I am not underestimating the weirdness of college football...in fact, that is exactly what I am saying is the foundation of KSU's record over us. There is no huge statistical home field advantage for KSU. It is noise over other factors. And while Huckleberry is right that KSU got lucky that the old Big 12 scheduling had them missing us at our two peaks, Mack had a weird inability to beat KSU, even when he brought in what should have been the better team.
The reality is that, since Mack, the record more or less matches the quality of the teams. Strong's two losses came against Snyder's last two 9-win teams and his win was against a Wildcat team that barely made a bowl. Last year, both teams were just barely better than .500 and we won in double overtime. Obviously, I hope our close win over what is likely another weak KSU squad, is just part of the ups and downs of quality during the season and we prove to be 'back' by winning the conference.