What's in a rivalry?

It seems crazy that an entire day of football could pass without any entertaining games in this age of high-powered offenses and wild shootouts. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened this week. A dangerous combination of ill-timed byes, mid-major blowouts and uninspired play added up to the worst Saturday in the sport this season. Week 10 was the first time all season I wasn’t compelled in the slightest to stream multiple games on the computer and TV simultaneously. Let’s look back at the carnage.

The “weekend” actually began with some promise thanks to entertaining matchups in the AAC and Conference USA on Thursday. USC – Oregon State, while disappointing, was at least watchable Friday night. It all sort of spiraled downward from there. Virginia Tech losing AGAIN, this time to Boston College, was reason enough to raise an eyebrow, as was Penn State’s near-disaster against Illinois. Wisconsin and Iowa slugged it out for three quarters before the Badgers ran away with the game, while Ohio State dropped another bomb on the Big Ten’s credibility by crushing Purdue 56-0. Arizona and Georgia notched closer-than-expected wins over Cal and Florida, respectively, but neither was an exhibition of particularly good football.

Notre Dame also narrowly avoided the upset bug versus Navy. Clemson, another of the nation’s leaders matched up with a vastly overwhelmed foe, clobbered Virginia 59-10. In the first of only three games with two ranked teams, Michigan State stuffed Michigan. Oklahoma State’s defense didn’t have the same kind of performance as MSU’s, but the Cowboys won by a similar margin over Texas Tech, essentially eliminating the Red Raiders from the Big 12 race. Finally, after struggling in the first half, Florida State pulled away from Miami (FL) convincingly.

In the end, not much was learned. We already knew FSU was one of the three best teams in the country. We already knew no one on Ohio State’s schedule could touch the Buckeyes. With so many teams off, nothing really changed this week. The Seminoles jumped Oregon in the BCS standings, but if Oregon wins this week the Ducks will jump them right back. Thankfully, next week will be much more interesting.

The two gigantic Thursday contests will have an enormous impact on the conference races and the national standings. Oklahoma travels to Baylor that afternoon, followed by Oregon’s visit to Stanford. On Saturday, Nebraska – Michigan will eliminate one squad from the Big Ten title chase, while BYU’s trip to Wisconsin could end up deciding an at-large BCS berth – for both teams. Arizona State has a potentially tricky trip to Utah, as does Texas, who must venture to the far-off lands of West Virginia to face the Mountaineers.

In the American, another BCS spot may be decided as undefeated Houston and UCF clash. The same happens in the ACC, where Virginia Tech meets Miami (FL) in a game that will probably decide the Coastal Division. In primetime Alabama gets LSU. The Crimson Tide might already have the West sewn up but can still ill afford a loss at this point in the season. The best of the late games features UCLA at Arizona in a key South matchup. Both teams are 3-2 and chasing Arizona State. All in all, it’s a much more filling bounty than we were presented with last week.

Top 25

Once again, with so many teams idle I can’t make many changes to the rankings. That figures to change in a big way this week. Three undefeated teams face major tests and a handful of others will either make statements or be exposed. This is the time of year when the BCS really starts to shake itself out.

1) Florida State

If I had FSU on top last week, the win over Miami sure won’t change anything (especially after Alabama and Oregon were idle). I was surprised at how much of a fight the Hurricanes put up in the first half, but the Seminoles did a good job of clamping down and taking command of a game that was actually in doubt at the break. Jameis Winston’s two picks won’t help his Heisman chances, though that’s hardly of importance now. With three legitimate patsies and only a token threat from Florida left, it’s looking more and more like FSU is going undefeated.

2) Alabama

With apologies to Texas A&M, this is the game Alabama has been waiting for. LSU has stumbled twice already, although that’s partially the result of playing a more difficult SEC schedule than the Tide. The Tigers are very talented and quite capable of beating ‘Bama, even in Tuscaloosa. That means, of course, that the Tide are about to put up one of their trademark beatdowns. It’s not that I don’t have any faith in LSU – they’re very good – but it feels as if Alabama is tired of people questioning whether they should be number one.

3) Oregon

Much like Alabama, this is what the season comes down to for Oregon. The Ducks will probably win out if they survive on The Farm. UO has had a year to stew about the missed opportunities in last year’s game and should hardly be lacking in motivation. As I said last week, they are the better team. This game will answer whether Stanford really “figured out” Oregon last season, or if 2012 was just a fluke. There probably won’t be another clash of styles so different anywhere in the country. Simple as it sounds, whoever dictates tempo will probably win.

4) Ohio State

It would appear the Buckeyes have woken up and realize they need to start winning in impressive fashion to have any shot at the BCS Championship. One week after blowing out Penn State, OSU did the same on the road against Purdue, this time grabbing a shutout as well. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that no amount of points scored (or lack of points allowed) will convince voters to jump this team over the Big Three. The Buckeyes have to root for upsets, because they’re being victimized by the Big Ten.

5) Stanford

Taking a week off could only immensely help the Cardinal, who were hurting after the Oregon State game. Playing Oregon last week might have been ugly. This week, well, you never know. It certainly doesn’t seem like Stanford should be able to beat the Ducks. The ground game has been less consistent than last year and the passing attack has largely fizzled (though it’s worth noting that Kevin Hogan hasn’t been nearly as bad this year as you might think). The key, as always, is defense. With enough pressure up front, ‘Furd can make life miserable for anyone.

6) Clemson

Unless the Tigers get gashed by Georgia Tech’s option (always possible) they’ll head to South Carolina at the end of the month with a single loss. An 11-1 mark would almost definitely get Tajh Boyd and Co. to a BCS game, which wouldn’t be a bad consolation prize. However, South Carolina has proved… difficult in the past for this team, even when the Tigers are favored. Particularly on the road, that’s a tough matchup. Putting away Georgia Tech early would help shift the focus to preparing for that game.

7) LSU

Alabama has been less than dominant at times during this season. The Crimson Tide also drew the easiest road possible from the SEC schedule-makers, so even the recent streak comes with room to pause. However, it’s impossible to pick LSU in this game. In the Tigers’ two losses, quarterback Zach Mettenberger was brilliant (Georgia) and horrendous (Ole Miss). I think he’s very good, but the simple fact that we don’t know which version will show up in Tuscaloosa is enough to swing the game to ‘Bama. For LSU to pull the upset, Mettenberger will need to be his best.

8) Oklahoma

So here we stand: old guard versus up-and-comer. The Sooners (along with Texas) are the royalty of middle-American football. Baylor is, historically speaking, more like untouchables. The Bears have one win over OU – ever. It came two years ago with Robert Griffin III. Oklahoma has always been the vastly more talented team and probably still is now. However, the Sooners haven’t always played like it this year. To beat Baylor, OU will need to put the clamps on the nation’s most prolific offense. Can they do it? I honestly don’t know. I do know that no offense is unstoppable, though.

9) Missouri

A very nice win for the Tigers over Tennessee this week. The Volunteers aren’t great by any stretch of the imagination, but a dominant 31-3 effort after the heartbreak of losing to South Carolina was a good sign. This group should have no trouble with Kentucky, then must travel to Ole Miss and host Texas A&M to end the year. Neither is a gimme. The Rebels, while not exceptional, have proved to be capable of knocking off good teams. A&M can score with anybody. The difference in styles among the final three opponents will likely be a challenge, too.

