Here’s a quick and dirty look at how I see things playing out in the Big 12 this season:

#1 Oklahoma
In Sam Bradford, Gerald McCoy, Trent Williams, Jermaine Gresham, Keenan Clayton, Brody Eldridge and Dominique Franks, there’s no doubt that the Sooners lost a ton of talent from last year. However, this season is all about two names: Landry Jones and DeMarco Murray. Jones filled in admirably when Bradford went down last season, throwing 26 touchdown passes and gaining valuable experience throughout the year. Murray’s health history is a major concern, but if he can stay upright he’s scary good. He’s more versatile than Adrian Peterson was in that he can catch the ball out of the backfield or beat teams as a rusher. He’s big, he’s fast and he can get north and south in a hurry. He’s also going to get a ton of opportunities to shine this year as both a runner and a pass-catcher and again, if he can stay healthy he has the ability to be one of the best backs in college football. Defensively, Bob Stoops’ team has good depth and while the loss of McCoy hurts, don’t forget that Jeremy Beal was fifth on the team in tackles last season and first in sacks with 11. The linebacker corps has a chance to be special thanks to redshirt freshman Tom Wort and sophomore Ronnell Lewis. I know many pundits still like Texas in the South, but with Landry, Murray and nine starters returning on offense, I think Oklahoma reclaims the conference this season.

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This much we know when it comes to the BCS title matchup between Texas and Alabama:

- Both defenses are outstanding, with Alabama’s being damn near impenetrable.
- Mark Ingram will be the centerpiece for the Crimson Tide offense.
- Mack Brown and Nick Saban will have their teams prepared.

Outside of those three things, everything else could be considered a crapshoot.

The wildcard in tonight’s game might very well be Longhorns’ senior quarterback Colt McCoy, who will try to put a bow on top of an outstanding collegiate career. He’s thrown for 3,512 yards this season, with 27 touchdowns and also chipped in 348 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.

But tonight marks McCoy’s biggest game as a Longhorn, and certainly his most challenging. Saban has had over a month to dissect what McCoy and the Texas offense do best and there’s no doubt that Tide’s defense will challenge the Longhorns to throw vertically.

Texas struggled against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship because it matched up well against the Horns in zone coverage. The Huskers limited the effectiveness of UT’s dink-and-dunk approach and the results were outstanding. McCoy thrives off the short to intermediate completion and Nebraska essentially took those plays out of Texas’ playbook.

If the Longhorns are going to win tonight, McCoy will have to beat Alabama by throwing vertically. The problem is that his offensive line will be overmatched by the Tide’s excellent front four and he might not have time to survey open receivers and stretch the field. It’s up to McCoy to make quick reads and get the ball out of his hands quickly before succumbing to the pressure that he will undoubtedly face tonight.

McCoy has been a playmaker throughout his collegiate career. He’s a gamer and will no doubt be focused and prepared for what he’ll face tonight. But if Texas’ defense does its job and shuts down Ingram and the Tide’s offense, then the senior QB will have to make plays down the stretch or else he’ll miss the opportunity to go out on top.

Texas has been waiting almost a year to get the taste of losing to Texas Tech out of its mouth and it did just that on Saturday night as the Longhorns defeated the Red Raiders 34-24.

This wasn’t a very clean game by the No. 2 team in the nation, as Heisman candidate Colt McCoy threw two interceptions and the Texas defense was shredded by Tech quarterback Taylor Potts, who passed for 420 yards and three touchdowns. But the Longhorns did just enough to stay ahead of the Raiders for the entire game and managed to exact revenge on their in-state rivals.

The Longhorn defense also did a nice job giving Potts multiple looks in order to confuse him on several series throughout the game. Texas was also incredibly aggressive, although that allowed Potts to complete some crossing routes that helped moved the chains.

Offensively for the Longhorns, receiver Jordan Shipley had big night, hauling in 11 passes for 75 yards and returning a punt 38 yards for a touchdown to give Texas its first score. The Longhorn offense essentially took what Tech gave them and didn’t try to force the action outside of when McCoy found Dan Buckner down the seams for a 25-yard completion that set up a Cody Johnson 1-yard touchdown run.

