Baylor (3-5, 0-4 Big 12)

Last week: L 20-10 vs. Nebraska

This week: @ Missouri

Bears coach Art Briles is scratching his head at the 2009 season, which opened with promise and has since been filled in the middle with only four total touchdowns in four conference losses.

The early-season loss of Robert Griffin seems to have taken everything athletic out of the playbook and out of the team’s attitude.

Baylor’s offense needs to find some response to the troubles if it is to chalk up a Big 12 win, as the defense has yet to give up more than 34 points in a game in a schedule that has included both Oklahoma schools and a pair of East Coast foes.

A road trip to Mizzou isn’t promising for an offense that can’t move the ball, but the Bears should win one more to try and send captain and All-Big 12 linebacker Joe Pawelek off with a bang.

Kansas (5-3, 1-3)

Last week: L 42-21 @ Texas Tech

This week: @ Kansas State

The Jayhawks appear to be slumping as low as any team in the Big 12, and they’ve picked a bad time to do it.

Coach Mark Mangino called out his senior quarterback Todd Reesing — who has been struggling with a groin injury that has slowed him down since the Jayhawks’ game with Colorado — two weeks after pronouncing him one of the nation’s best signal-callers, and the Jayhawk defense has shown little more than a pulse, allowing more than 34 points in each of its last five games.

A team in need of some toughness is going to get all the toughness it can handle, closing its regular season schedule with rival Kansas State on the road, recovering Nebraska, Texas and its tilt with the resurgent Missouri Tigers.

If Mangino’s club gets itself seven wins, it’ll have earned them at a time when the program seems to be slipping down a familiar path.

Kansas State (5-4, 3-2)

Last week: L 42-30 @ No. 22 Oklahoma

This week: vs. Kansas

Down 21–0 to the Sooners on the road last Saturday, Kansas State could have wilted under the pressure of playing a ranked powerhouse. They lost the game, but the Wildcats definitely didn’t wilt and proved they may belong at the top of the Big 12 North.

The division is muddier than a pig pen, and putting up 30 points to Oklahoma showed some fight and willpower by Bill Snyder’s club.

They’ll need that fight this week when they take on a reeling Kansas team in the in-state rivalry game in Manhattan.

Daniel Thomas is emerging as one of the best junior college transfers in the country, and the team has shown toughness all season.

The Wildcats may need two wins to reach bowl eligibility, but if they win the Big 12 North by closing out the season strong, they’ll surpass eligibility standards like they’ve flown by expectations for the season.

No. 20 Oklahoma (5-3, 3-1)

Last week: W 42-30 vs. Kansas State

This week: @ Nebraska

The Sooners appear to be rolling again after finishing off the Kansas sweep this past weekend with their 42–30 win over Kansas State, just a week after dominating the Jayhawks on the road. Now, to finish off the Big 12 North portion of its schedule, Oklahoma heads to Lincoln to face a struggling, to say the least, Nebraska team that hasn’t looked good in weeks.

However, the Huskers may provide a stiff defensive challenge for the Sooners and freshman quarterback Landry Jones, who, since taking over for Heisman winner Sam Bradford, has 1,657 yards and 17 touchdowns. Jones put up gaudy numbers against the Wildcats last week, going 26 of 37 passing for 294 yards and four touchdowns.

After struggling against Texas, Oklahoma’s rushing attack has bounced back nicely in the last two games, led by senior Chris Brown going for 149 yards and three total touchdowns — two rushing and one receiving. Brown’s backfield mate Demarco Murray also scored two touchdowns against the Wildcats after missing the Kansas game and getting -3 yards against Texas two weeks prior.

No. 18 Oklahoma State (6–2, 3–1)

Last week: L 41–14 vs. No. 3 Texas

This week: @ Iowa State

In what appeared to be a battle for Big 12 South supremacy, the Cowboys were manhandled by No. 3 Texas. It was the offense, however, that was the problem in Stillwater.

The Oklahoma State defense held the high-powered Texas offense to just 275 yards and 21 points, but the Texas defense scored 14 points on two of OSU quarterback Zac Robinson’s career-high four interceptions. Aside from the turnovers — and Oklahoma State had five of them — the Pokes just generally had trouble moving the ball, only accounting for 277 yards after averaging 417 yards per game coming into the match up.

Robinson only accounted for 143 yards through the air and the Cowboys only managed 134 yards on the ground, highlighting how much they missed having a healthy Kendall Hunter, who was presumed to be healthy going into the game. Hunter, the Big 12’s leading rusher in 2008, saw his first action since mid-September and had just one carry for one yard.

Against the stellar Longhorns’ defense, the loss of All-American Dez Bryant seemed to be much more of a problem than it had in recent weeks. Bryant, suspended indefinitely for what the NCAA called “inappropriate contact with an NFL player,” has been replaced by Hubert Anyiam, a reliable replacement but not the playmaker that Bryant is. Anyiam only had five catches for 62 yards against Texas and has had just two touchdowns this season. Bryant had four touchdowns in the Cowboys’ first four games.

