Baylor (4–5, 1–4)

Last week: W 40–32 vs. Missouri

This week: vs. Texas

On paper, Baylor looked like its season was over and Missouri looked like it was just getting rolling, and the first half of Saturday’s game resembled that line of thought. Once Missouri napped in the second half, as it has done all year, coach Art Briles’ Bears jumped all over the preseason contenders, outscoring Mizzou 24-5 to close out the game.

Freshman quarterback Nick Florence threw 32-of-43, 427 yards and four total touchdowns in the game, giving Baylor fans hope that they might be able to see another win without Robert Griffin under center.

The win puts the Bears on the scoreboard in conference, but the season won’t get any easier, taking on the No. 2 Texas Longhorns on Saturday in Waco, Texas. The running game must improve, but the comeback in Columbia may have been a highlight of a low trajectory season.

Oklahoma (5–4, 3–2)

Last week: L 10–3 vs. Nebraska

This week: vs. Texas A&M

Things aren’t looking any better in Sooner-land this week after the defeat at the hands of Suh and Co. in Lincoln last week. The Oklahoma offense, usually very explosive, struggled mightily for four quarters to even move the football against the vaunted Nebraska defense, going for just 325 yards. In a game that mirrored Nebraska’s loss to Iowa State, the Sooners turned the ball over five times in their loss, although they held the Nebraska offense to 180 yards.

Freshman quarterback stand-in Landry Jones has come back down to Earth after his high-flying start, going 26-of-58 last week for 245 yards and the five interceptions that would end up dooming the Sooners to their fourth loss of the season — their losses have been by a combined total of 11 points.

There are more difficulties looming on the horizon even now, as Oklahoma must face an up-and-down Texas A&M team that has the fourth-best offense in all of the FBS before facing Texas Tech and in-state rival Oklahoma State to close the year. The last time the team was this late into a season without having already achieved bowl eligibility in Norman, Bob Stoops was a rookie on campus.

Oklahoma State (7–2, 4–1)

Last week: W 34–8 @

Iowa State

This week: vs. Texas Tech

While the scene up the road in Norman might be a little hairy, Oklahoma State is sitting pretty in the Big 12, with a chance to control its own destiny in hopes of getting to a BCS bowl game for the first time. Fifth-year coach Mike Gundy has done some marvelous things with the Cowboys — perennially Oklahoma’s little brother — and his team looked excellent from start to finish this season, save the 41-14 whooping taken at the hands of Texas two weeks ago.

However, a trip to Ames seemed to be just what the doctor ordered for Okie State, as the Pokes jumped right back up on their horse and put up 34 points on the Cyclones, running wild through their defense, going for 331 yards on the ground — led by senior Keith Toston, who had 206 yards and three touchdowns.

Now, with an outside shot at a BCS berth, the Cowboys must take care of business against Texas Tech and Colorado in the next two weeks, before their matchup with hated Oklahoma in the final week of the season. One problem, though: The Cowboys haven’t beaten OU since 2002.

Kansas (5–4, 1–4)

Last week: L 17–10 vs. Kansas State

This week: vs. Nebraska

The Jayhawks seem to have unlocked a self-destruct button this season, losing four in a row during the conference schedule and even struggling on offense during their last two defeats.

The controversial benching of senior quarterback Todd Reesing sent waves through the media and raised questions about coach Mark Mangino and his confidence in his team.

Falling to an in-state rival won’t do much to quell those problems, and with a surging Nebraska team coming to Lawrence, the offense may need to find some Orange Bowl magic to put the ball in the end zone. Undefeated talks have morphed into no-bowl-game talk, and Mangino needs to flip that switch off.

Kansas State (6–4, 4–2)

Last week: W 17–10 vs. Kansas

This week: vs. Missouri

Coach Bill Snyder’s group sits one win from bowl eligibility, and atop the Big 12 North with a half-game lead over Nebraska. The Wildcats put down their in-state rivals with solid defense and the running game keeping the clock rolling, and they’ll look to do the same against a faltering Missouri.

Kansas State controls its own destiny from here on out, as Nebraska is the last game on its schedule, and if KSU can pick up that win on Nov. 21, it may be able to book itself a ticket to the Big 12 Championship game, something no one outside Manhattan thought probable at the beginning of the year.

Colorado (3–6, 2–3)

Last week: W 35–34 vs. Texas A&M

This week: @ Iowa State

The 2009 season has been a turbulent one for Colorado, but a 35-34 victory over Texas A&M last week helped slightly temper the Buffaloes’ woes. After the Buffaloes scored only 23 points in their last two games, the team’s offense put up 35 points on 437 total yards. Colorado had held a lead in the game for only 14 seconds before quarterback Tyler Hansen connected with Patrick Devenney in the end zone with two seconds remaining to give Colorado the win. Hansen passed for 271 yards and a touchdown, while running back Rodney Stewart rushed for 118 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Saturday’s win was in line with Colorado’s trend of inconsistency this season. All three Buffalo wins this year have been preceded by two losses as Colorado has yet to put together back-to-back quality games. The Buffaloes will get another chance to break the trend this week, taking on a stumbling Iowa State squad that has dropped its last two games.