Considering Texas was an 18.5-point favorite coming into this game, one would have thought that the Longhorns would take it to Tech more than they did. But on a day where Florida only beat Lane Kiffin’s Volunteers by 10 points and USC lost to Washington, I guess Texas’s sound, yet rather unsatisfying 10-point win over Tech is pretty much par for the course.

Mack Brown’s program will host UTEP and Colorado over its next two games before its big matchup with Oklahoma on October 17.

Ohio State vs. Michigan State
Ohio State cannot afford to look past the Spartans this week in anticipation of their game against Penn State on October 25th. The Buckeyes will be back in the national title chase if they win their next two games, and who would have predicted that after their loss to Southern Cal? Michigan State has the ultimate workhorse Javon Ringer, an Ohio native that leads the nation in rushing with 1,112 yards and scored 14 touchdowns. He has quietly become a viable Heisman Trophy candidate. Regional coverage will begin Saturday at 3:30 PM ET on the ABC/ESPN family of networks.

Missouri vs. Texas
Texas is No. 1 in the polls during the regular season for the first time since 1984. But coach Mack Brown can remind his players that the 1984 squad went on to lose four of their last five games to finish 7-4-1 and out of the national title hunt. History is working against Missouri, as the Tigers are 0-10 lifetime vs. No.1 teams, and are winless in Austin since 1896. That’s right…1896. This game pits Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel trying to re-establish himself in the Heisman race against Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy, who some believe is the Heisman front-runner. National coverage will begin Saturday at 8 PM ET on ABC.

Boston Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays
Baseball fans have been lulled to sleep this post-season by uninspiring play, with no series going one game beyond the required number. And with nine outs remaining, Tampa’s bullpen fell apart and blew a seven-run lead in an 8-7 loss to the Boston Red Sox in Game Five. We now have a series to watch. The never give-up Red Sox could force a Game Seven if struggling post-season ace Josh Beckett can muster a victory against James Shields in Tampa Bay. Game Six will begin Saturday at 8 PM ET and if necessary Game Seven will begin Sunday at 8 PM ET. Both games can be seen on TBS.

Oklahoma’s reign as the best team in the nation lasted only one week as the top-ranked Sooners fell at home to Big 12 rival Texas 45-35 on Saturday. Below are six quick-hit observations from the game.

1. Colt McCoy has become more than a fantastic player. The Longhorns’ junior QB has been one of the more talked about players in college football since his freshman year. But it was evident in UT’s win over OU that McCoy has become much more than that – he’s also become a leader for Mack Brown. Despite being down 11 on two separate occasions in the first half and playing through four lead changes, McCoy never panicked. He also didn’t make a mistake and while fellow candidate Sam Bradford had flashier numbers, McCoy proved why he should be the front-runner for the Heisman this year. McCoy certainly benefited from Chris Ogbonnaya’s (15 carries, 127 yards) as well, who had one of most pivotal plays of the game when he broke a 62-yard run to set up a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

2. While it was in a losing effort, Sam Bradford’s performance was phenomenal. It’s easy to forget that he’s only a sophomore with how mature he has looked this year. And while he did throw two interceptions (one was on the last play of the game on a desperation pass), his performance isn’t why OU won’t find themselves at the top of the rankings when the new polls are released.

3. Where was the defense? For being the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, Oklahoma’s defense just wasn’t that good to begin with and it showed today. The Horns racked up 45 points and 438 yards of offense sure, but the bottom line is that the Sooners’ defense couldn’t come up with the big play when it mattered most. And they allowed UT wideouts to roam free too many times in the secondary.

4. What was the game plan again? Speaking of OU’s defense, coordinator Brent Venables continues to make zero adjustments when his unit is being scorched. The amount of openings that McCoy and the Longhorns had offensively couldn’t have only been because the Sooner defenders were missing assignments. OU’s overall defensive game plan was weak from the start.

5. The officiating in his game was brutal. Blown calls were the norm and there were two plays that were inexcusably not reviewed. At least it was bad on both sides.

6. The Big 12 is still up for grabs. Looking ahead, Texas certainly isn’t in the clear yet to win the Big 12. The Longhorns host No. 3 Missouri and No. 17 Oklahoma State the next two weeks, then are at No. 7 Texas Tech and No. 16 Kansas in November. OU hosts Kansas next week, but doesn’t have to face Missouri and gets Texas Tech at home before facing in-state rival Oklahoma State to wrap up the season.