Oklahoma State can become bowl eligible and dash the hopes of their No. 1 rival Saturday in Norman.

All they have to do is upset the No. 6 team in the nation and corral one of the top two quarterbacks in the country.

Baylor scored a touchdown with six seconds left Saturday to beat the Cowboys 31-35 in Waco. It was a disappointing loss following a dramatic upset of Texas a week earlier.

Up next, the Cowboys take on their toughest test of the season with a trip to OU to face quarterback Kyler Murray and the Sooner’s high-powered offense.

“He’s really good,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said Monday. “We all know that. I could stand up here and talk about what he’s done.

“The basis of defensive football is that everybody has a gap responsibility, everybody has a zone coverage or man coverage. The one player you can’t, and or have a hard time accounting for, is the quarterback. The difference between what he presents and what they’ve had the last few years is that it is not a potential eight or 10-yard run. He might go 60 yards.

“He’s been really good – a really good player. You can talk about it all day, but that’s what he gives you. You’re going to have to try and rally to defend everything, and then you’re going to have to try and take care of him secondary. When you are trying to defend a player that is that active, it’s not always easy. Which has been evident if you’ve watched their games this year.”

A win against OU would help OSU recruiting and add a bonus to what has been a disappointing season so far.

“It’s a special weekend for everybody,” Gundy said. “It always has been. Everybody wears orange or red this week. It’s a big game. I think that works to our benefit.

“I know they will be riled up too. They will be excited to play in this game. They are going to prepare and work their butt off. It doesn’t really change for me. I can’t change. I can’t be on an emotional rollercoaster. It’s too hard. It’s a long season. I try to stay even-keel the best I can. I try to coach the coaches and let the coaches coach the players. That’s just my philosophy.”

How will Gundy’s players handle the emotions of Bedlam?

“I don’t know what motivates different young men,” Gundy said. “I think the most important thing is control what you can control. We all have things we do in life that we can control and other things are out of our hands. Their preparation, commitment, effort, film studies and the things that they do to get ready to play in this game. We can only control what we do here and that’s the way we approach it each week.”

How many of the Big 12 schools will go to a bowl?

Oklahoma, West Virginia and Texas are guaranteed a bowl bid because they each have at least six wins. Iowa State, Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State each have five wins – one away from bowl eligibility. TCU has four wins and Kansas and Kansas State each have three wins.

ISU will be favored in games against Baylor, Kansas State and Incarnate Word and could be favored against Texas. Texas Tech will be favored against Kansas State but games against Baylor and Texas will be toss-ups. Baylor has perhaps the hardest task in getting that sixth win with toss up games against Iowa State, TCU and Texas Tech.

OSU must find a win against OU (OU is favored by 18 points), West Virginia or TCU. TCU is the best bet. TCU must win two of four games against K-State, West Virginia, Baylor and OSU.

Kansas has to sweep K-State, Oklahoma and Texas to go to a bowl and K-State must win all three games against Kansas, Texas Tech and Iowa State.

Mathematics aside, it looks like the Big 12 could have eight bowl teams or as few as six.