10) Baylor

Okay, Baylor. You’ve been screaming to the heavens all season about being disrespected. Now’s the time to put up. A loss to Oklahoma would likely see a rapid drop in the polls, as voters are just waiting for this team to get exposed. A win, though? Take out the Sooners – the most talented squad on the schedule, if not the best overall team – and Baylor might even jump Ohio State. The Bears certainly would by the end of the year if they went undefeated. But first, let’s see one good win.

11) Auburn

I’m not totally sold on the Tigers, considering their reputation is built solely on the greatness of Texas A&M. However, they are at least pretty good and we’ll get to see them tested with season-ending games against Georgia and Alabama. Both games are at home, and by the way, Auburn only has one loss. It sounds unlikely, but this team would take the West by winning out. To do that, though, the Tigers would need to graduate from a good rushing offense to a good offense, period. You won’t beat Alabama without a balanced attack.

12) Oklahoma State

Well, well. It wasn’t hard to figure out that OSU was better than the West Virginia team they lost to, but after a couple of lackluster performances it was reasonable to question whether this team was capable of a serious run at the Big 12 title. They are. Outside of a 21-point second quarter by Texas Tech, the Cowboys completely controlled the game in Lubbock. That performance compares very favorably to Oklahoma’s one-touchdown win over the Red Raiders last week, which, by the way, came at home. The last two games of the season (Baylor and OU) are going to be fun.

13) South Carolina

It took about a quarter, but the Gamecocks finally pulled away from Mississippi State. If asking a team to put away a game faster than that sounds excessive, you clearly haven’t seen MSU play. No matter. With a week off before the SEC finale with Florida, a 6-2 league finish seems likely. At that point all it would take is one Missouri upset for Carolina to go to the SEC Championship. Even if that doesn’t happen, a win over Clemson at the end of the year could send this team to the BCS as an at-large. A lot of possibilities for the Gamecocks.

14) Michigan State

I think it’s safe to say Michigan State’s defense is for real. The Spartans held a top-10 offense to 168 total yards, including an absurd negative-48 on the ground once factoring in sacks. The Legends Division can be clinched with a win at Nebraska in two weeks, but this team is looking higher than that. Finishing the regular season 11-1 (and undefeated in conference play) is a real possibility, which would set up a fantastic battle with Ohio State in the Big Ten title game. Common opinion holds that MSU wouldn’t stand a chance, but with this D anything is possible.

15) UCF

Here we go. Minor challenges in the form of SMU and Rutgers await, but this week is the big one. Central Florida’s AAC title hopes hinge on containing explosive Houston in Orlando this week. I think this team gets it done. The Knights have proved to be strong defensively and very opportunistic despite an offense that is only above-average. The dream run is only half over and Houston is not to be taken lightly, but UCF has been very, very good and appears poised to break into the BCS.

16) Louisville

Louisville also gets Houston in another week in a game that will likely determine the team’s final record, if not its postseason fate. Cardinals fans will argue that an 11-1 record, with the lone loss by three, should be good enough for an at-large BCS bid, but that’s probably unrealistic. The AAC is just too weak to justify a second berth, especially with the SEC, ACC and Pac-12 all likely to receive two bids apiece. With a couple of upsets here and there, though, it’s not out of the question. Louisville’s margin for error is razor-thin.

17) Texas A&M

Once again, not impressed by A&M’s accomplishments. We’re at the point in the season when a close loss in Week Two doesn’t have a whole lot of meaning anymore. I mean, run down the schedule. Vandy? SMU? The best win is Ole Miss, which was a game the Aggies really should have lost. Mississippi State won’t provide much of a challenge, so the season really comes down to the final two games. Both LSU and Mizzou are on the road. They’ll decide whether aTm is (yet another) team who could earn an at-large BCS berth.

18) Miami (FL)

The loss to FSU was one thing. That was expected. The much worse outcome was Duke Johnson’s injury, which could prevent the Hurricanes from getting the rematch with the Seminoles in the ACC Championship. It’s too bad, because the ‘Canes put forth such a great effort in the first half against FSU. Virginia Tech is reeling right now, but that doesn’t mean the Hokies can’t beat Miami. There’s no telling how beat up this team is right now and the emotional loss of Johnson could be devastating.

19) UCLA

The Bruins didn’t look particularly impressive against Colorado but got the win, keeping them alive for the South title and a third straight Pac-12 Championship spot. The remainder of the schedule is not easy, as UCLA has to go on the road to face Arizona before three games in southern California (Washington, Arizona State and USC). These are kind of games a mature team would struggle with; the young Bruins must grow up fast to have a chance. ASU and USC are probably must-wins.

20) Wisconsin

It wasn’t pretty but the Badgers ground out a double-digit win at Iowa. Now comes perhaps the biggest obstacle to a 10-win finish: BYU. The Cougars also have a shot at a BCS berth and are coming to Madison to win, not compete. As far as mid-season non-conference games go, this is about the worst game Wisconsin could have picked. Still, for a team looking to avenge the loss to Arizona State – in the BCS’ eyes – this is a great opportunity. How bad would the Big Ten look with a loss, though?

21) Texas Tech

Hmmm. The Red Raiders suffered their second straight loss to an Oklahoma school, this time not very competitively. After the Oklahoma loss – close, on the road – it was fair to not drop TTU too far in the polls. After the defensive meltdown against OSU, all bets are off. It would take an unusual combination of losses for another chance at the Big 12 title. How will this team respond to falling from front-runner to spoiler status? I like Texas Tech, but the schedule isn’t forgiving the final month of the year.

22) Fresno State

Fresno picked up another so-so win against a mediocre opponent in the Mountain West. The style points aren’t there right now for the Bulldogs, which is a problem given the surge Northern Illinois is making. If this pattern of relatively close wins continues the Huskies will jump Fresno in the polls. Only the higher-ranked of the two teams at season’s end will get a BCS bid. The strength of the MWC over the MAC is helping this squad, but eventually more impressive wins are going to be necessary.

23) Northern Illinois

Keep in mind that NIU’s opponents are largely terrible, UMass this week included. However, against bad teams the best answer is big wins. That’s what the Huskies are doing right now. Even better: the MAC scheduled NIU’s final three games during the middle of the week, providing the maximum amount of exposure to voters at the end of the season. The next contest could be the game of the year in the MAC, as the Huskies host fellow league unbeaten Ball State for the West title.

24) Notre Dame

In their current four-game winning streak, the Fighting Irish have given up 10 points twice… and 34 points twice. They’ve beaten two Pac-12 teams, then struggled with Navy this week. Indeed, the Midshipmen looked poised to drive down for the winning score in the back-and-forth game before the Irish D snuffed out a fourth-down reverse. It’s still hard to know what to make of this team. It’s not crazy to think they could win out against some quality competition. They could also lose to Pitt, BYU and Stanford and end up with five losses.

