One year after going undefeated in conference action heading into the Big 12 Championships, the Cyclones head into this year’s event as the undisputed underdog.

No. 11 Iowa State (9-10, 0-5 Big 12) was outscored 143-54 in all five of its conference duals this season. Despite being in a transition year of redshirting most of the incoming talent, ISU coach Kevin Jackson is still expecting a strong showing at the Big 12 Championships.

“I think with the youth of our team, they’ll be able to wrestle in their first Big 12 Championship in front of their home crowd, sleeping in their own beds is an advantage,” Jackson said. “I’m confident that our guys will wrestle as well as they have wrestled all year long.”

Jackson’s optimism will be met with tough Big 12 competition at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday.

Missouri Tigers (15-9, 2-3)

The Tigers unseated three-time defending Midlands champion Iowa in late December, winning the two-day tournament with six placewinners.

Alan Waters, who placed third at 125 pounds at the Midlands, is the Tigers’ most illustrious wrestler with a 36-4 record and a team-high in both decisions and falls with 20 and 11.

Waters, a true freshman, recorded a 19-8 major decision over the Cyclones’ Brandon Jones in the teams’ dual meet on Jan. 13 in Columbia, Mo.

Heavyweight Dominique Bradley stepped into a full-time starting role after playing second fiddle to former national champion Mark Ellis for three seasons.

Bradley is the highest-ranked wrestler on the team at No. 5, according to intermatwrestle.com’s top 20 polls. He is currently 23-3 on the season and is poised to win the Big 12 title at heavyweight.

The team’s lone senior, 141-pounder Todd Schavrien, is 24-6 on the season and led the team in dual points with 79 this season.

Nebraska Cornhuskers (14-5, 2-2)

In its final season in the Big 12, Nebraska has shown improvement, going from a 9-11 stand last season to a winning record of 14-5 this season, despite losing both of its NCAA placewinners — Stephen Dwyer (fourth at 174) and Craig Brester (second at 197) — to graduation.

Top-ranked Jordan Burroughs has made the most of his sixth year of eligibility after he received a medical redshirt following a knee injury early last season. Burroughs moved up from 157 to 165 pounds, where he has gone 29-0 with 17 of his 19 dual victories earning bonus points.

“He’s a great athlete and you’ve got to have superb head-and-hands defense,” said ISU senior Jon Reader of Burroughs. “You’ve got to be able to run the corner down on a guy like that. You’ve got to be ready to block his shots. He’s got one hell of a double-leg [attack] and you know it’s coming.”

Burroughs, a two-time All-American and 2009 national champion, will be working to win his third Big 12 championship before heading to the NCAA tournament at 165 — the only weight class that has been granted an automatic qualifying bid for all five of its wrestlers in the Big 12.

Oklahoma Sooners (13-2, 3-2)

In Jack Spates’ final year as coach of the team, Oklahoma has suffered only two losses, both of which came at the hands of intrastate rival Oklahoma State.

In its Jan. 21 dual meet against Iowa State in Ames, seven of its 10 wrestlers recorded victories, five of which were awarded bonus points in the 33-7 victory.

Former All-American Zack Bailey is the Sooners’ wrestler to watch, having gone 15-0 in dual competition this season en route to compiling a 23-2 overall record. Bailey led the team in takedowns with 61 with a vast gap between the second-most takedowns on the team, 38, by 197-pounder Keldrick Hall.

At 165 pounds, Tyler Caldwell has done his share of heavy lifting on the way to his team’s success, going 28-4 overall with a 12-1 mark in dual meets.

Caldwell was the only wrestler to record a major decision on the Cyclones’ Andrew Sorenson, who has been one of the most consistent wrestlers for Iowa State with a record of 16-5.

Oklahoma State Cowboys (15-2-1, 5-2)

The defending Big 12 champion Cowboys are coming to Hilton as the odds-on favorites to re-claim its title.

The Cowboys’ lineup is latent with talent, boasting six wrestlers who have reached at least 20 wins on the season, the most of any team in the Big 12.

Jordan Oliver is ranked No. 1 at 133 pounds and is 22-0 on the season while leading the team in takedowns with 90. Oliver, a sophomore, has also recorded the second-most dual points in the Big 12 with 87 — second to only Nebraska’s Burroughs, who notched 92.

Last season, Oliver earned co-Outstanding Wrestler honors last season as he helped the Cowboys upset then-favorite Iowa State for the Big 12 Championship last season in Norman, Okla.

The Cowboys’ other undefeated wrestler, 197-pounder Clayton Foster, is 20-0 this season while recording the second-most takedowns on the team with 59.

Other wrestlers to watch include Jon Morrison (125), Jamal Parks (149) and Dallas Bailey (165).