Man, I forgot just how much NFL talent was on this team. It's crazy...

• The Big 12 has a problem and it's not just the chance the conference finds itself on the outside looking in when the top four for the College Football Playoff is announced, writes Jonathan Clegg of the Wall Street Journal. The conference dealing with an image problem as Baylor and TCU could be overlooked Clegg contends. I'm sure its frustrating for coaches, players and fans alike to see the Big 12 show the depth and overall parity to rival the SEC but not get the credit for it. The committee's decision to keep Mississippi State in the top four tells you all you need to know.

• Iowa State defensive coordinator Wally Burnham still has plenty of passion and hopes his players finally have some success in the Cyclones final few games, writes Randy Peterson of the Des Moines Register. It's one thing I've always noticed and respected about Paul Rhoads' teams. No matter how hard things get, his players generally continue to play hard. That's not an easy feat for a head coach.

• Kansas' Nigel King has provided something the Jayhawks haven't had in years: A playmaking threat at the receiver position. Rustin Dodd of the Wichita Eagle details the Maryland transfer's road to Lawrence. King's emergence is yet another example of a change made by Clint Bowen, who felt King was among the Jayhawks' underused talents. King had 17 targets during Charlie Weis' four games as coach before amassing 43 targets in six games with Bowen at the helm. King heads into this weekend's game with Oklahoma after back-to-back games with more than 100 receiving yards.

• The College Football Playoff has changed Bob Stoops' stance on the date of Bedlam, Oklahoma's annual meeting with Oklahoma State, reports Jason Kersey of The Oklahoman. The veteran head coach had previously expressed displeasure about the game's early December date because he felt it was handicapping the Sooners on the recruiting trail with OU losing a week to recruit in December. Now, with the College Football Playoff in mind, Stoops thinks playing in early December alongside the championship games of the other conferences, is a good idea. To me, playing on the final day of the regular season was always a good idea, playoff or not, because few teams get that chance and the added exposure playing in early December brings and any lost time recruiting can be made up during the final stretch of the recruiting cycle.

• The committee's decision to rank Baylor No. 7 is putting the Bears in the position where they have to try to embarrass every team they play and impress the committee, suggests Matt Hayes of the Sporting News. There's plenty of football to be played, so hopefully it works itself out but I just have a hard time understanding how the Bears are behind some of these other one-loss teams, particularly Mississippi State and Ohio State. Considering the committee thinks highly enough to jump OU back into the top 25 after a decent, but not great, win at Texas Tech, why doesn't Baylor's road beatdown of the Sooners carry more weight?