It's safe to say, Kansas State has fallen far below its preseason expectations at 3-4.

However, it's starting to return somewhat to form over the last three weeks, and it certainly has a better outlook than it did a month ago.

One media outlet proves it. ESPN revealed its Football Power Index (FPI), with Kansas State at No. 8 among the Big 12 teams.

2025 College Football Power Index - ESPN View the 2025 College Football power index on ESPN. The FPI is the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season.

ESPN, like many, was a massive preseason advocate for the Wildcats dominating their conference. A slow start has the team below .500 and at risk of finishing with a losing record. The team has looked more like itself the last few weeks, averaging 36.3 points while finally starting to lock down on defense. The chunk plays need to be halted, but there were a lot of positives for a reeling defensive unit.

"I want to credit the kids and the coaches because it’s been hard," Klieman said in his TCU postgame interview. "I just keep telling them to keep improving. I believe in them, I love them, and if we stay the course and keep fighting for each other, I still think we have a really good football team. We were banged up. We didn’t have Dylan [Edwards], and Jayce [Brown] was banged up. He wasn’t a huge factor, and so we had to grind it out. I thought Joe Jackson played really well, and our O-line played really well."

It's unfamiliar territory for Klieman and the Wildcats, who have been arguably the most consistent team in the Big 12 since 2021. The performance against TCU was encouraging, as it was perhaps the best game of Kansas State's season.

"I thought we played well in all three phases at times," Klieman said. "There’s always going to be things that we’ve gotta get better at and work at, but we came out with energy and urgency. We came out with physicality and did some really good things. We let the first quarter slip, where we had some opportunities and didn’t capitalize. But to have the resolve after they scored, go right down the field and tie it, and then the big play that we get with Wesley [Fair] on the touchdown. Obviously, it was a big lift for us."

The Wildcats have their hands full over the next few weeks. They face their in-state rivals, Kansas, before playing Texas Tech, which has been the class of the conference thus far.