This is the game of the year in the brutal Big 12 gauntlet -- and perhaps the biggest game in the nation to date -- will be played Saturday afternoon when No. 1 Baylor brings its league-record 23-game winning streak as it hosts No. 3 Kansas in Waco, Texas.
With the Jayhawks riding an 11-game winning streak of their own, something has to give. Or be taken.
A win for the Bears (24-1, 13-0) would allow them a two-game lead over Kansas in the conference standings with four games to play and their first regular-season sweep of the Jayhawks.
A Kansas victory would even up things atop the grid, return the Jayhawks (23-3, 12-1) to their usual perch and give the team some momentum for the stretch run.
The winner also could have the inside track for the overall No. 1 seed when the NCAA Tournament is revealed on Selection Sunday next month.