against unranked opponents: Simply over.

An 8-0 record against Big 12 teams within the borders of the state of Texas: Done.

Their dreams of playing in the BCS tournament? Kaput. Again.

"They've got some unbelievable numbers in their press release," Aggies coach R.C. Slocum said. "But you can look at it two ways: Either the odds are pretty good they're going to win this game, too, or maybe the odds are against them that they've got to lose one some time."

Wasn't supposed to be Saturday, though.

"It was kinda funny. We were running onto the field and I heard some K-State fan yell, 'Your losing streak starts today,'" A&M offensive guard Chris Valletta said. "I'm thinking, 'Where have you been?' We don't lose on Kyle field."

At least not against highly-ranked opponents. Saturday's victory was A&M's sixth in a row over a ranked team at Kyle Field and the third over Top 10 team.

Give the crowd of 80,659 -- third-largest in Kyle Field history -- an assist. It was loud.

How loud was it? So loud K-State quarterback Jonathan Beasley had trouble communicating at the line of scrimmage. He couldn't audible when he needed to and his line couldn't hear his cadence. The 'Cats were whistled for four false starts and one delay of game penalty, all in the first half.

"Loudest I ever heard it," A&M's junior center Seth McKinney said. "I was getting a headache. Crowd noise was ringing in my ears. But I loved it. It was great."

Now the Aggies will be screaming for a little national attention of their own by the pollsters, but Slocum knows progress is measured in small steps with a young team.

"I'm not sure if this was considered a big game to a lot of people, but it was to some of us. It was to me," Slocum said. "As I told our team this week, in life, people just don't go around handing out respect. You've got to earn it. If it was respect we asked for, then we had to step up, and today we did."

But no, unlike K-State before Saturday's game, the Aggies harbor no delusions about national championships.

"We're just happy that with today's win we qualified for a bowl game," Slocum said.

Officials from both the Independence Bowl and the Holiday Bowl attended Saturday's game. Not exactly what Kansas State had in mind only a few weeks ago. But it's what the Aggies were hoping for. Both teams, in their own ways, earned it Saturday.