Here we go again. The second edition of Five Burning Questions, covering the most pertinent issues in the Big XII. Or Food Network. One of the two.

1) When will my voice recover from spending an entire quarter berating the Missouri secondary?

It didn't help that I was surrounded by celebrating Illinois fans after every score, but I did spend a good 20 minutes boisterously berating the likes of Castine Bridges, Tremaine Vaughns and Carl Gettis, not to mention Kevin Rutland, Justin Garrett and William Moore (yes, even Willy Mo was not spared from my wrath. It was honestly the only time I really raised my voice at the game for fear of being swallowed by the sea of orange around me.

Missouri's secondary was borderline putrid at points during the game against Illinois. What bothers me most is that it wasn't Arrelious Benn that was lighting Mizzou up. I think we can all agree that Benn is an elite receiver, and sometimes elite receivers make elite plays. I would have felt much better about the breakdown if it had been No. 9 beating Mizzou.

Instead, it was Will Judson and Chris Duvalt, who are (quoting myself during the second half in the most vicious tone that I can muster) "the third receiver on the third- or fourth-best team in a bad conference." And that didn't help my vocal cords.

Now, in hindsight, I think I was selling Illinois short. I think it's obvious that Juice Williams has significantly improved his passing ability, and he put a couple throws directly on the money.

But the point remains that the secondary was pretty awful at times, resulting in my first words to rpt after the game being not very nice towards Castine Bridges.

Is this a time to panic? No. Absolutely not. Illinois is a pretty darn good team, and Mizzou's defense definitely tightened up and played well when the game was close.

However, if Houston Lillard (27-39, 387yds, 3TDs vs. Southwest Baptist), Colin Kaepernick (10-17, 122yds, INT vs. Grambling State) or Drew Willy (10-16, 221yds, 4TDs vs. UTEP) light up the Tigers at Faurot, it's time to start sweating.

Until then, they're on notice.

via i36.tinypic.com

2) Who is on upset alert this week?

The slate, for most Big XII teams, stays pretty tame in Week 2. Colorado gets Texas Tech's sloppy seconds against Eastern Washington. Kansas State plays Montana State (the Fightin' Bobcats!). Mizzou, of course, gets SEMO. Oklahoma gets Cincinnati in Norman. And so on and so forth.

But one team stands out as far as having to watch its back this week.

Oklahoma State comes home to Stillwater to play a feisty Houston team that put a 55-3 beating on Southern. Now, I know: it's Southern. But Houston QB Case Keenum threw for 392 yards and five touchdowns against the Jaguars, and we all know how seriously they take defense at Oklahoma State. Consider the upset alert activated.

3) Who sucks, and who's awesome?

Baylor sucks. Talk about a letdown for the Art Briles regime. I understand that Wake Forest is a pretty decent team, but Riley Skinner was looked like Steve Young in Waco. That defense is horrendous, and while I like the idea of going to the true freshman Robert Griffin at quarterback, that's not going to help the Bears all that much. Could be a very, very long year in Waco, especially with OU, Mizzou, Texas Tech and Texas still on the horizon.

Texas A&M sucks. Talk about a letdown for the Mike Sherman regime. Wait, this sounds familiar. It's kind of sad when you can draw comparisons between your team and Baylor other than "they both wear helmets." To put the humiliating loss to Arkansas State (At home! At Kyle Field!) into perspective, consider that in Mizzou's last two meetings with the Red Wolves (nee' Indians), the Tigers trounced them by scores of 52-20 (2004) and 44-17 (2005). Mizzou went on to finish those two seasons with records of 5-6 (2004) and 7-5 (2005). Yikes.

Oklahoma is awesome. Great teams dissect sorry teams at home, and that's exactly what OU did against Chattanooga. When the score is 50-0 at halftime and your starting quarterback is wearing a baseball cap in the second quarter, you've done your job.

Big XII return-men are awesome. There were a whopping four special teams returns for touchdowns in the Big XII alone. Colorado's Josh Smith took a kickoff back 93 yards for a score against Colorado State (only to have the ensuing kickoff returned on the Buffs, which is awesome in itself). Oklahoma State's Perrish Cox went 90 yards on a kickoff return for a touchdown in Seattle against Washington State. Daymond Patterson of Kansas rubbed it in to Florida International by returning a punt 75 yards for a score. And, of course, there's Jeremy Maclin's 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. That's a pretty effective group of returners.

4) What other things did we learn from Week 1?

-Nobody's perfect. Not even Oklahoma (losing the shutout by giving up a safety to Chattanooga) or Missouri (secondary issues).

-The new coaches in the Big XII are getting mixed reviews.

-Nebraska still has some real and potentially serious defensive issues.

-Texas Tech is probably a little overrated.

-Texas, Colorado and Kansas State look like they could be better than anticipated.

-There is a lot of offense in the Big XII.

5) Is it worth it to play a difficult game in non-conference play?

There's no doubt that any Big XII schedule is going to have its difficulty. The conference, from top to Baylor, is one of the strongest in the country. As a direct or indirect result, we're seeing a rise in the number of "cupcakes" on the schedule. Oklahoma took on lowly Chattanooga. Kansas, in a surprise change of philosophy from last season, played Florida International. Mizzou's playing SEMO this weekend. Texas A&M played a terrible, terrible Arkansas State team.

But some Big XII teams are stepping up to the plate and playing some real teams. Mizzou played Illinois. Baylor, God bless 'em, played Wake. Kansas is going to take on South Florida. Texas A&M's still got The U on the slate. Nebraska's going to play Va Tech later on.

So, is it worth it to schedule difficult teams in your non-conference play? The advantages are obvious: it better prepares you for Big XII play, it will help build your case for a bowl, it gives you a potential bump in the rankings.

But what about the negatives? Injuries are much more likely in difficult games, since the likelihood for a blowout in which you can bench the important players shrinks. It exposes you further, as good teams tend to be able to capitalize on weaknesses better than cupcakes. And, of course, there's always the "losing" possibility.

Overall, though, I think it all depends on the situation. For Baylor, playing teams like Wake gives it national credibility and a bump in attendance. And considering it will likely be the underdog in any game against a serious opponent, the upset potential is always a nice benefit.

But for teams like Oklahoma, Texas, (dare I say) Missouri and other serious national players, is it really worth it? One slip-up can cause a meteoric fall down the rankings and essentially into oblivion. One helmet (of, for example, a Penn State player) to Sam Bradford's knee could end Oklahoma's dream of a national title. Is it worth the risk?

I suppose that's why I'm not an athletic director.

Until next week: Rock, flag and eagle, RMN.