25) Arizona State

ASU is looking really good right now, but I can’t bring myself to move the Sun Devils above Notre Dame. That game happened less than a month ago. I even said before the Irish won I thought ASU was the better team but Notre Dame would win, which is exactly what happened. I think the Sun Devils might be the better team now, too. They’ll need to beat another quality team to earn the ranking or justify a better spot than the team who beat them. That’s the fairest way to do this. As far as the Pac-12 standings go, ASU is sitting pretty as the leader in the South.

Pac-12 Report

A 42-14 first half. That’s how the nightmare unfolded for Washington State on Thursday. The interesting thing about the game was that it actually wasn’t as bad as the score looked – until it was. Arizona State led 42-7 just before the break, only to see Wazzu score on both sides of the intermission to pull within 42-21. After forcing a fourth down, it appeared the Cougars would get the ball back with a chance to cut the lead to just two scores. Instead, the Sun Devils pulled a fake punt, Todd Graham looked like a genius and ASU won going away. It was a frustrating loss for WSU, who now needs two wins in the final three games to reach bowl eligibility.

The Sun Devils, meanwhile, looked nigh-unstoppable. After a potential trap game at Utah, ASU faces Oregon State at home (a notoriously difficult place for OSU) before travelling to UCLA and the home finale with rival Arizona. All four games are winnable, though the matchup with the Bruins is the most important. Assuming this team wins at least two of the other three games, that date in L.A. will decide the South title.

UCLA, for their part, looked a little disinterested with Colorado, sluggishly pulling away in the second half for a 22-point win. The Bruins will need to be sharper than that in Tucson this week. Arizona may not be great, but the Wildcats could pull the upset if the Bruins aren’t careful. As with many teams this time of year, UCLA has to avoid looking ahead. None of their remaining four games are easy. 

Of course, ‘Zona wasn’t exactly impressive Saturday, either. Cal had several chances to get its first Pac-12 win and threw the ball away (sometimes literally). I’m not sure how good this team is – not as terrible as they seemed at the start of conference play, for sure – because the three league wins since came against Utah, Colorado and Cal. That’s three teams with a combined Pac-12 record of 1-15, so take the Wildcats’ winning streak with a grain of salt.

Speaking of fraudulent winning streaks… my goodness, how bad was Oregon State on Friday? Midway through October I said OSU hadn’t played any good defenses and wasn’t as good as they seemed. However, even I got roped in by the hype from pundits who said the Beavers were “back” after the ugly season-opening loss. Nope. Not even lose. OSU hasn’t changed a bit since the Eastern Washington game – average defense at all levels, subpar offensive line and zero skill players outside of Brandin Cooks. The Beavs had played well as a team to get to 6-2 with a laudable effort against Stanford, but versus USC the dam broke (no pun intended).

As for SC, the Trojans keep chugging away, despite crippling scholarship restrictions and even more crippled players. No one will confuse this team with some of the mighty Trojans team of old, but they’ve still got quite a lot of talent. With home games against Stanford and UCLA remaining, there’s still time for SC to have a huge impact on the conference race. How remarkable would it be for the Trojans to make the Pac-12 title game after opening the conference season with two losses and firing Lane Kiffin? It’s not exactly probable, but strange things happen in November.

I’ll end with Oregon – Stanford, so let’s move to the Saturday games. USC at Cal is not likely to be a close game, even with the fight the Bears showed against Arizona. The Trojans will employ the same game plan they used on Oregon State: pounding the ball left, right and center. The offense will get off a few big plays through play-action, the defense will contain Cal’s Bear Raid and the home team will have a tough time stopping SC from controlling the clock. Another step toward 0-9 for Cal.

ASU at Utah is more interesting, provided Utes’ QB Travis Wilson’s finger is healthy. The bye week was probably helpful. Utah is a lot better at home (as is ASU), but in the end I doubt the Utes’ D will hold up for four quarters against the Sun Devils’ relentless attack. The worst-case scenario for ASU would see their players get fatigued from the altitude and a second straight road game while Utah controls the clock with intermediate passes and runs. That’s a lot to ask for, even for a rested team like the Utes. I think ASU can taste the South title and wants to go out and win it.

Colorado’s pain train stumbles on to Seattle, where the Huskies will gladly extend the Buffaloes’ misery for another week. Back-to-back home dates with Cal and Colorado sandwiched around a bye? What did Washington do to get that sweet deal? Does Sark have compromising pictures of Pac-12 commish Larry Scott? In any case, Colorado has shown a lot of fight the past two games against ‘Zona and UCLA, vindicating those of us who said they would be an improved team in 2012. Unfortunately, we also said that improvement wouldn’t be reflected in the win-loss column, which seems to be the case. Whatever troubles UW might have, they won’t be enough to prevent another CU loss.

UCLA – Arizona is the nightcap. The Bruins are the better team, but it’s not easy to win in Tucson and, let’s face it, UCLA hasn’t looked great lately. It’s possible both teams’ uninspiring wins last week were the result of looking ahead, though that may not be giving enough credit to Colorado and Cal. Both teams have also beat the same three conference teams – Utah, Colorado and Cal. Not exactly a murderer’s row. The difference comes in the rest of the schedule. UCLA’s conference losses are to Oregon and Stanford, the class of the Pac-12. ‘Zona’s are to Washington and USC. UCLA also went on the road to beat Nebraska. Barring a meltdown, the Bruins should win.

As for Oregon and Stanford… there’s not a lot more to be said than what I posted last week. Oregon is the more talented offensive team by a wide margin. Stanford is the better defensive squad, though not by as large of a gap. There’s no doubt Oregon CAN score on this team – prior to last season, Stanford had not held UO to less than 35 points since 2004. The question is, did the Cardinal catch lightning in a bottle that day, or did they finally catch up to the Ducks schematically? The loss of DE Ben Gardner is a big blow, given that the key to slowing Oregon seems to be pressure up front. Still, it’s not as if Stanford doesn’t have other good players who can do most of what Gardner did.

The start of the game will be crucial. Stanford cannot afford to fall behind and get into must-pass situations. In short, it’s the same formula as last year: shorten the game, force Oregon into mistakes and win the battle at the line of scrimmage. Regardless of what some overconfident Ducks fans might think, the Cardinal are completely capable of replicating the 2012 performance. However, I don’t think they will. Impressive though last year’s win was, Stanford seems to have regressed offensively this season and should find moving the ball to be a problem against the UO defense, which is no slouch either. Oregon probably won’t tally as many points as usual, but they’ll do enough to win by a couple of scores.

Heisman Watch

This is getting repetitive, but it’s the truth.

Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State

Random Thoughts and Observations

I had to include this video of the Ohio State marching band’s Hollywood Blockbuster Show from halftime of the Penn State game. Somehow I missed this last week. Fun for all!

Early in the season I mentioned that LSU’s win over TCU would not be remembered for the quality victory it was because the Horned Frogs soon lost QB Casey Pachall for an extended period. Well, Pachall has returned and TCU is still losing, with a 3-6 overall record and a 1-5 mark in conference play. It’s hard to know if the early injuries the team dealt with sent them to a point of no return or if TCU was overrated to begin with. Considering the impressive defensive performances the Horned Frogs have put up against some of the better offenses they’ve faced, I don’t think they’re that bad. But in any case, LSU is no longer getting credit for a quality win.

