Call it an unabashed homer pick. Call it ridiculous. Call it what you will.

When Kansas hoists its first Big 12 football championship trophy in Arlington this December, call it a called shot.

That prediction may seem grandiose, but the map to its unfolding is easier to navigate than you think. Just look at the last North team to win the game: Kansas State in 2003.

Although the Wildcats entered the season ranked in the Top 10, a 27-20 loss to Marshall — Kansas State’s first non-conference home loss in 41 games­­— started a three-game slide that nearly derailed their season.

Then uber-mobile quarterback Ell Roberson and the lightening bolt that was Darren Sproles helped generate the rebound of rebounds with six straight victories before shocking top-ranked Oklahoma 35-7 for the Big 12 Championship.

I’m feeling more of the same this winter, with this decade’s top wheat state squad in Kansas State’s stead. Coach Mark Mangino obviously took a few tools after leaving his first assistant coaching gig under Wildcats coach Bill Snyder in 1998. Mangino — ­like Snyder — has masterfully rebuilt a formerly fallen program since his 2002 arrival. A few big pieces are still to be had.

The reason I bring up Kansas State is to illustrate that it can be done, not that it will occur in the same fashion. Sure, there are similarities between the teams, but there are as many differences.

Although Southern Miss is dangerous and Kansas’ 2-10 record in road openers makes Sept. 12’s trip to El Paso scary, I don’t envision a non-conference letdown. But looking at the Jayhawks’ schedule — 26th nationally in difficulty — I do see three losses. That’ll still do. Five of the last six North champions entered the conference title game ranked No. 15 or below. Twice, the North champion was unranked.

I could also envision the shocker coming against an undefeated or one-loss Texas team, orchestrating the latest BCS-busting performance. Recall that 2003 Oklahoma still advanced to the title game after its Big 12 title loss and did so to high controversy.

Personnel-wise, 2009 Kansas and 2003 Kansas State are more foils than mirrors. Senior quarterback Todd Reesing isn’t Roberson. He’s better as a passer and as a leader.

Senior running back Jake Sharp isn’t a Heisman contender like Sproles. He doesn’t need to be. Reesing has long been dubbed “Sparky,” but Sharp is just as apt to provide a surge off a 40-yard run or a catch-and-run of greater length. The Jayhawks also stand to be far deeper at the position than last year.

To compare this team’s wide receivers to those of 2003 Kansas State would be insulting. Senior Kerry Meier (97 receptions in 2008) and junior Dezmon Briscoe (1,407 yards, 15 touchdowns) aren’t just special Kansas players. They’re great college football players with considerable professional upside.

And we shouldn’t sleep on the defense, either. Up front, junior end Jake Laptad (10.5 2008 sacks) is the truth. And it’s a question of when, not if, juco transfer Quintin Woods starts stopping opponents’ plays prematurely.

Linebacker is still a question but the personnel and opportunities are there.

Recall that the same questions about the position were asked when the recently-departed Joe Mortensen, James Holt and Mike Rivera assumed roles that Johnathan Lamb, Banks Floodman and Nick Reid once held.

The Jayhawks seemed to have settled into a consistent secondary depth chart. The team couldn’t have a better leader at one of the areas most crucial to success this season than senior safety Darrell Stuckey.

Hell, who wouldn’t want a quartet of senior captains the likes of Reesing, Sharp, Stuckey and Meier?

At last week’s media day, Mangino and much of his team said all the right things. There was ample “we’re going to take it one week (or game) at a time” to go around.

Mangino, on hand as an assistant during Kansas State’s resurgence in the 90s, Oklahoma’s national championship at the beginning of this century and his current team’s Orange Bowl victory, found a common thread between what he sensed before each season: Nothing. Just thought they had a chance to be good.

And so I went to Stuckey, one of the program’s foremost leaders, players and men. Last season, he led by example with games like his three-turnover performance against Missouri. This year, he’s become vocal enough to merit suggestions from his coach that he enter the political arena one day.

“Let me ask you something,” I prefaced. “Knowing everything you know and seeing everything you’ve seen over the years leading up to this moment, can this team win the Big 12 Championship?”

“Yes,” was the reply delivered without hesitation and with utmost conviction.

That was all I needed.

For Kansas, it will be 9-3 and then history.

And how sweet it would be to do it in the $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium — the posh digs that Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe fawned over last week and mentioned could become the conference title game’s permanent locale.

—Edited by Sarah Kelly