ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Texas has a clear path to the Big 12 title game and beyond after an impressive victory over Oklahoma State. But the Longhorns' opposition in the championship game looks as muddled as ever after another wacky week in the Big 12 North.

Here are a few observations after Saturday's games.

1. Kansas State proved more in a loss Saturday than in any of their earlier conference wins. It looked bleak for Bill Snyder’s team after they fell into an early 28-9 hole after spotting Oklahoma the first three touchdowns of the game. But the wily and resourceful Kansas State coach has his team prepared and they made the Sooners sweat to win a tougher-than-expected struggle after a determined and resourceful comeback. The Wildcats were four-touchdown underdogs, but certainly didn’t play like it. We learned much about KSU resiliency as they produced more points against Ou in a 42-30 loss than any team this season. And KSU still controls its destiny in the North Division with three upcoming games to finish the season against Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri. All of them look winnable if the Wildcats play like they did Saturday night in Norman.

2. Missouri's rediscovery of a bruising running attack helped spark the Tigers’ big early binge against Colorado. The Tigers elected to go in some unusual -- at least for them -- two-back sets that paid some big dividends. It resulted in the most balanced effort of the season for the Tigers and provided some hope the Tigers will at least be making a bowl trip after losing their first three conference games. And if the ground game continues and Derrick Washington builds on his big game on Saturday, the Tigers could emerge as a dark-horse possibility for the North Division title, even after starting the conference race with three losses.

3. I was a little surprised that Mark Mangino had such a quick hook for Todd Reesing Saturday at Texas Tech. Reesing showed a lot of guts standing up to a determined Texas Tech defense that produced six sacks and knocked the Kansas quarterback all over the field. But Mangino told reporters that Reesing appeared tentative as the game went on during his struggling performance. Most amazingly, Mangino told reporters that Reesing would have to earn the starting job for next week’s game against Kansas State in practice next week. That seems a tad judgmental for a player who Mangino said was a Heisman Trophy candidate only two weeks ago and who will go down in history as one of Kansas' all-time greats. One struggling performance shouldn't blot that history.

4. The most impressive statistic in Texas A&M’s solid 35-10 victory over Iowa State was that the Aggies were not forced to punt in the entire game. Suddenly, a bowl trip looks like a strong possibility for the Aggies. And their Nov. 26 season-ending game against Texas at Kyle Field could be a little interesting, particularly if the Longhorns bring some BCS title game hopes into the annual grudge battle with their oldest rival. Kyle Field will be hopping that night and the Aggie faithful would like nothing more than to snuff out Texas’ national championship hopes at that final regular-season game.

5. The difference between Oklahoma State’s offense with and without Dez Bryant could be seen on two key plays in the first half against Texas. Hubert Anyiam had a chance to make an impressive catch to cap an early Cowboys drive, but he dropped a fourth-down pass from Zac Robinson near the Cowboys’ end zone on a drive where they were turned away without points. Anyiam fumbled later in the half -- one of the Cowboys’ five turnovers. Bryant likely would have made both plays, turning the key setbacks into potential scoring opportunities. The Cowboys still likely wouldn’t have beaten Texas with Bryant and a healthy Kendall Hunter in the lineup, but the final score would have been much closer than the final 41-14 margin.