Kansas St. gives Tigers an obstacle on path to Big 12 shot

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- With the potential for a Big 12 championship in front of them, the Missouri Tigers refuse to look back.

With a win Saturday at No. 19 Kansas State, the Tigers (7-3, 3-3 Big 12) would all but clinch a berth in the Big 12 title game -- and a shot at their first conference championship since 1969, when Dan Devine was still coach and successful Missouri teams weren't few and far between.

"This is the game right now," wide receiver Darius Outlaw said Monday. "We've got to go out there and prepare better than we've prepared ever before. There's not a game that I can think of on the list that's as important as this one."

Two weeks ago, struggling Colorado capitalized on four turnovers by quarterback Brad Smith to beat Missouri 21-16. The loss dropped Missouri a half-game behind Kansas State and Nebraska.

But the Wildcats' 38-9 win last week at Nebraska knocked the Cornhuskers, who lost 41-24 to Missouri in October, out of contention.

Closing in on the Sooners

Now, a win by the Tigers on Saturday would put them a victory away from playing No. 1 Oklahoma in the conference championship game Dec. 6 in Kansas City. Missouri finishes its regular season next week against Iowa State, which hasn't won a Big 12 game all season.

Kansas State, however, has recent history on its side.

Besides handing the Tigers 10 straight defeats, the Wildcats (9-3, 5-2) have dashed Missouri's bowl hopes the past two seasons. They crushed the Tigers 66-0 in 1999, only a year after the team's most recent bowl appearance.

Running back Zack Abron, who was a redshirt in 1999, said Missouri and its fans have far bigger expectations entering this game.

"All around Columbia, it's a different atmosphere," Abron said. "People are not hoping that we win. People are expecting that the Missouri Tigers are going to come out and play."

The Tigers have already defied history once this season, beating Nebraska for the first time in 30 years.

"What you do is, you don't focus on what you haven't done in the past," coach Gary Pinkel said. "You focus on what you can do."