OKLAHOMA CITY—Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel admits that the Tigers’ first-ever Big 12 North title might have gotten lost last year in the fanfare surrounding their game against Kansas.
That game pitted teams ranked second and third nationally. This year’s game won’t carry the same level of drama, after the Tigers wrapped up the North title yesterday, winning 52-20 at Iowa State while Kansas lost 35-7 to No. 4 Texas.
No. 12 Missouri’s win cements one side of the Big 12 championship matchup and also clears the stage to focus on a wild South Division race that Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel calls a, quote, “circus.”
No. 2 Texas Tech can simplify matters and clinch the South title by beating No. 5 Oklahoma in their showdown Saturday in Norman, but otherwise it could get messy.
A win by the Sooners would open the possibility of a three-way tie at the top of the standings, and that would bring the BCS standings — and the controversy that’s sure to accompany them — into the picture as the tiebreaker.
