Missouri coach Gary Pinkel received an unexpected apology on Monday from Walt Anderson, the Big 12’s head of referees.

Pinkel said Anderson called and admitted that officials erred on a touchdown-negating call in the final minute of the Tigers’ 21-16 loss to Iowa State on Saturday.

“For him to admit that, it said a lot about him and the integrity of the conference office,” Pinkel said.

The Tigers faced fourth down from the Cyclones’ one-yard line with 26 seconds left when quarterback Chase Daniel dived into the end zone. But Missouri lineman Monte Wyrick was whistled for holding and the ball was pushed back 10 yards. Daniel was sacked on the final play.

Pinkel said during Monday’s Big 12 teleconference that Anderson told him the officials “clearly made a mistake on that last play where Chase Daniel scored.”

“He said to me, ‘We blew it,'” Pinkel said. “He said, ‘If you call that (holding) you have to call it 40 times a game.”‘

While Pinkel appreciated Anderson’s candor, he was still upset for his players on Monday.

“That victory was taken away from them,” Pinkel said. “It has bowl ramifications. It has financial ramifications.”

Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said in a statement Monday that Anderson agreed with Pinkel’s protests based on a review of the game tape.

The Tigers (7-4, 3-4 Big 12) will finish the regular season against Kansas University (6-5, 3-4) on Saturday.

Pinkel said his players have turned their focus to the Jayhawks.

And in his opinion, they’re heading into the finale with eight victories, not seven.

“My team did a great job. They won the football game,” Pinkel said.

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missouri's gary pinkel patrols the sidelines during Saturday's controversial loss at Iowa State.

Interested party: This time last year, Texas coach Mack Brown was talking about avoiding an shocking loss on his team’s path to a national championship showdown with USC.

This year, the No. 11 Longhorns (9-2, 6-1) are out of the title hunt heading into Friday’s regular-season finale against Texas A&M (8-3, 4-3). But that doesn’t mean Brown doesn’t have an opinion about it.

Top-ranked Ohio State (12-0) locked up a berth in the national championship game with a 42-39 victory over Michigan on Saturday. While the Wolverines (11-1) stayed at No. 2 in the latest Bowl Championship Series rankings, USC, Florida and Notre Dame lead a host of other one-loss teams still hoping for a chance to play for the title.

Brown, who’d like to see the BCS scrapped in favor of a playoff, said the current, computer-based system is likely to once again produce an unsatisfying conclusion.

“If everybody wins out right now,” Brown said, “there’s probably going to be some really, really disappointed teams that all probably have a right to play in the national championship game.

“And we’re all going to be having computers trying to divide them. That’s a difficult thing with this system.”

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Peterson out: Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Adrian Peterson would sit out Saturday’s regular-season finale at Oklahoma State.

Peterson, a Heisman Trophy candidate when the season began, has missed five games since breaking his collarbone in the Sooners’ 34-9 victory over Iowa State on Oct. 14.

Stoops said Peterson was still healing, but was likely to be ready for the Sooners’ bowl game.

Peterson’s replacement, Allen Patrick, has missed the Sooners’ last two games with a sore ankle, but the rushing attack has still kept on rolling.

Third-string freshman tailback Chris Brown ran 24 times for 169 yards and a touchdown in the Sooners’ 36-10 win over Baylor last Saturday and the Sooners rank third in the league in rushing, averaging 184 yards per game.

“This is the ultimate team sport,” Stoops said, “and one guy isn’t going to control what we do. That’s showing.”

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Extra points: Texas Tech, which lost twice in the past month by failing to score after halftime, was the comeback team Saturday. The Red Raiders trailed Oklahoma State by 17 points in the second quarter, then scored on their next five possessions on their way to a 30-24 victory. … Texas A&M junior defensive tackle Red Bryant tore his right anterior cruciate ligament and had season-ending surgery last Friday.