For chaos' sake. Other than crossing your fingers for long-shot upsets by Florida State, Auburn or Baylor, any scenario under which Missouri wins the Big 12 championship throws the whole system into disarray. No matter the exact permutations -- whether the Tigers beat Oklahoma or Texas Tech -- voters would be left to decide between a pair of one-loss teams (Texas and Texas Tech), neither of which won its conference championship, and USC, which has a weaker schedule and might not win its conference championship, either, depending on what happens to Oregon State. I mean, does Penn State creep back into that picture? Or, heaven forbid, computer fave Utah? There is no fair way to resolve that scenario.

So whatever happens over the next two weeks, remember: There's always Chase Daniel, maker of mischief, waiting on Dec. 6 to burn this whole thing to the ground.