There were numerous near-misses but only one true Stanzi this week. Considering Notre Dame’s fortune over the past couple of years, it’s surprising it took this long to get Tommy Rees on the board.

Tommy Rees, Notre Dame

Opponent: Navy

Performance: Two INTs, led two fourth-quarter TD drives

Nebraska’s Tommy Armstrong, Jr. would have won a Stanzi because of his three interceptions, but he didn’t throw the Hail Mary that won the game. Because he didn’t actually play a part in the win, I can’t hand him one of these prestigious awards.

2013 Stanzi Awards

Devin Gardner, Michigan: 2

Keith Wenning, Ball State: 2

Anthony Boone, Duke: 1

Stephen Morris, Miami (FL): 1

Taysom Hill, BYU: 1

Connor Wood, Colorado: 1

Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech: 1

Braxton Miller, Ohio State: 1

Corey Robinson, Troy: 1

Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M: 1

Christian Hackenberg, Penn State: 1

Jake Heaps, Kansas: 1

Gary Nova, Rutgers: 1

Trevone Boykin, TCU: 1

Brett Hundley, UCLA: 1

Devin Powell, Tulane: 1

Connor Halliday, WSU: 1

Tommy Rees, Notre Dame:

A.J. Doyle, Massachusetts: 1

Justin Worley, Tennessee: 1

Taylor Heinicke, Old Dominion: 1

Terrel Hunt, Syracuse: 1

In another couple of weeks, the players tied at one Stanzi will be consolidated into an “others” category, to make room for the guys who really have a shot to win the season award.

One final note: there’s been some talk this week about rivalries because of the big games between Alabama and LSU and Oregon and Stanford. Sports Illustrated ran an article about the Oregon – Stanford rivalry during the bye week. Like most things SI has written in the past 15 years about college football, the piece had some inaccuracies (such as the nature of the Oregon – Washington – Oregon State relationship). However, the most frustrating aspect was its central thesis: that Oregon – Stanford is becoming the best rivalry in the Pac-12.

There is no rivalry between the two schools, just as there was no rivalry between Oregon and USC last season when both were projected as top-five teams. Being good at the same time in the same conference does not make teams rivals. Rivalry is built through decades of animosity (and in the UO – UW case, humiliation). Oregon and Stanford have been playing at or around an elite level for five years. That is not a rivalry. The Big Game, the Territorial Cup, the Civil War, the Apple Cup, Oregon and Washington, Cal and UCLA – those are the Pac-12’s biggest rivalries.

And for the record, the next ignorant commentator who says USC – UCLA is “one of the west coast’s biggest rivalries” should be instantly fired. The fans in L.A. are terrible and nobody cares about that game, except on the rare occasion when both teams are good. That’s merely a rivalry of proximity, and it’s a subpar one at that. Oregon and Stanford? Give me a break. There’s not enough anger on either side to make that a rivalry. The Pac-12’s best rivalries, in order, are:

Arizona – ASU (Territorial Cup)

Oregon – Washington

Oregon – OSU (Civil War)

Washington – WSU (Apple Cup)

Stanford – Cal (The Big Game)

Oregon – Washington was the conference’s fiercest rivalry up until UW’s recent downfall. That, combined with Oregon’s dominance of the series, has doused the fires a little. ‘Zona – ASU is about as nasty as the Ducks – Huskies games a decade ago. It is unquestionably the best rivalry in the Pac-12 at this point. The Civil War and Apple Cup are both very good games but there’s at least a small amount of respect between the teams involved. The same goes for Stanford and Cal, which is a great series in its own right but suffers from having too many classy, educated fans. Not to take shots at the Arizona schools, but there’s a reason that rivalry is on top.

Next week: all questions will be answered. Is Alabama still the nation’s best team? Is Oregon ready to beat a good defense? Can Ohio State find someone marginally decent to play in the Big Ten? Tune in and find out.

Football, interrupted

At least we’ll always have 7-0, Missouri. The Tigers have suffered some tough losses in their history, but Saturday's came in the cruelest fashion imaginable, as their championship dreams were dashed by a single gut-wrenching “THUNK” against the left upright. The 27-24 loss to South Carolina, combined with Texas Tech’s thrilling loss to Oklahoma, managed to keep the weekend respectably watchable, but it was close. There were a whole lot of awful games played Saturday, lowlighted by Duke and Virginia Tech’s eight-interception slog to infamy. Take a cue from The Simpsons: burn that game tape.

There was some early drama when Miami (FL) looked likely to fall, but the Hurricanes scraped out another close win just in time to get plastered by Florida State next week. Duke’s upset was more embarrassing than exciting. UCLA hung around at Oregon but was clearly outmatched. All of the other top contenders dismissed chances of an upset quite early, contributing to the overall dull day. Two late games – Stanford at Oregon State and Fresno State at San Diego State – were good, but in both the higher-ranked team eventually prevailed. The best contest of the week might have been Thursday, when Middle Tennessee topped Marshall 51-49 on a touchdown pass as time expired.

Just because there was little excitement doesn’t mean questions weren’t answered, though. Texas Tech faced its best opponent of the year and lost – but actually won over more people with a strong showing in Norman. Nebraska wilted on the road at Minnesota, demonstrating that the Big Ten really isn’t that good. We all know by now what happened to Mizzou, who was shown to be exactly what most people thought they were – good but not elite. And Virginia Tech… well, the Hokies proved once again that while defense wins championships, you need to field a semi-competent offense to win games.

A number of question marks surrounding lesser teams also saw some resolution. For example: the important issue of Boise State’s competence. How good were the Broncos? As BYU showed Friday night, not very. What about Northwestern, whose quality on which Ohio State and Wisconsin both heavily rely? The Wildcats lost their fourth straight after starting 4-0. Michigan State’s awesome defensive numbers faced a road test at Illinois – and somehow came away looking even better after allowing a mere 128 yards. Finally, how would Oregon State’s Sean Mannion look after lighting up every defense he’d seen to this point? Stanford made him decidedly more ordinary.

Next week: it doesn’t get much better from a matchup perspective. There’s a VERY interesting Thursday contest between Arizona State and Wazzu (more on that in a bit) and a decent USC – Oregon State game Friday. After that, we’ve got a neutered World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (or whatever the politically correct name for Florida – Georgia is these days), the Navy – Notre Dame “rivalry,” the Disappointment Bowl (Northwestern at Nebraska) and a couple of really horrendous Big 12 games. There is some potential with two ranked teams in Michigan – Michigan State, but the only great matchup is Oklahoma State – Texas Tech. Let’s be honest, no one expects Miami (FL) at Florida State to be close.

Top 25

It was slightly easier – though still difficult – to rank everyone after a couple new upsets knocked some teams out completely and devalued several schedules. The rotating battle for the top spot between Alabama, Oregon and Florida State continues, while Ohio State put forth its first truly impressive effort of the season to close the gap a little. After that, it gets trickier. Read on for the rest of the rankings.

