Kansas fans and Big 12 Conference higher-ups are probably feeling the same way right now: relieved.

Thanks to a second-half rally by Texas and heroics from Todd Reesing, the Big 12 Conference and KU both avoided taking major reputation hits this past weekend.

If Texas fell to Colorado, the conference would have lost its best chance at a BCS Championship. With two-loss Oklahoma out of the mix, the Big 12 could use an exemplary rest of the season from the Longhorns. And losing to Colorado at home wouldn’t have been a very strong showing.

If KU fell to Iowa State, the Jayhawks might have a tough time competing for the Big 12 North crown, considering how solid Nebraska looked last Thursday in a 27-12 victory at Missouri.

Both the Big 12 and KU survived. But what did the polls have to say about the weekend?

Here’s a look at how the Big 12 poll picture shakes out this week:

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The above graphic displays teams’ Associated Press and USA Today coaches poll rankings, the teams’ average ranking in the two polls combined, as well as teams’ movement in both polls over the past week.

The coaches didn’t budge their view of Texas, but the AP voters penalized the Longhorns for their shaky first half against the Buffaloes by dropping them a spot. Alabama passed Texas in the AP Poll, but Texas could have a chance to reclaim the spot when No. 1 Florida meets the No. 2 Crimson Tide.

Oklahoma State lost a bit of ground in each poll after defeating Texas A&M despite losing wide receiver Dez Bryant to eligibility issues.

Nebraska rocketed up the board after its defense put the clamps on Missouri’s vaunted offense.

Kansas was half-good, half-bad Saturday against Iowa State, and understandably didn’t impress the AP pollsters.

Oklahoma impressed the coaches with a 33-7 walloping of Baylor but didn’t change AP voters’ minds.

Missouri proved especially difficult for voters to judge. The Tigers made Nebraska’s offense look bad, but sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert finally came back to earth, posting a sub-60 passer rating.

The big question is, was Nebraska’s massive jump warranted?

The Cornhuskers went from scraping the bottom of the polls two weeks ago after an ugly loss at Virginia Tech to pulling even with an unbeaten Kansas squad this week. All it took was plastering Louisiana-Lafayette — which might be tougher than it sounds — and holding Missouri to 12 points to do it.

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Missouri linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and Nebraska running back Roy Helu

A victory at Missouri is a nice victory, given the way the Tigers played in 2007 and most of 2008. But this isn’t the Missouri of Chase Daniel, Jeremy Maclin and Tony Temple. These Tigers’ best victory came against Illinois (1-4) or at Nevada (2-3). The 2009 Missouri team has posted shimmering offensive statistics, but Gabbert’s 140.85 passer rating has come against teams with a combined 11-14 record. Aside from Nebraska, Missouri’s only opponent with a winning record is Furman, a 3-2 team from the Football Championship Subdivision.

On the flip side, the argument that Kansas hasn’t played any reputable opponents is a good one. UTEP (2-3) and Southern Mississippi (3-2) are stuck in the middle of the Conference USA pack, Iowa State is winless in Big 12 play, and Duke (3-3) seems improved but subpar.

The question comes down to this: Should Nebraska’s victory against an unproven but respected Missouri team count for more than Kansas’ perfect record against less-established teams?

The voters can’t seem to decide.

What do you think?