Baylor is one of only two undefeated team in the Big 12 Conference. But the 16th-ranked Bears will get a better gauge of how just good they are when they open Big 12 play on Saturday night against visiting the Oklahoma State Cowboys at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.The Bears played arguably the weakest nonconference schedule in the Big 12, romping to a 55-7 win over FCS Northwestern State, a 40-13 win over SMU and a 38-10 victory over Rice.The best measuring stick is going to be on the field Saturday, Baylor wide receiver Lynx Hawthorne told the Waco Tribune. Well hopefully come together and put some points on the board and get our first conference win.Oklahoma State went 2-1 in nonconference play but would be 3-0 if not for a botched call by the officials that allowed Central Michigan an extra play two weeks ago in Stillwater. The Chippewas were inadvertently awarded an extra play after the Cowboys committed intentional grounding on what would have been the games last play. Central Michigan then pulled out a 30-27 victory when quarterback Cooper Rush threw a Hail Mary pass to Jesse Kroll who then lateraled to Corey Willis for the touchdown.Oklahoma State bounced back for a 45-38 win over Pittsburgh last weekend as junior quarterback Mason Rudolph completed 26 of 46 passes and set an Oklahoma State record with 540 yards, averaging 20.8 yards per completion.Any reservations or doubts that lingered from the confusing, and controversial loss to Central Michigan were wiped with a 91-yard strike to wide receiver James Washington on the very first play. Washington finished with nine receptions for 296 yards in the contest.Mason came back. Its tough being a quarterback when you lose a game like that, Oklahoma coach Mike Gundy said of the Central Michigan fiasco.I dont think anyone who watched that game wasnt impressed with how well the quarterback throws the deep ball, Baylor acting head coach Jim Grobe said. He gets great height on the ball and that makes it really tough on the defensive backs. They have good speed at all the skill positions offensively and a couple of running backs that are very talented.Baylors defense is off to an outstanding start, ranking third nationally in scoring defense by allowing 10 points per game and seventh in total defense by allowing 249.3 yards per game. Opponents have completed just 31 of 90 passes for 291 yards and a touchdown through the first three games.The Bears, who led the nation in both scoring offense and total offense for the last three years, have sputtered at times so far this season. Baylor is averaging 557.3 yards in total offense -- nothing to sneeze at -- but that ranks just fourth in the pass-happy Big 12 and eighth nationally. Part of the reason for that have been some unusually slow starts to games.Wed like to figure things out a little quicker, Grobe said. Slow starts are a little bit of a problem but weve played pretty good overall. I think going forward, with the Big 12 games getting cranked up, we probably would like to start faster.The Bears failed to score in the first quarter last week at Rice -- thats headline material for this offense -- but quarterback Seth Russell, inconsistent at the start for the second straight game, rebounded to pass for 337 yards and three touchdowns. KD Cannon continued to show he can be Baylors go-to receiver as he hauled in nine passes for 213 yards and two TDs.Baylors ground game is averaging 282 yards per game which leads the Big 12 and ranks ninth nationally. Three running backs -- Shock Linwood, Terence Williams and JaMycal Hasty -- are averaging at least 71 yards per game. Linwood finished with 57 yards rushing at Rice and passed Walter Abercrombies career rushing mark at Baylor in that contest. He now has 3,674 yards for his career with nine games left.Oklahoma State leads the all-time series with Baylor, 19-15. The Bears won 45-35 last year in Stillwater, Okla., however, and are hoping for more of the same Saturday. Vlade Divac Jersey . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. Dennis Rodman Jersey . -- There were a lot of firsts for the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. http://www.lakersbasketballshop.com/Kurt-Rambis-Jersey/ . The team also announced Tuesday that the Braves will wear a commemorative patch on the right sleeve during the season. The patch, shaped like home plate, carries the number 715, Aarons autograph and a "40th Anniversary" banner. JaVale McGee Jersey . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. Derek Fisher Lakers Jersey . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. It was 20 years ago last month when the world began to understand that golf, at least for the near future, wouldnt be the same.Tiger Woods was on the prowl in Las Vegas, stalking what would become his first professional win. I walked inside the ropes alongside him, amid frenzied sounds from the crowd unlike any Id heard on the golf course before.I was also next to the 18th green at Torrey Pines 12 years later when Woods -- playing basically on one leg -- rolled in a 15-footer to force a playoff in the U.S. Open. The next day, productivity in offices around the nation plummeted as workers tuned in to see if he could finish off a miracle win against Rocco Mediate.He did, of course, winning his 14th major. Bum leg or not, there seemed no way Woods could be stopped on the golf course.That was his last major championship win, a fact that remains startling, and even a little sad. Its almost incomprehensible that its eight years later, and equally incomprehensible the things that have gone on with Woods during that time.Some were of his own making, and were stunning by themselves. Others were simply a reflection on the toll Father Time and a violent golf swing can take on a body.As much as we hope for it, greatness never lasts. Its fleeting at best, even for the best.Sandy Koufax had five great years before flaming out. Jim Brown quit after nine seasons, and even Tom Brady will one day have to hang them up.Woods perseveres, though, even if the best hell ever do is show flashes of what he once had. Hes no longer going to dominate, and its still a big question whether he will even be competitive again.Woods, though, has plans. This is golf, remember, where Jack Nicklaus won the Masters at the age of 46 and Davis Love won on the PGA Tour last year at 51.No one cuts you in golf. No one boos you from the grandstands or tells you youre not good enough to play on a team.To see those guys, in those various sports, if you lose a little bit, youre going to probably be replaced, Woods said. But in golf, I can play a different way and get away with it.Woods tees off Thursday in a tournament that means nothing. The Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas is little more than an 18-player exhibition Woods himself set up years ago to make some money for his foundation and give playerss he likes some easy holiday bonus money.dddddddddddd.But it means everything to Woods. Its a barometer not only of where his game is now, but whether he can come back from a 15-month layoff and somehow compete at the highest level again.Oddsmakers dont like his chances, listing him last in the field as a 40-1 longshot to win. With good reason, because a new generation has taken over golf and they dont know what it means to be intimidated the way players were intimidated by Tiger in his prime.Woods now has gray in his goatee, and less hair on top of his head. He turns 41 next month, and is the oldest player in the field.He still draws eyeballs, but now they are more out of curiosity and misplaced hope than anything else. In the pro-am on Wednesday, two eagles on the front nine by Woods sent some golf writers and followers straight to social media sites to proclaim there is still some greatness there.Woods isnt ready to go that far. But hes no longer worried about embarrassing himself like he did last year when he had the yips chipping in Phoenix, and believes he can still get the ball in the hole.Its fun for me to do this, he said. Thats what people probably dont quite understand. I love to compete, I love playing against these guys and I miss being out here.Golf fans miss seeing Woods, too. At the recent Ryder Cup, he still had people yelling his name as he drove a golf cart between holes while serving as an assistant captain.We watch because we remember the greatness, the drives that sailed past everyone and the putts that always seemed to go in. Well also watch because there exists the possibility of a train wreck yet again.Things are different now, Woods insists, even though he aborted a comeback last month in California because he felt he wasnt ready. He says he has rediscovered the shots that have been missing from his game.I can play, he said. I can play, I can compete and hopefully I can get out there and shoot something.Woods will shoot something, thats for sure. But that may be the only guarantee he has all week.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org ' ' '