Texas A&M is hurting physically, and Kansas State won't hesitate to hurt the Aggies' feelings if they can Saturday.
Kansas State (11-0) goes into the Big 12 championship game at St. Louis as the nation's No. 2 ranked team behind Tennessee and ahead of UCLA.Tennessee and UCLA, however, are ranked 1-2, with Kansas State third, in the BCS rankings, and the top two teams under that complex computer formula will play for the national championship Jan. 4 in the Fiesta Bowl.
But Tennessee and UCLA both play Saturday against opponents ranked lower than No. 10 Texas A&M, and so it could be difficult for Kansas State to gain a Fiesta Bowl berth. Tennessee (11-0) plays No. 23 Mississippi State (8-3) for the SEC championship at Atlanta, and UCLA (10-0) plays at Miami.
"From my understanding, we need to blow them out to prove we're one of the top two teams," Kansas State wide receiver Darnell McDonald said. "But Texas A&M has a great team. They're in the Big 12 championship for a reason. Blowing them out is a very hard task, but I think it can be done."
McDonald's comments are sure to be interesting reading for Texas A&M (10-2), which lost quarterback Randy McCown with a broken collarbone in a 26-24 loss to Texas last week. Brandon Stewart, who lost his job to McCown after starting five games earlier in the year, will try to move an offense that managed only 173 yards, including minus-7 rushing, against Texas.
While trying to generate some offense, Texas A&M will have to stop Wildcats quarterback Michael Bishop, who has passed for 21 touchdowns and run for 13.
Arkansas played a prominent part in both the BCS standings and in the SEC championship game.
Tennessee, the SEC East champion, retained its No. 1 ranking by beating Arkansas 28-24 after the Vols got the ball late in the game when the Razorbacks fumbled. Mississippi State beat Arkansas 22-21 for the West title on a field goal with seven seconds left.
UCLA coach Bob Toledo is hoping quarterback Cade McNown doesn't have to play the whole game against Miami (7-3).
"If we're winning convincingly, I will take Cade out, I will take other players out," Toledo said.
"I'm not going to run it up on somebody to prove a point. It's not about running up scores. It's about winning football games."
While UCLA has the incentive of getting to the national championship game, Miami should be spurred on by wanting to bounce back from a 66-13 loss to Syracuse, its worst defeat since 1944.
In two other games Saturday, No. 17 Air Force plays BYU for the WAC championship at Las Vegas, and Army plays Navy at Philadelphia.
Both Air Force (10-1) and BYU (9-3) will be playing their final WAC game. The schools will play in the newly formed Mountain West Conference next season.
BYU, winner of the first WAC title game in 1996, has won seven straight games. Air Force also has won seven straight since losing to TCU 35-34.
Army is 2-8 and Navy is 3-7, but records don't matter when these service academies meet. The Game is the thing. Army leads the series 47-44-7. Navy ended a five-game losing streak to the Cadets by winning 39-7 last year.