1) Florida State

Virginia Tech’s loss hurt Alabama, but the Crimson Tide actually inched closer to the Seminoles this week thanks to Clemson’s shaky performance at Maryland. As impressive as FSU was against NCSU, the schedule does them no favors from here on out – and that includes Miami this week, who is vastly overrated. The ‘Noles have to keep winning and winning big to justify this ranking. I think they will Saturday night. Even if they win out, it probably won’t be enough if the Tide and Ducks do the same. Which would only give the BCS one more chance to hurt us on the way out the door.

2) Alabama

Alabama proved they too can annihilate Tennessee, so… take that, Oregon? In all seriousness, the Crimson Tide’s schedule has been something of a joke since the win at Texas A&M (and I’m including Ole Miss in that assessment). With a bye before facing LSU, they won’t get a chance to improve it until the second week of November. As the SEC’s last stand against a horde of challengers looking to end the conference’s title streak, this team must continue to play exceptional defense, something that has vanished from the league this season. LSU is no pushover.

3) Oregon

The Ducks got easily the best win of the weekend but failed to move up. This is a matter of consistency. Despite what the rankings and pundits have said about UCLA, I know what I’ve been watching the past few weeks. The Bruins are pretenders. I’ve said it since the Utah game. Oregon proved it Saturday, snuffing out an utterly inept UCLA offense and road-grading their talented defensive front into oblivion. Impressive it may have been, but a win against an elite team it was not. The Ducks will stay here pending the result of the Stanford game. Win that and we’ll revisit the matter.

4) Ohio State

No, Penn State’s no world-beater, but the Nittany Lions aren’t as terrible as OSU made them look. After Northwestern’s free-fall the Buckeyes badly needed an eye-popping final score to impress pollsters and they got one. This is important only if two of the three squads ahead of OSU lose, but the history of the BCS tells us that’s more likely than not. If more than two teams finish unbeaten the Buckeyes will be left out, as they should, but all they can do at this point is play the teams on their schedule. Considering the caliber of competition it would very surprising to see them lose.

5) Stanford

A road win over a decent team in Oregon State moves the Cardinal back into the top five. The Beavers aren’t brilliant but they’re miles better than anyone Baylor has played. Clemson’s struggles in victory also made this an easy choice. Next up is Oregon. Both teams get a long layoff before the Thursday matchup in Palo Alto, so Stanford will need to work on several things. Quarterback Kevin Hogan was again average in Corvallis. To beat the Ducks, he needs to return to his form in last year’s game, when he aggravated the UO defense with his running and passing. Eight completions won’t cut it.

6) Clemson

I’m starting to have some doubts about Clemson, who hasn’t played a great game in nearly a month and hasn’t looked good against a quality opponent since the opener with Georgia. That win still has power, but its resonance will fade as the season moves along. The Tigers took a long time to put Maryland away, which should be an FSU hangover but very well could be a sign of something more. It’s hard to tell when a team gets its confidence shattered like Clemson did last week. Fortunately, this squad doesn’t face the more difficult ACC schedule of the ‘Noles and should be able right the ship in the coming games.

7) LSU

I take absolutely no stock in the close halftime score with Furman. I’ve been watching LSU for a long time and the Tigers do this every year: in a mid-to-late-season game against a mid-major/FCS opponent, they mess around for two (or three) quarters and eventually drop 30 straight to win going away. This was just the 2013 version. After playing nine straight weeks to open the season this team deserves a break. They get an official one this week before traveling to Alabama. Can they win that game? Absolutely. Will they? Not if Zach Mettenberger plays the way he did in the last game that mattered (Ole Miss).

8) Oklahoma

OU bounced back from that bizarre thrashing at the hands of Texas and still has a prime chance at taking the Big 12. The Sooners technically don’t control their own destiny because UT is undefeated, but come on. Nobody expects the Longhorns to run the table. The conference somehow managed to schedule all the games matching contenders in the back third of the year, so November is going to see some fireworks. Next up for OU: undefeated Baylor on (next) Thursday night. Both teams have a lot at stake, but Oklahoma is the only one of the two that’s been battle-tested.

9) Missouri

This still feels high for the Tigers, but how can you punish them for being the better team for the first 50 minutes? It took an unthinkable meltdown for Mizzou to suffer its initial loss, complete with blown coverages and fluky errors. This team still controls its own destiny in the SEC East, though I’ll be honest, I don’t expect a win over A&M in the finale. That means every Tigers fan is secretly rooting for a South Carolina loss… which might not happen. With just two conference games to play, Florida is the only real obstacle for the Gamecocks. And how much of an obstacle is that?

10) Baylor

As I said several weeks ago, it would take a miracle to prevent Baylor from reaching 7-0. They did, though it was close against Kansas State. That’s the problem; the Wildcats are the only one of the Bears’ opponents even approaching “competent,” which doesn’t instill confidence. I do think Baylor is good, as they’ve been doing what good teams should do against bad competition: blow them out. But the parade of clowns this team has trotted out to get plastered every week pales in comparison to the better teams in the Big 12. Baylor doesn’t deserve to be ranked in the top five, or really even the top 10. If they can get by Oklahoma and OSU, that will change.

11) Auburn

A blowout of FAU doesn’t tell us much and nothing else that happened in the SEC was interesting enough to shake the standings. Auburn gets to rise a little based on nothing more than a team-by-team comparison, which is ultimately how a lot of subjective ranking gets resolved. There’s also the “improvement” angle – even ignoring the walkover of the Owls, the Tigers have looked markedly better than they did in the close win over WSU to start the year. Part of that is a series of defenses that don’t comprise a murderer’s row, true, but you have to give this team a little credit.

12) Texas Tech

I expected TTU to lose at some point, so perhaps it’s better to get it out of the way on the road. Shootouts with Baylor and Oklahoma State remain, so there’s plenty of time to regain the Big 12 lead and make a trip to the BCS. Coming back home will help, but Okie State is waiting so the Red Raiders better be ready. I don’t think there’s any reason they can’t win this mess of a conference. However, a lack of success historically – Tech has never won the Big 12 – naturally makes me hesitant to pick them to complete that run.

13) Miami (FL)

Let’s get right down to it. Does anyone else expect FSU to smoke this team? I was high on Miami early after the win over Florida, but the Gators’ semi-collapse and the Hurricanes’ general mediocrity have made short work of that. After back-to-back escapes against very average competition, I’d guess upwards of 90 percent of the country thinks seventh is a vastly inflated ranking for Miami. On the road against the Seminoles, it’s hard to see how they have a shot. The offense has struggled mightily the past couple weeks and the defense hasn’t seen anyone like Jameis Winston all year.

14) Oklahoma State

After a gangbusters start against Iowa State the Cowboys suddenly found themselves in a tight game midway through the third quarter. Not to worry, though; OSU rattled off 24 straight to blow the game open again and stay alive for a Big 12 title. Now, the fact that ISU managed to score 27 should probably be a red flag, but Okie State has never really been about defense. This week’s duel with Texas Tech in Lubbock ought to be quite entertaining, as neither squad can afford another conference loss. OSU is probably more talented, but I’m very nervous about their shaky QB situation.

