On Saturday, a national TV audience will see two top-25 ranked Big 12 teams face off; one of them still undefeated. It will be Nebraska and Missouri -- not Oklahoma and Texas.

Both the Sooners and Longhorns, bitter Big 12 South rivals, will enter the Red River Shootout with one loss. You can thank Colorado and Kansas State for that.

The North hasn't seen a turning point like this since Gettysburg.

If you're a fan of college football, you had to love all the action over the weekend. Joining number three Oklahoma and number seven Texas in falling from the ranks of the undefeated were fourth-ranked Florida, number five West Virginia (lost on Friday night), tenth-ranked Rutgers, eleventh-ranked Oregon and number thirteen Clemson.

That's seven of the top 13 in the AP poll.

That's led to a reshuffling of the rankings. Mizzou has climbed up the ladder up to number 17.

We'll find out on Saturday night if they deserve it. But thanks to Illinois' performance over the weekend, the Tigers 4-0 record is looking better all the time.

The Illini haven't lost since their season opener against Mizzou. Ron Zook's team has reeled off four straight victories, including two games in the Big 10. Saturday's 27-20 victory over Penn State knocked the Nittany Lions out of the top 25.

We don't need to review Syracuse's victory over Louisville to prove there's amazing parity in college football this season. There are, perhaps, two dominant teams - USC and LSU. Next in line are the two to three dozen programs that, depending on the venue, injuries and the bounce of the ball, can beat just about everyone else.

Mizzou is in this mix.

Can the Tigers win what looks to be a resurgent Big 12 North? Sure they can. But so can every other team not named Iowa State. Check out the schedule.

Of their eight remaining games, all in conference, there are only two teams with more than one loss. That's Iowa State and Colorado. And the Tigers have to travel to Boulder, where the Buffaloes ambushed OU on Saturday.

Kansas is undefeated but hasn't met a real challenge. The other five schools all have one loss. All of them are most likely bowl bound but they also have a few chinks in the armor.

Nebraska was steamrolled at home by USC and beat Ball State by one point.

Oklahoma was a double-digit favorite at Colorado but managed to blow a 17-point lead.

Texas Tech lost a shootout to Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders are a lot like Mizzou. Their ability to score points is sometimes only exceeded by the defense's capacity to give them up. Their defensive coordinator has already resigned this season.

Texas A&M was blown out at Miami. Perhaps coach Dennis Franchione was concentrating on his media career.

Finally there's Kansas State, my pick to win the Big 12 North. The Wildcats beat Texas by 20 points on Saturday. Their only loss was at Auburn. No shame in that, especially considering what the Tigers did at Florida on Saturday night.

Mizzou has to travel to K-State on November 17th. The only good news here - that's one week after the Wildcats have to face Nebraska in Lincoln.

Other than traveling to Norman where the Tigers will be a big underdog against OU and a home game against Iowa State where Mizzou will be a heavy favorite, it's hard to see a game where the line will be more than a touchdown in either direction.

Translation. One win. One loss. And six games up in the air. 7-1, 1-7, or most likely, somewhere in the middle.

I'll pick the Tigers to lose to Oklahoma, Kansas State and one other school to go 5-3 in conference. That's probably not enough to win the North but it's a 9-3 season and a nice bowl game. Given Gary Pinkel's track record against ranked teams (1-15 in his Mizzou career), that's progress.

I'd be happy with that.