Or in this case, to what the teams about to step out from behind the curtain to settle who's the Wizard of the Big 12 North have done to this point.

Fans of Nebraska and Kansas State (and media that cover both teams) can create any kind of scenario they want when trying to decide where the edge lies.

What should we make of the home-brewed thumpings the Cornhuskers and Wildcats put on Kansas and Iowa State, respectively, Saturday?

Does 56-10 against the Cyclones prove that K-State is back after struggling the previous three weeks? You remember those losses to Oklahoma and Texas A&M; sandwiched around a sloppy win against Texas Tech, right?

Was Iowa State merely a Big 12 North-contending wanna-be bump in the road? Probably. But gosh, you thought the Cyclones might do something, anything, to make the Cats think they'd be needing their claws.

About the time Kansas State comes out of Boulder, Colo., laughing, you're thinking Bill Snyder has another great team. Then, the Cats hit the skids and you think you were fooled into thinking they were great.

Then this. Now what?

Naturally, Frank Solich hopes to convince his bunch the Wildcats belong in that "great" category. But there's a catch.

"They're like a lot of teams," Solich said. "At times, they have played great. At times, they have played not like they'd hoped."

One thing Solich is counting on is K-State being about as juiced as a feline on catnip when Nebraska hits town next Saturday.

Snyder's team is in the same boat at Solich's - another loss ends a lot of team goals. So maybe we shouldn't be surprised the Wildcats won in a rout in the tuneup.

"It did surprise me a little bit because A&M; beat them last week," NU defensive tackle Jeremy Slechta said. "You've got to show up. Kansas State didn't, and A&M; beat them. But they must have played well today because they handed it to Iowa State."

OK. So what about Nebraska? Or maybe the better question is: What's up with Kansas?

That's a team that, even with seven turnovers, played Oklahoma as competitively as the Huskers did on the same field.

Where was that squad Saturday? Do things change in Lawrence, Kan., once basketball practice starts?

Or just maybe was it the same club, and Nebraska just played so well it didn't matter?

In the post-game scene of Saturday's 56-17 win, Solich spent a moment talking about injuries. Indirectly, he even alluded to the one suffered to his team's ego last week.

"We needed to put that behind us and move forward," he said, "and I think they did that."

Solich went so far to say Big Red looked better in some areas Saturday than it did pre-Oklahoma.

Offensive tackle Jason Schwab was even laughing through the pain of a foot injury and talking about how the Huskers were feeling "like the kid that's been told you can't do this."

Where's all the media that had a huge crush on Nebraska before last week?

"A lot of people were saying how we're this and that. We're the same team," Schwab said. "We tripped, had a bad game and fell. But you can't count us out. We're a very dangerous team when we're hitting on all cylinders."

Agreed. But so is Kansas State.

What's it mean? Probably that whichever team can bottle its energy and then release it in the steadiest doses will be the one leaving KSU Stadium more revved up than when it arrived.

My crystal ball isn't responding to any more questions. But it did want me to point out something kind of eerie for us all to chew on while we munch the last of the Halloween candy.

Both Nebraska and Kansas State beat Kansas by 39 points.

As Count Floyd used to say, "Ooooohhhhhhh! Scaaaaaary!"

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.