Nebraska (5–3, 2–2)

Last week: W 20–10 @ Baylor

This week: vs. No. 20 Oklahoma

It has been a rough couple of weeks for the Nebraska faithful. After getting demolished at the hands of Texas Tech 31–10, the Huskers lost to Iowa State 9–7 and then struggled to score 20 points against a lowly Baylor squad. The Nebraska offense — a unit that started the season with scores of 49, 38, 55 and had 27 against Missouri just a couple of weeks ago — has become inept at moving the football, averaging just 306 yards and 13 points in its last three games.

Former starting quarterback Zac Lee has been replaced by Cody Green, and Roy Helu Jr., who led the Big 12 in rushing not long ago, has combined for just 48 yards in his last two outings — 24 yards against both Iowa State and Baylor.

The Nebraska defense, however, has been phenomenal so far in Big 12 play. Even in the 21-point loss to Texas Tech, the Huskers only gave up 259 total yards, but were put in bad positioning throughout by the offense’s two turnovers.

Ndamukong Suh has remained dominant, getting seven tackles for loss and three sacks in Big 12 play.

Missouri (5–3, 1–3)

Last week: W 36–17 @ Colorado

This week: vs. Baylor

Tiger fans had to wait four weeks, but Missouri was finally able to pick up its first big win of the season with a 36–17 thumping of Colorado.

Sophomore Blaine Gabbert led the way for the Tigers, passing for 192 yards and two touchdowns. By halftime, Missouri had left a 33–3 gap between itself and Colorado. But the second half blatantly exposed the lack of consistency that has plagued Missouri throughout the conference season.

In their last four games, the Tigers have managed to score only six points. The good news for the Tigers is that last Saturday’s win kept them in contention for a shot at the top of the Big 12 North. Missouri’s remaining schedule is favorable as the Tigers last four opponents — Baylor, Kansas State, Iowa State and Kansas — have a combined 6–12 conference record.

Colorado (2–6, 1–3)

Last week: L 36–17 vs. Missouri

This week: vs. Texas A&M

Apart from an impressive 34–30 win against Kansas two weeks ago, the bright spots have been hard to spot for the Buffaloes. The hole surrounding Colorado’s season just keeps getting bigger after the Buffaloes suffered a 36–17 thrashing by Missouri last weekend.

The offense has remained out-of-sync no matter who takes snaps under center. Tyler Hansen, who has shared time at quarterback with the equally struggling Cody Hawkins, completed 22-of-36 passes for 190 yards and was unable to find the end zone.

Not to be outdone, Colorado’s defense has plenty of problems of its own. Missouri tore through the Buffalo defense for 400 yards and opened a 33–3 lead by halftime.

The defense’s struggles were tempered only slightly by Benjamin Burney’s 78-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter. With only four games remaining, Colorado may be ready to start a paper chain countdown for the days left until winter break. 

No. 2 Texas (8–0, 5–0)

Last week: W 41–14 @ No. 13 Oklahoma State

This week: vs. Central Florida

The Longhorns all but sewed up the Big 12 title with their win this weekend against Oklahoma State. Although Texas only managed 275 yards of offense, the defense stepped up, allowing just 277 yards, creating five turnovers and keeping Oklahoma State at arms length the entire game.

Texas has a one-game lead in the South, but it now owns the tiebreaker against the Cowboys. The Longhorns will not play another ranked team this season and that includes the Big 12 championship game as none of the Big 12 North teams are ranked.

Texas Tech (6–3, 3–2)

Last week: W 42–21 vs. Kansas

This week: Bye

Texas Tech got back to its winning ways this weekend; however, it took them three quarters to get there. Quarterback Seth Doege, who started the season as the third-string quarterback, got the start against the Jayhawks.

When the Red Raiders fell behind 21–14 at halftime, Mike Leach went back to his original starter Taylor Potts. Although Potts got off to a fast start this season, he had not been the same after an injury.

He put up a pedestrian 97 yards, no touchdowns and an interception on the stats sheet, but he did lead an impressive fourth-quarter comeback in which the Red Raiders scored four touchdowns.

Texas A&M (5–3, 2–2)

Last week: W 35–10 vs. Iowa State

This week: @ Colorado

The Aggies roller coaster season is back at a high point. After winning the first three games of the season in impressive fashion, the Aggies dropped the next three almost as impressively. But Texas A&M seemed to figure things out against Texas Tech, hammering the Red Raiders 52–30 in Lubbock.

The Aggies carried that momentum into the game against Iowa State, with a solid 25-point win against a Cyclone team that had won two straight Big 12 games. Now Texas A&M will try to compete in its third three-game streak of the season with a trip to Boulder followed by a game against No. 25 Oklahoma next week, also on the road.