Simple economics, really.</p><p>Why a major-college program would drop down in classification, which is happening four times in the Big 12 Saturday, is a matter of dollars.</p><p>The major program &#8212; Baylor, Colorado, Missouri and Kansas State this week &#8212; is all but assured a victory, moving one game closer to coaching security and bowl qualification, while probably putting as many backsides in the seats as they would a big-time opponent. Or at least not losing as many fans as it would by scheduling and possibly losing a riskier game.</p><p>Several Big 12 coaches were asked this week whether Division I-A programs with a limit of 85 scholarships should schedule Division I-AA opponents with a maximum of 63.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s probably better if we didn&#8217;t,&#8221; Texas coach Mack Brown said. &#8220;But I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s possible right now because of the difficulty in scheduling.&#8221;</p><p>The scheduling has become more of a challenge now that college football plays a 12-game regular season, which means finding four nonconference games for Big 12 schools.</p><p>The big boys want to play as many at home as possible, and nobody in the Big 12 plays fewer than two home nonleague games.</p><p>But schools are paying a great price for these all-but-automatic victories on the front end. A study by <em>The Des Moines Register</em> found that Big 12 schools pay a nonleague opponent an average guarantee of $322,000.</p><p>On the high end, Texas paid Florida Atlantic $900,000 to take a beating last week. This is the weekend K-State paid Fresno State $250,000 to get out of its meeting and is paying Division I-AA Montana State $350,000 for its appearance.</p><p>The other underclass opponents this weekend: Southeast Missouri State visits Missouri, Eastern Washington is at Colorado, and Northwestern State faces Baylor.</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong>1. Cincinnati at Oklahoma (Chs. 2, 9, 2:30 p.m.):</strong> Terrific matchup between last year&#8217;s national leader in pass efficiency, Oklahoma&#8217;s Sam Bradford, and cornerbacks DeAngelo Smith and Mike Mickens, who combined for 14 interceptions last year. Second-year Bearcats coach Brian Kelly owns a career record of 12-3 and hasn&#8217;t lost a game by more than a touchdown.</p><p><strong>2. Texas Tech at Nevada:</strong> The Wolf Pack is not to be taken lightly. It rolled up 629 yards on Grambling State last week and is led by 6-6 dual-threat quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Tech coach Mike Leach openly criticized his team earlier this week after a game in which it committed a school-record 18 penalties and 341 passing yards to Eastern Washington.</p><p><strong>3. Texas A&amp;M at New Mexico (Versus, 4 p.m.):</strong> Disturbing enough the Aggies lost to Arkansas State, but they got pushed around, outgained 415-303. The Lobos expect to be an even more difficult foe, and A&amp;M hasn&#8217;t started 0-2 since 1996.</p><p><strong>4. Houston at Oklahoma State:</strong> The Cougars are capable of the upset. They toyed with Southern last weekend, leading 45-3 at halftime on their way to a 55-3 triumph in coach Kevin Sumlin&#8217;s debut.</p><p><strong>5. Kent State at Iowa State:</strong> Good measuring-stick game for the Cyclones in coach Gene Chizik&#8217;s second year. Last season, the Golden Flashes won 23-14 with quarterback Julian Edelman having a big game.</p><p><strong>6. Louisiana Tech at Kansas (FSN, 6 p.m.):</strong> The Jayhawks will look to sharpen their running game this week. But the Bulldogs&#8217; defense is solid and paved the way to the Mississippi State upset last week by forcing five turnovers.</p><p><strong>7. San Jose State at Nebraska (Pay-per-view, 11:30 a.m.):</strong> The Cornhuskers&#8217; defense couldn&#8217;t slow spread attacks last season, and the Spartans are the first of two opponents (New Mexico State) that use it. But San Jose State and New Mexico State aren&#8217;t Missouri and Texas Tech.