Although Darrell Royal never coached in the Big 12, league play begins on a somber note on the passing of the legendary Texas coach Tuesday. His name graces the stadium at Texas, where he won 167 games and three national titles. But his career began at another now-Big 12 school when he played quarterback and defensive back for Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma.

Kansas State’s march to an undefeated season continued with a 44-30 win over Oklahoma State. The Wildcats climbed to 9-0 with the victory and remain squarely in the hunt for the national championship. Quarterback Collin Klein continued his Heisman run but suffered an injury against the Cowboys. Oklahoma bounced back after last week’s loss to Notre Dame, while TCU upset West Virginia in overtime.

After last week, we know the Big 12 has one team chasing the national championship. Oklahoma likely played itself out of contention with a 30-13 loss at home to Notre Dame, leaving undefeated Kansas State as the only Big 12 team in the BCS top 10.

The road to the BCS title game is not guaranteed, no matter the resume or record, as Kansas State’s opponent this week can confirm.

Kansas State continues to separate itself from the rest of the teams in the Big 12. The Wildcats cruised to a 55-24 victory over Texas Tech in Week 9, improving Bill Snyder's team to 8-0 this year. Oklahoma suffered its second loss of the season, dropping a 30-13 game to Notre Dame in Norman. The defeat to the Irish knocks the Sooners out of the national title picture once again, but Oklahoma still has a chance to win the Big 12 crown.

It’s not often college football has a marquee non-conference game at the end of October. However, that’s the stage set on Saturday night, as Oklahoma and Notre Dame – two top-10 teams in the BCS – will meet in Norman. The Sooners have won three in a row since losing to Kansas State, while Notre Dame has a perfect 7-0 record.

After a slow start to the season with only a handful of marquee games in September, the Big 12 has been the conference of October. The final Saturday of the month should continue to deliver.

The major game of the weekend is in Norman, where undefeated Notre Dame will face Oklahoma for the first time since 1999. The Sooners are 1-8 against the Irish with Oklahoma’s only win in 1956.

Shades of 2008 and 2009 continue to play out in the BCS standings as Alabama and Florida remain on top in the second release of the rankings.

With the first half of the season in the books, it's time to evaluate the preseason picks and make a few changes. Athlon's predicted a LSU-USC showdown in August but things have changed over the last seven weeks. 

2012 Midseason Predictions: Who Plays for the National Title?

With the first release of the 2012 BCS Standings, Athlon Sports wants to make sure fans are aware of some stats, trends and rankings when sifting through the debut of the rankings that will eventually determine who will play for the national championship.