A year after Oklahoma State won the first Big 12 title in school history while Texas stumbled to an 8-5 season, the odds makers think the conference's balance of power has been restored in 2012.
A young Longhorns team that is still relatively unproven will go into Stillwater as -2.5 favorites over Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Mike Gundy's team had to replace the first-round pass-and-catch duo of Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon, but the biggest concern surrounding the Cowboys this season has been their defense. Oklahoma State fell out of the Top 25 with a 59-38 road loss to Arizona in Week 2.
Texas, meanwhile, has moved to No. 12 on the strength of dominating wins over Wyoming, New Mexico and Ole Miss. It's not exactly murderer's row, but you can only play who is on your schedule.
Saturday's game will be a huge test for sophomore QB David Ash, who is coming off the best performance of his young career, completing 19/26 passes for 326 yards and 4 TD's in a 66-31 pasting of Ole Miss.
However, the Longhorns coaching staff will likely keep the safety wheels on early and emphasize the run game in Ash's first conference road game of 2012.
On the other side of the ball, Oklahoma State doesn't know which freshman QB -- Wes Lunt or DFW native J.W. Walsh -- will be behind center. Lunt was injured in the opening minutes of their win over UL-Lafeyette and Walsh came in to throw for 347 yards and 4 TD's.
Either way, the odds-makers expect a relatively high-scoring game, with an over/under of 66.5.
For more coverage of this game, stay tuned to the SB Nation Dallas StoryStream as well as Barking Carnival, Burnt Orange Nation and Cowboys Ride For Free.