Oklahoma Aims for 19th Undefeated Regular Season

DALLAS -- While Big 12 South champion Oklahoma has to keep trying to impress the poll voters, four teams in the North are still in the chase to play the No. 2 Sooners in the league's championship game.

Oklahoma (10-0, 7-0 Big 12) saw its Bowl Championship Series margin over Auburn shrink even after a 30-3 win at Nebraska. Auburn caught up in this week's Associated Press Top 25 poll, tying the Sooners at No. 2 in the poll that is one of the BCS factors.

Because of its weaker remaining schedule, Oklahoma's best chance of maintaining the No. 2 BCS spot and national title chance is by putting up a couple of big scores.

Sooner Gameday Central: Baylor | Compare the BCS Top 3

"That's unfortunate," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "You're sitting there at 10-0, you win a big road game and everybody's criticizing it. You win at home and you win too well and everybody criticizes it."

The Sooners play Saturday at Baylor (3-7, 1-6), a team they've beaten all 13 previous times and by an average margin of 38 points the past five years. They also have the Big 12 championship Dec. 4, possibly against a team without even a winning conference record.

Auburn (10-0) plays Saturday at Alabama before the SEC championship game against No. 11 Georgia or No. 15 Tennessee.

There are just two other Big 12 games Saturday, and both have implications in the North race. Iowa State (5-4, 3-3) is at Kansas State (4-6, 2-5); and Missouri (4-5, 2-4) is home against Kansas (3-7, 1-6).

Iowa State has had an incredible turnaround, from a 13-game conference losing streak to three straight wins to gain the upper hand in the North. Missouri still has a chance despite the league's longest losing streak, four in a row.

Colorado (6-4, 3-4) and Nebraska (5-5, 3-4), the other North contenders, are off this weekend. But the bowl-eligible Buffaloes will be knocked out of the race if Iowa State wins at Kansas State.

The rest of the South's teams, all bowl-bound, have open dates before completing their regular seasons the weekend after Thanksgiving. That's when No. 6 Texas (9-1, 6-1) is home against No. 22 Texas A&M (7-3, 5-2); and No. 23 Oklahoma State (7-3, 4-3) plays at Texas Tech (6-4, 4-3).

Baylor pulled off a big upset to end October when it won in overtime against Texas A&M, ending the Aggies' six-game winning streak. But the Bears are down to their third-team quarterback, converted receiver Terrance Parks. Shawn Bell broke his hand last week, just like Dane King last month.

Oklahoma has won 22 straight regular season games, and is trying to complete its 19th undefeated regular season -- second straight and third overall under Stoops.

But after going 12-0 in the regular season last year, Oklahoma lost to Kansas State in the Big 12 title game. The Sooners still got a shot at the national championship, but lost to LSU in the Sugar Bowl.

One theory about the recent BCS slip is that some voters remember how the Sooners faltered last season, and are taking that into account during Auburn's surge.

"The only thing that we ask is that all teams are being evaluated the same way that we are," center Vince Carter said. "As long as we keep playing well and keep winning games, we're going to be fine."

Iowa State has lost 10 straight against Kansas State, and coach Dan McCarney is 0-for-9 against Bill Snyder, whose team won't go to a bowl for the first time since the Big 12 started in 1996. But if the Cyclones win their last two games, they are division champs for the first time.

Missouri has fallen from a No. 17 preseason ranking to trying to avoid a losing season. But the Tigers can be the North champion if they win their last two games (next week at Iowa State) and Colorado beats Nebraska next weekend.

The Missouri-Kansas series is the second-most played nationally. This is the 113th game, one less than Minnesota and Wisconsin, and Missouri has the slimmest -- 52-51-9 -- series advantage after the last eight games were split.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Oklahoma Aims for 19th Undefeated Regular Season

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