15) South Carolina

Welcome back, Carolina. It only took two months, but you finally decided to show up for the 2013 season. That may seem like a strange way to look at this team, but it’s really the most accurate. The Gamecocks sleepwalked through losses to Georgia and Tennessee and even wins against North Carolina, UCF and Kentucky. Will this team finally start playing like it wants to win an SEC title? QB Connor Shaw’s fourth-quarter/OT relief effort at Mizzou was one of the gutsiest performances I’ve seen in a long time. If that doesn’t inspire this squad, nothing will.

16) UCF

It seems only fitting that the team who handed the Knights their only blemish (by three) should sit one spot above them. UCF leapt back into the national consciousness after that comeback victory at Louisville and made sure there was no doubt by manhandling hapless Connecticut Saturday. If this squad gets past Houston in the next AAC game, look out. It’s quite possible they could be playing in a BCS bowl. The Cougars are no pushover, but their strength is offense and UCF allows less than 20 points per game. With an extra week to get ready for the stretch run, the Knights are in great position.

17) Louisville

The fact that there are even two AAC teams ranked this season should be enough to make the conference giddy, but the shine was taken off the league’s BCS bid when Louisville went down. Like it or not, the Cardinals were the AAC’s shining star and sexiest pick. It’s less impressive when a first-year school that started FBS football in 1996 comes in and blows everyone’s doors off. Still, Louisville did its part Saturday, trouncing USF to crawl closer to UCF in the hope of a backdoor conference title. To be honest, an at-large bid is more likely, but who in their right mind would select a second AAC team?

18) Texas A&M

A&M predictably crushed Vandy, which continues the Aggies’ trend this season of destroying all the bad teams they play and struggling with the good ones. I’m still not sure if this team is much good – how long can they ride that close loss to Alabama, anyway? The best win was a squeaker over Ole Miss when the Rebels let A&M off the hook. With UTEP and lowly Mississippi State on the docket this team isn’t about to lose but that still says nothing about them. We won’t really know until the final two games with LSU and Missouri.

19) UCLA

You can say the Bruins “played Oregon close,” but at some point the spin becomes a little sad. The only team that had any business being on the same field as Oregon in Eugene was Oregon. Aside from some early success with inside runs UCLA could do nothing offensively. The defense played well and dropped a few cheap shots that should have been flagged, but once UO adjusted it got scorched, too. It was a poor effort by a team I’ve been saying for weeks isn’t close to great. For the Bruins to turn this around and contend for the Pac-12 title they’ll need a lot more than what they showed Saturday.

20) Wisconsin

The Badgers had a bye after clobbering Illinois and now get one of their two remaining road games at Iowa (the other is Minnesota). BYU no longer looks like a gimme, but I’m still fairly confident this team can make the push to finish 10-2. Joel Stave hasn’t made anyone forget Russell Wilson at QB, but he’s been a lot better than what Bucky trotted out last year. Melvin Gordon probably doesn’t get enough respect as one of the nation’s top five running backs and the defense is allowing a very respectable 17 points a game. How costly might that ASU officiating snafu be?

21) Michigan State

I know they haven’t played any good offenses, but… how can you not respect this D? The Spartans are giving up only 215 yards per game. That’s nearly 30 yards better than the second-best team! They’re so good they allow the terrible MSU offense time to plod down the field and score a couple times a game – which is usually enough to win. During Saturday’s stomping of Illinois, the announcers showed the stat that nearly half of all drives against the Spartans in 2013 end in a three-and-out. That’s amazing. I can’t wait to see them in action against Michigan’s Devin Gardner.

22) Fresno State

The mid-major duo remained static this week as several AQ-squads notched decent wins. Fresno survived by less than the skin of its teeth, blocking a game-winning field goal attempt as time expired and shutting down San Diego State in OT. It was a gut-check type of game several high-ranked potential BCS busters have lost over the years. Still, it doesn’t mean the Bulldogs are ready for prime time; rather, it showed they still have a ways to go to think about getting to and then actually competing in the BCS. As it stands now, Fresno looks more likely to get blown out a la Hawai’i and NIU.

23) Northern Illinois

Another week, another directional Michigan down… obviously, I’m not too impressed with the Huskies. That’s the problem you have when your best opponent is Iowa and you nearly lose to an FCS school. The Huskies remain a high-scoring, up-tempo lot, but the memory of the Orange Bowl stall out is still too relevant to afford this team any true respect. I’m all for the underdog, but you have to do something that 30 AQ-conference teams couldn’t if you want a modicum of credibility. Fresno got theirs with victories over Rutgers and Boise State. Unimpressive as those wins are, they’re better than any NIU can boast.

24) Michigan

Do I really have Michigan ranked? What’s going on here? The fact that the Wolverines got a bye before facing rival MSU can only help. Given that the game’s in East Lansing, though, I’d say it’s a wash. UM’s train wreck potential against the Spartans’ fearsome defense is off the charts this week, so you should tune it for that alone. With that said, it’s not as if Michigan doesn’t have a chance. It could turn out that MSU’s numbers were the result of a weak schedule. The Spartans’ ugly offense could make this close. You never know.

25) Notre Dame

Wins over Arizona State and Michigan State keep the Fighting Irish in the top 25 and in outside contention for a BCS bowl. Losses to Michigan and Oklahoma hurt the cause, although Michigan certainly isn’t terrible. I’d say ND’s biggest threat is itself; the team has looked quite good at times this season but just inept at others. They’re not overly impressive on either side of the ball but scrap out close games and beat bad teams. You could do a lot worse than Tommy Rees at QB and the young skill players have looked pretty good in recent weeks.

Pac-12 Report

Clearly, Travis Wilson’s finger is giving him trouble. But 19-3? Come on, Utah. At this rate the Utes won’t even qualify for a bowl. That is not what the conference needs from the team who gave Stanford its first loss. USC, on the other hand, keeps nobly battling through roster decimation and is alive in the South. The NCAA’s decision to deny the Trojans sanction relief is devastating and cruel based on that alone, but how about when you factor in the Miami ruling? More on that later.

So, Oregon’s really good, in case you didn’t know. As with the Washington game, the Ducks look like they were pushed, but in reality they were anything but. UO racked up another gigantic yardage advantage and could have easily beat UCLA by 40 if not for several sloppy mistakes. The Bruins’ two TD drives traveled a total of 66 yards and required 13 plays. They gained 94 yards in the second half and had 64 yards passing in the entire game. UCLA’s longest play traveled 14 yards. Quite frankly, this was an embarrassment to the conference. It was clear the high ranking was a lie when Stanford took this team to the woodshed, but an offensive performance that inept was stunning.

The thing was, Oregon didn’t do anything crazy. The Ducks kept guys back in coverage and allowed UCLA some decent interior runs in the first half. As soon as the Bruins tried to pass the game was over. It was like a repeat of the Fiesta Bowl against Kansas State, when the Wildcats’ offense got exposed – except worse. Defensively, UCLA did a little better, but even the halftime and third-quarter scores were deceptive. Oregon fumbled on the five and turned the ball over on downs in UCLA territory, errors the Bruins did not force. UCLA didn’t look like they belonged in the same stratosphere as the Ducks. Even though I wasn’t expecting much from the visitors, this was shameful.

