NORMAN, Okla. -- Bill Snyder sat behind the table with his arms crossed above it and legs crossed below. Unenthusiastically, he spoke as if Kansas State had just completed a successful Tuesday practice.

But after a stunning 31-30 victory at Oklahoma, Snyder's players couldn't keep up the ruse.

"I'd be lying if I said this was just another win," K-State wide receiver Curry Sexton said. "It's a humongous win."

On Saturday, K-State -- with some assistance from West Virginia, which toppled Baylor a few minutes later -- turned the Big 12 title race upside down and grabbed one of the most humongous wins of the Snyder era. Not only did the Wildcats (5-1, 3-0 Big 12) all but eliminate Oklahoma (5-2, 2-2) from the playoff picture, but they also inserted themselves right into the thick of it -- whether Snyder wanted to admit it or not.

"[Playoff selection] is a hundred years from now, which is about my age," said Snyder, who turned 75 this past week. "It's way down the line."

As usual, Snyder isn't wrong. K-State has one of the most difficult remaining schedules in the country, with trips to TCU, West Virginia and Baylor looming at the end of the season. But in a hostile environment, against a more talented team that almost everyone had penciled into the playoff just a month ago, the Wildcats flashed a championship-caliber mettle that could take them far.

"You match us up on paper against a lot of teams, and you'll say they have better athletes and better players, but at the end of the day, we have a bunch of guys who just go out there and play football and make plays," said Sexton, one of K-State's many current or former walk-ons who fills a major role. "This team is full of gritty, tough guys who simply know how to win. You can't beat that."

On Saturday, that grit was the difference. And in Synder's words, some good fortune helped.

The Wildcats were dominated in the box score, from yardage gained (533-to-385) to first downs (30-to-17). But after they missed three field goals in the loss to Auburn this past month, the special teams breaks went K-State's way. Kicker Michael Hunnicutt, Oklahoma's all-time scoring leader who had earned the nickname "Moneycutt" for his reliability, had an extra point blocked and missed two chip-shot field goals, including a 19-yarder late in the fourth quarter that would have given Oklahoma a 33-31 lead with 5:39 to go.

But before and after the last missed field goal, the Wildcats demonstrated the grit that could make them the team to beat in the Big 12.

Uncoverable wideout Sterling Shepard and Oklahoma's rugged running game had finally worn down the Wildcats in the fourth quarter. The Sooners rammed Samaje Perine between the tackles 68 yards to the K-State 2-yard line and set up first-and-goal and a potential go-ahead touchdown. But Oklahoma would get no farther.

Perine was stuffed on the next three plays, which forced the Sooners into a field-goal attempt.

"OU's offense is very physical and fast," K-State defensive end Ryan Mueller said. "But we got some tough guys, too."

After Hunnicutt hooked the field-goal attempt, the K-State offense did the rest.

"We were thinking, Let's get two first downs and get out of here," Sexton said.

Quarterback Jake Waters, who played through an injury to his throwing shoulder after a 53-yard run to open the third quarter, hit Sexton on a quick out for the initial first down on third-and-3. Two plays later, Charles Jones dashed through the Oklahoma front for the second first down to seal the win.

"You keep sawing wood, keep rowing the boat," Snyder said. "All the numbers were against us, and they were having their way with us. But when we had to stiffen up ... we did."

While K-State entered the season under the radar, Oklahoma came in with national championship expectations after they returned the bulk of a team that beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Oklahoma started with a dominating 4-0 start. But in the past three weeks, the Sooners have stumbled on the field and tumbled out of the playoff conversation.

Just as they had in the loss at TCU two games ago, the Sooners couldn't convert late when they had to, and they couldn't overcome catastrophic mistakes.

Despite missing a series with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight played his best overall game since the Sugar Bowl. He threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns. But he also threw a mindless pick-six to Danzel McDaniel from his own end zone, which gave K-State a 14-7 second-quarter lead.

The Sooners kept moving the ball at will in the second half. But from the K-State 17 in the third quarter, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Josh Heupel dialed up a Durron Neal reverse pass that was intercepted by Morgan Burns in the end zone.

"We did a lot of good things today, but those major mistakes, you can't overcome it," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said.

The Sooners had a chance to overcome those mistakes at the end, but they couldn't punch the ball through the K-State defense. They couldn't make a field goal. And the defense couldn't get the ball back.

As a result, for the sixth consecutive season, Oklahoma bowed out of the national championship chase by mid-October.

"This game doesn't define us," Knight said. "We're not a losing ball club. There's no chance we're going to take that mentality. We've been in this position before. Everyone doubted us when we were in this position [in 2013], and we ended up having that pretty incredible end of the year."

While the Sooners will now be playing merely to finish strong, K-State will be playing for a chance at the conference title -- and perhaps a spot in the playoff, too -- thanks to its grit, which conquered all when it mattered most.

"We're a real tough team," Jones said. "And we feel like we're a real contender."

"Who knows how far we can go."