Chuck Carlton

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Scrutinize the latest BCS standings and you will find Texas at No. 3, one spot down from last week and still in control of its destiny.

Scan down to 19th and there's Big 12 member Oklahoma State.

Then there's ... no one.

The conference will probably just have one team reach a BCS bowl. A year ago, in the Nov. 9 standings, the Big 12 had four of the top 12 BCS teams including three in the top five.

Beyond the top two teams this season, it's been messy, with inexperience, injury and an inability to manage success. Consider Oklahoma and Texas A&M, which meet Saturday. Each team could have become bowl eligible Saturday.

Each had a chance to build invaluable momentum.

Each came up short.

Oklahoma has made former Heisman winner Andre Ware a prophet. Ware, an analyst for ESPN, suggested that the Sooners would lose four games.

A mix of laughter and skepticism greeted the preseason prediction. A few months later, Ware looks pretty smart – and the Sooners are still trying to find an answer.

"We're going to keep fighting," linebacker Ryan Reynolds said after a 10-3 loss at Nebraska. "We're not going to let anything come between us. We know where we are. We know what's going to be said. We're a family. Three games left."

The Sooners' problems began with early injuries to Heisman winner Sam Bradford and All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham.

Oklahoma might be knocking on the door of another BCS appearance with Bradford and Gresham, given that the Sooners' four losses have come by a combined 12 points, all away from Norman.

Not everything can be blamed on the two injuries. Oklahoma has struggled building consistency with redshirt freshman quarterback Landry Jones, Bradford's heir apparent.

In wins over Idaho State, Tulsa, Kansas and Kansas State, Jones threw 15 touchdown passes and four interceptions. In losses to Miami and Nebraska, plus the Texas game where Jones replaced Bradford early in the first half, he had two touchdown passes and seven interceptions.

There have been other problemsincluding penalties and a young offensive line.

A&M faced different circumstances.

The Aggies were trying to lay the groundwork for the program's return to prominence.

Whenever they've seemed on the verge of a major step forward, they've been unable to close the deal, like Saturday's 35-34 loss at Colorado to end a two-game winning streak.

How to explain a team that won 52-30 at Texas Tech, lost 62-14 at Kansas State and then stumbled in Boulder?

A&M got a 99-yard kickoff return by Cyrus Gray, eight sacks by the defense and couldn't hold onto a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter. On the game-winning drive, A&M let the Buffaloes escape a second-and-25 hole.

"We are young team and we'll learn," said senior defensive back Jordan Pugh, a Plano West graduate. "But we cannot do that and win in the Big 12."

That's been the underlying lesson for A&M and Oklahoma and most of the other conference teams this season.

Rnk., Team, Prev.

1. Texas, 1 (9-0, 5-0)

2. Oklahoma State, 3 (7-2, 4-1)

3. Texas Tech, 6 (6-3, 3-2): Mike Leach can become the winningest coach in Texas Tech history with a victory Saturday at Oklahoma State. Leach tied Spike Dykes with Tech's win over Kansas on Oct. 31. Dykes compiled an 82-67 record in Lubbock from 1986-99. Leach is 82-42.

4. Kansas State, 4 (6-4, 4-2)

5. Nebraska, 8 (6-3, 3-2)

6. Oklahoma, 2 (5-4, 3-2): The Sooners continue to deal with an unstable kicking situation. Tress Way, who replaced Jimmy Stevens in midseason, missed field-goal attempts of 42, 45 and 46 yards in a 10-3 loss to Nebraska. In the last two seasons, Oklahoma has made just one field goal beyond 40 yards.

7. Texas A&M, 5 (5-4, 2-3)

8. Iowa State, 7 (5-5, 2-4)

9. Colorado, 11 (3-6, 2-3)

10. Baylor, 12 (4-5, 1-4)

11. Missouri, 9 (5-4, 1-4)

12. Kansas, 10 (5-4, 1-4)