Arizona put up a decent performance against Colorado befitting a mid-tier Pac-12 team. The Buffaloes gave a game effort for two-plus quarters, but ultimately succumbed to the Wildcats’ superior athletes. It was still a heartening job for CU, who last year saw ‘Zona run roughshod over them. Colorado’s slim chance at a bowl is now gone, but baby steps are acceptable. Meanwhile, Arizona has quietly crept to 2-2 in conference play and 5-2 overall. B.J. Denker is still not a good passer, but he showed enough improvement the last two games that he’s no longer an embarrassment. With a win over Cal this week the Wildcats will become bowl-eligible and the rest of the schedule doesn’t look quite as daunting as it once did.

I’d like to end with Stanford – OSU, so here’s a quick recap of the Cal – Washington game: Cal gave up a ton of points again. Cal did not score very many points again. UW picked the perfect team to end their skid against. Unfortunately for the Golden Bears, this is starting to look suspiciously like an 0-9 season in league play. That does help the conference overall because almost everyone gets one more win, but ouch. You thought it was bad at the end of the Tedford era? I haven’t seen Cal look this terrible since Tom Holmoe. They might be historically bad.

Enough with the depressing stuff. Stanford beat Oregon State 20-12 Saturday night and the Cardinal looked both far superior and eminently equal to the Beavers in this game. In short, it was exactly what I expected. How is this possible? Let me explain.

There is zero doubt – none – that Stanford is a better team than Oregon State. While the Beavers were piling up wins over Cal, WSU and Colorado, the Cardinal were cutting their teeth on Washington, Utah and UCLA. OSU’s winning streak had more to do with the quality of their competition than the Beavs “figuring everything out.” Stanford knew that Oregon State knew the Beavers had no chance of running the ball, so they mercilessly pressured Sean Mannion while keeping the entire coverage slanted to Brandin Cooks. Both players had subpar nights against the only good defense they’ve seen all year. Stanford also erased the cheap yards OSU loves to pick up on their myriad screen passes by simply letting their superior athletes fly up from anywhere in the back seven.

And yet there’s a reason OSU had the ball inside the 10 with a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. Despite Stanford’s excellence in several areas and their obvious physical advantages, the Cardinal could never quite shake the Beavers. Oregon State dominated time of possession (strange against Stanford) and had moderate success dinking and dunking down the field. The Beavers sold out to stop the run, banking on Kevin Hogan inability to beat them downfield (or anywhere). The strategy worked, as Hogan completed just eight of 18 passes. And so against the odds, OSU found themselves on the doorstep with less than a minute left… only to join the excruciating ranks of teams in the past few years who have said, “HOW did we lose to Stanford?”

The truth is probably that Stanford just isn’t that good. Great athletes, scary defense, but the offense is even worse than last season. Looking ahead, there is no way they should be able to beat Oregon, who is clearly the better team. But as I always say, the better team doesn’t always win, and this isn’t about being the better team anyway. Oregon was the better team last year. Stanford won the game. The Cardinal have been specifically designed to attack the Ducks. Their offense is designed to chew clock and keep UO off the field. Their defense is based on winning the one-on-one matchups Oregon likes to exploit. It’s not about which team is better overall. It’s about which team plays better for three hours on one day.

With both Oregon and Stanford off this week the Pac-12 will take a bit of a backseat nationally (especially after two top-25 showdowns in the state of Oregon last week). There’s still potential for a lot of good football out west if things break right. First up is the Thursday night matchup of Arizona State at WSU. This is a fascinating series. ASU is no doubt the better team, but beware the Sun Devils in Pullman. Maybe it’s the weather shock, maybe it’s the long trip, but ASU does not play well at Washington State. The scores from the last decade between these two are telling:

In Tempe

46-7 ASU (2012)

42-0 ASU (2010)

31-0 ASU (2008)

47-14 ASU (2006)

45-28 ASU (2004)

In Pullman

37-27 WSU (2011)

27-14 ASU (2009)

23-20 ASU (2007)

27-24 ASU (2005)

Wazzu only won one game, but keep in mind that those Cougars teams the past five seasons were among the worst the conference has ever seen, if not the worst, period. The Sun Devils have a lot of trouble on the road in this series. When I made my preseason predictions I marked this as a WSU upset. It’s a crucial contest for both teams as the Cougs need wins to reach bowl eligibility and ASU has to stay afloat in the South race. I’m not going to call for the upset flat-out this week, but at the very least ASU is on upset alert.

The Friday matchup is no less interesting as USC visits its personal house of horrors at Oregon State. The state of Oregon has not been kind to the Trojans of late; only a three-point win at Oregon in 2011 keeps them from being winless at the Ducks’ and Beavers’ stadiums since 2005. Twice in the last decade (2006 and 2008) USC had championship seasons derailed in Corvallis and the last visit in 2010 (and last meeting between the teams) was an absolute disgrace (Again! Why not?!) as the 20^th-ranked Trojans were blown out 36-7 by a Beavers squad that finished 5-7. OSU is currently favored by five and that probably isn’t enough. Despite getting somewhat exposed by Stanford, the Beavs should be able to handle whatever meager offensive threat SC can muster. The Trojans’ battered roster has fought well recently but this is too much to ask.

Arizona at Cal is a game that deserves little write-up. The Wildcats will abuse poor Cal’s defense with their read-option game en route to something like 400 yards rushing. The Golden Bears will toss the ball around a bunch and pick up a decent amount of yards but very few points. That’s how it’s gone for Cal in every conference game this year. I don’t see much changing this week, as ‘Zona can get to bowl eligibility with a win and Cal has very little to play for at this point. And at the nice new Memorial Stadium, too. Pity.

UCLA could have gone the way of Washington after suffering spankings of differing severity from the Pac-12’s top dogs, but fortunately for the Bruins they get to come home and face Colorado rather than anyone capable of beating them. The Buffaloes put up a nice fight against Arizona last week but are probably overmatched in this game. Unless UCLA is even more overrated than we thought, they’ll pound the ball down Colorado’s throat and Brett Hundley will look like a competent QB for the first time in weeks. The Buffs might be able to hang around for a half, but they just don’t have the firepower on offense or athleticism on D to match the Bruins.

Heisman Watch

Same deal. Same two guys. No one else need apply.

Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State

Random Thoughts and Observations

I thought the “punishment” handed down to Miami (FL) was fair, not because the Hurricanes weren’t clearly in the wrong, but because the NCAA took far too long to make its case and ultimately botched it on several levels. Miami should have been docked several scholarships and hit with a bowl ban – in 2010. But after three years and a pair of self-imposed bowl-bans from the school (one of which kept the ‘Canes out of the 2012 ACC title game), it was time to move on. There would have been no value in a death sentence, literal or otherwise, at this point.

