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It is easy to look ahead to Dec. 3 and envision second-ranked Oklahoma State hosting rival Oklahoma with a spot in the BCS championship game on the line.
To reach the annual Bedlam game unbeaten, the Cowboys must first take care of Iowa State on the road Friday night.
''I know it's easy for people to look ahead to the Bedlam game, but we're staying really focused,'' Oklahoma State fullback David Paulsen said. ''The rankings are just a number right now. We just have to prove them right.''
The Cowboys (10-0, 7-0 Big 12) are favored to beat the Cyclones (5-4, 2-4) in their final road game of the season and set up the showdown with the hated Sooners. Iowa State is a 27-point underdog.
Oklahoma State is where it is because of an offense that has been so explosive that Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads dubbed it scary. The Cowboys rank second nationally with 51.7 points per game, a number they've topped against league opponents in the each of the past three weeks.
Oklahoma State pounded a good Baylor team 59-24, survived a memorable shootout with No. 16 Kansas State 52-45 and routed Texas Tech in Lubbock 66-6 a week ago, the Red Raiders looking a far cry from the team that went on the road and upset the Sooners.
The Cowboys insist they're not overlooking the Cyclones.
''It doesn't matter who it is, you can't overlook any team in the Big 12 or in college football in general,'' said Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden, who has put himself in the Heisman Trophy conversation with 31 TD passes. ''They'll sneak up on you and next you know, the goals you set aside are not there anymore. We'll be focused. We'll be dialed in.''
For Iowa State to have any shot at an upset, it will have to find a way to slow down Weeden and star receiver Justin Blackmon. And there is also Cowboys running back Joseph Randle, who has rushed for 993 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Rhoads knows that his Cyclones are going to have to get some breaks - and then a few more after that - to have a chance.
''We've got to play our best game, and there have to be some things that adversely affect them. We can't go out and play our game and go up and down with this football team,'' Rhoads said.
Iowa State has won two straight and had an extra week of preparation for the Cowboys. But in a game that will likely be a shootout, the Cyclones have concerns on offense.
The switch to freshman quarterback Jared Barnett helped Iowa State stun Texas Tech 41-7. But Barnett led the offense to just 13 points in a narrow three-point win over struggling Kansas on Nov. 5, and the Cyclones had trouble scoring in blowout losses to Texas and Missouri.
There is, however, proof that Rhoads is capable of putting his teams in position for unlikely wins. He led Iowa State to upset wins at Nebraska in 2009 and at Texas last season. Four years ago, when he was the defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh, the Panthers beat No. 2 West Virginia to spoil the Mountaineers' hopes of a national title shot.
Rhoads concocted a plan that held Pat White and the nation's second-best rushing attack to 104 yards in a 13-9 win that threw the 2007 title chase into chaos.
He is coming off a bye week spent focusing on Weeden and the Cowboys.
''Anything is possible,'' he said. ''You have got to tackle extremely well. You've got to take the ball away from their offense. You've got to get maybe a defensive score or a special teams score. A lot of things have to happen in a game like this. But who's to say they can't?''
