This is the eighth installment of the 2009 Big 12 Roundtable, a weekly feature during the season. Each week, an SB Nation Big 12 blogger will host the Roundtable and submit a series of questions to all Big 12 bloggers. This week, the Roundtable is being hosted by Bring On The Cats. Listed below are I Am The 12th Man's answers.

1.  Though not true of everyone -- texas continued its "just take care of business" approach -- Saturday shook a lot assumptions we had about some teams.  What, if anything, can you say with confidence about your team?

Hmmmmm, well, we wear uniforms with maroon and white on them. Our helmets will have a block A&M logo on them. We will put eleven people on the field on offense and eleven on defense. Other than that, I can't say anything confidently about our team, especially after what happened last weekend. Given the completely out-of-character performance of our team last week, I have no idea what to expect from this team. Quite frankly, I'm just hoping we show up and give an effort next Saturday.

2.  Two weeks ago, we discussed whether the divide between K-State, Iowa State and Colorado and the rest of the conference was widening.  After the North's total faceplant in "referendum" weekend, do we need to ask if the gap between the divisions is continuing to widen?

I don't think we need to ask the question, because I think most of the people who watch Big 12 South teams already knew the talk from Big 12 North teams that the gap between the two divisions closing was just that - talk. I think there is simply too big of a gulf in talent between Big 12 South teams and Big 12 North teams right now, and a lot of that has to do with the proximity of the Big 12 South teams to the recruiting base in Texas. The fact that we also have three of the wealthiest teams in the conference, when you look at athletic department revenues, in the South also helps a lot. Unless the Big 12 North can somehow open pipelines to Florida and California to make up for the talent shortage, I don't know if the North can catch up. It should be noted that there are teams like Missouri who do a good job recruiting Texas, but I still think Big 12 South teams have an advantage of getting more quality recruits because of proximity. Missouri is an interesting case, because they have talent to mine in their own state, but I think they are still in the process of building a program there. That is really a separate issue for a separate blog post.

3.  Speaking of that question two weeks ago, does yesterday's 3-0 showing by the three teams originally discussed -- K-State, Iowa State, and Colorado -- change your answer to that question, or was it just a random weekend where those three teams beat teams who weren't as good as we thought?

Well, Colorado beat Kansas, so I'm not sure what a game between two Big 12 North teams has to do with the widening gulf between the North and the South. Iowa State beat Baylor, who is down with the loss of Robert Griffin, and Kansas State beat an A&M team that never even bothered to get off the bus. I think the game between K-State and A&M was more of an anomaly than the rule (a look at the series record in Big 12 play supports that), and I expected Iowa State to beat Baylor. So, I think the answer to your question is partially the latter, where those three teams just had a random weekend of winning, which happens in college football.

4.  Next weekend, we see an interesting matchup of suddenly desperate teams in Lawrence, Kansas.  Which team needs that game worse?  Oklahoma, to show that they're not going to pack it in and have a disastrously bad season, or KU, to show that they are still in the running for the North division?

I think OU needs the win worse, and given the state of Kansas' defense, they will probably pull it off. I think Kansas' play in the past three weeks has proven that they are pretenders, not contenders, in the North.

5.  After a low-scoring, fumble-ridden -- I seriously think the guys on the sidelines handling the footballs were eating fried butter from the Texas State Fair, thus greasing the pigskin -- win in the Red River Shootout, texas has continued its "just win, baby" season.  You're on the spot, right now: Do the longhorns play for the national title in Pasadena this January?

No. I get the distinct feeling that continuing to play as they have, with their offense struggling early in games, is going to bite them in the butt at some point. Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Halloween sounds like as good a time as any, especially if Dez Bryant is back for that game.

6.  Power Poll -- Rank 'em according to who you think would win on a neutral site

1. texas longhorns
2. Oklahoma St. Cowboys
3. Texas Tech Red Raiders
4. Oklahoma Sooners
5. Nebraska Cornhuskers
6. Missouri Tigers
7. Colorado Buffaloes
8. Kansas St. Wildcats
9. Iowa St. Cyclones
10. Kansas Jayhawks
11. Baylor Bears
12. Texas A&M Aggies