Missouri (5–4, 1–4)

Last week: L 40–32 vs. Baylor

This week: @ Kansas State

Just when Missouri fans thought the Tigers had gotten things back on track,  Missouri dropped a 40-32 shocker to Big 12 bottom dweller Baylor.

Only a week removed from their first Big 12 win of the season, against Colorado, the Tigers allowed the Bears to score two unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter to solidify a Baylor victory.

Sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert passed for 468 yards and two touchdowns — the second-highest passing total in school history. But Baylor quarterback Nick Florence countered with a school record of 427 yards, and a three-touchdown performance.

The abnormally high passing output was largely due to a nonexistent rushing game. Missouri managed only 10 yards on the ground, while Baylor totaled 38. The Tigers are now tied with Baylor and Kansas for the worst record in the Big 12 and have just three games left to try to regain some respect after entering the season as favorites to win the Big 12 North — against Kansas State, Iowa State and Kansas.

Nebraska (6–3, 2–2)

Last week: W 10–3 vs. Oklahoma

This week: @ Kansas

Who knew this defense was really good? Oh, that’s right: everybody. Ndamukong Suh and the blackshirts forced five turnovers in their win over Oklahoma last week, but the defense was highlighted by Matt O’Hanlon, who had three of the five interceptions and set up a Nebraska field goal with his first interception and return. The rest of the defense, though, had a bend-don’t-break attitude during the game, which allowed them to keep the Sooners out of the end zone. It was the first time Oklahoma had been held without a touchdown with Bob Stoops at the helm.

There were problems, though. The offense only managed 180 yards, and quarterbacks Zac Lee and Cody Green combined to go 7-of-14 for 39 yards in the defensive shootout. The running game and Roy Helu, Jr. — once the Big 12’s leading rusher — bounced back nicely, though. Helu led the way for the Nebraska offense with 138 yards, his first 100-yard effort since the Cornhuskers’ matchup with Virginia Tech in mid-September.

Now the Cornhuskers, who have achieved bowl eligibility, have regained a shot at the Big 12 North title that seemed so out of reach for them earlier in the conference season. They will close with disappointing Kansas, surprising Kansas State and perpetually struggling Colorado, so a shot at Texas in the Big 12 Championship game seems to be well within reach for the Huskers.

No. 3 Texas (9–0), (5–0)

Last week: W 35–3 vs. Central Florida

This week: @ Baylor

Central Florida took a 3-0 lead over the undefeated Longhorns on Saturday before Texas rattled off 35 straight points in a statistically impressive offensive performance. Colt McCoy was 33 of 42 for 470 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. That wasn’t even the most impressive single performance, however, as Jordan Shipley set a school record with 273 yards receiving and a touchdown on 11 catches. This week should not be too difficult a test for the Longhorns as they travel an hour-and-a-half south to Waco to take on the last-placed team in the Big 12.

The Longhorns are in the clear now for the Big 12 South title, with games against Baylor and Kansas before an always-tough matchup with Texas A&M to end the season, before their likely trip to the Big 12 Championship game against whoever comes out of the wild Big 12 North.

Texas Tech (6–3), (3-2)

Last week: Bye

This week: @ Oklahoma State

The Red Raiders had a week off to rest up for their contest against Oklahoma State. If Texas Tech can beat 19th-ranked Oklahoma State, they will be tied for second place in the Big 12 with the Cowboys. Before the off-week, the Red Raiders doubled up on the Jayhawks, winning 42-21. That win helped them to recover from a bad 52-30 loss to in-state rival Texas A&M. This game will depend on which Red Raider team will show up.

Going forward, the Red Raiders will have a tough schedule, with matchups against Oklahoma and Baylor after this week’s game with Oklahoma State.

Texas A&M

Last week: L 35–34 vs. Colorado

This week: @ Oklahoma

The Jekyll-and-Hyde season continues for the Aggies with a loss to the Buffaloes. The Aggies have ninth-best scoring offense in the country, but their defense has been a wild card all year long, causing many ups and many downs for Texas A&M. After beating up on Texas Tech and Iowa State by more than 20 points a piece, the Aggies squandered an 11-point halftime lead, en route to handing Colorado its second Big 12 win of the season and third of the year. Although proving that they can lose to some of the worst teams in the Big 12, the Aggies have also proven they can hang with the best.