Big 12 Conference facing bigger tests with 7 power matchups in Week 3

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops, right, greets quarterback Trevor Knight (9) as he returns to the bench following a touchdown by tight end Blake Bell in the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) (The Associated Press)

Texas head coach Charlie Strong shouts to his team during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against BYU in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Michael Thomas) (The Associated Press)

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops takes the approach that his fourth-ranked Sooners are getting ready to play a 10th conference game.

The Sooners are home Saturday against SEC team Tennessee. They are one of seven Big 12 teams playing teams from other power conferences this week, and those opponents from the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Pac-12 have a combined 13-1 record.

While those games don't count in the Big 12 standings, they will surely impact the perceptions of others — including the committee that will chose the four teams that will take part in the new College Football Playoff at the end of the season.

No. 19 Kansas State, the only Big 12 team not playing this week, is home against fifth-ranked and defending SEC champion Auburn the following Thursday.