Of course, USC is rightfully furious over the decision. The NCAA’s sanctions against the Trojans seemed reasonable at the time they were handed down, but that was before Ohio State got off with a single-year bowl ban and Oregon and Miami escaped with slaps on the wrist. How can you possibly justify a two-year bowl ban and ten scholarships a year now? There’s no way. Then, to add further insult to injury, the NCAA granted Penn State “relief” from its sanctions after a single year of good behavior. That decision was shaky in itself – one year of playing nice erases a decade of corruption? – but the coup de grace was how the NCAA immediately turned around and denied USC relief, despite the Trojans’ petitioning on behalf of player safety. The organization’s actions at this point can only be viewed as a vendetta against the USC program and confirmation that recent rule changes for “safety concerns” are a sham.

I’ve heard a lot of talk in the past month about Heisman candidates. Everyone has someone on their list who “isn’t getting enough credit.” For the most part, this pontificating is cheap ratings-grabbing. The reason most players aren’t higher on Heisman lists is because there are exactly two guys who deserve to be in the discussion at this point. Alabama’s A.J. McCarron and Oregon State’s Sean Mannion are perfect examples. It’s laughable when pundits say these players are being “disrespected.” They’re both getting EXACTLY the level of respect they deserve – as good but not elite players.

Mannion had his moment Saturday against Stanford. He didn’t perform. He wasn’t bad, but he couldn’t match his season averages. That’s because Stanford was the first top-75 defense OSU has played this season. It’s not surprising Mannion’s production dipped. McCarron’s situation is a little more nebulous because he hasn’t lost yet. But anyone who watches football knows the difference between a QB who carries his team and a QB that doesn’t. There’s zero pressure on McCarron to perform. He plays with a host of future draft picks, unlike Mannion. That doesn’t mean he isn’t good, because he is. So is Mannion, but neither is a transcendent player and attempts to pump them up to be so cheapen the discussion.

Logan Thomas was oh-so-close to moving back into a tie for first with his second Stanzi, but the Hokies’ triggerman couldn’t pull out the win despite his four interceptions. On a related note, this is why Stanzis are a big deal – it’s really hard to win when you turn the ball over all the time. Still, Thomas’ loss was our gain, as he and Duke QB Anthony Boone combined for a hilarious eight interceptions in the third straight Double Stanzi game this season. Winners and standings follow.

Anthony Boone, Duke

Opponent: Virginia Tech

Performance: Four INT, led clock-killing drive to end game

Devin Powell, Tulane

Opponent: Tulsa

Performance: Two INT, threw game-winning TD pass

2013 Stanzi Awards

Devin Gardner, Michigan: 2

Keith Wenning, Ball State: 2

Anthony Boone, Duke: 1

Stephen Morris, Miami (FL): 1

Taysom Hill, BYU: 1

Connor Wood, Colorado: 1

Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech: 1

Braxton Miller, Ohio State: 1

Corey Robinson, Troy: 1

Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M: 1

Christian Hackenberg, Penn State: 1

Jake Heaps, Kansas: 1

Gary Nova, Rutgers: 1

Trevone Boykin, TCU: 1

Brett Hundley, UCLA: 1

Devin Powell, Tulane: 1

Connor Halliday, WSU: 1

A.J. Doyle, Massachusetts: 1

Justin Worley, Tennessee: 1

Taylor Heinicke, Old Dominion: 1

Terrel Hunt, Syracuse: 1

After nine weeks, the Devins lead the pack with a total of three Stanzis, with the Connors and Keiths tied at two and everyone else at one. I don’t know how I feel about that.

On a play-calling note, Oregon State coach Mike Riley was predictably lambasted by second-guessers who said his decision to go for it on five fourth downs (converting only once) was the reason the Beavers lost to Stanford. That’s ridiculous. Of OSU’s four failed conversion attempts, three could have instead been field goals (the last was the incompletion that ended the game). They were, in order, a fourth-and-three from the Stanford 18, a fourth-and-one from the Stanford 34 and a fourth-and-five from the Stanford 35. Oregon State would have needed all three of those to be successful field goals to win the game and two would have been from more than 50 yards. The chances of going three-for-three are not good.

Moreover, the Beavers should have been able to convert those short-yardage downs. OSU averages more than six yards per play on the season and averaged about four yards per play in this game. That means at least two of the three conversions was more likely than not to work. Riley’s decision to go for it multiple times, far from hurting his team, actually showed confidence in his offense. He was playing to win the game and didn’t want to settle for long field goals. Every team should want a coach like that.

Next week: nothing very definite gets decided. Oregon, Alabama, LSU, Baylor, Stanford and Oklahoma are all idle. That’s six of the top thirteen teams in the BCS. Unless there are some upsets, this could be the season’s nadir. 

The BCS returns! And other sad news

Chaos reigns! It was a week of absolute madness in the top 25 and nowhere more so than the SEC. Four ranked SEC teams went down, highlighted by LSU’s stunning loss at Ole Miss late in the evening. The rest of the conference – except Alabama, of course – went the same way. Tennessee also won on a last-second field goal over South Carolina, Georgia coughed up a late lead at Vandy and Auburn topped Texas A&M in a wild Saturday for the nation’s flagship league. This wasn’t just a case of the SEC beating itself up again. Georgia, South Carolina and Texas A&M were all eliminated from the national championship race and essentially knocked out of their respective divisional races as well.

In the end, it was Missouri – Mizzou! – who calmly dispatched an impotent Florida squad to climb to 3-0 in the East, with a near-insurmountable two-game lead in the division standings. Even with five games to play, at this point it would take a collapse to keep the Tigers out of the SEC Championship. Alabama is still the favorite in the West, so nothing has changed there, but now the Crimson Tide have some room for error (provided they don’t simply win out). With a win over A&M in hand and LSU’s second conference loss, ‘Bama is sitting pretty.

The upsets weren’t limited to the SEC, though. Before the weekend even began Louisville’s slim championship aspirations were dashed by a resilient UCF team. The Knights not only put the all-important black mark on the Cardinals’ resume, they took the lead in the American Athletic Conference and set themselves up to potentially snatch the league’s BCS bid. I predicted this might happen! Which is good, because on the whole my predictions were decidedly hit-or-miss this weekend.

I did very well with the biggest games of the weekend. UCLA was indeed overrated, as Stanford proved. FSU went into Clemson and rocked the Tigers, which should put the Seminoles at the top of the polls but won’t. Texas A&M was also finally felled by its terrible defense, which I said would happen soon. However, the lesser games had some very surprising results, including Washington’s awful loss to ASU and Florida’s weak showing against Missouri. The Gators lost RB Matt Jones for the season during the week, but with the way they played on defense they would have lost anyway.

It’s hard to know how the crazy week will be reflected in the polls. When so many ranked teams lose the voters (understandably) have a difficult time keeping up and often submit strange or contradicting ballots. Consider: where should Clemson be ranked? The Tigers were embarrassed at home by Florida State and should drop at least a few spots, but LSU, Texas A&M, South Carolina, UCLA and Lousville all lost. How far should Clemson fall? It’s a quandary, to be sure.

Next week’s slate is surprisingly bare for the middle of the season. UCLA’s trip to Oregon lost its luster when the Bruins went down in ugly fashion to Stanford. South Carolina at Mizzou would have been a big game in the SEC East, but then the Gamecocks lost to Tennessee. The Clemson – Maryland game suffered the same fate when both teams lost this Saturday. Texas Tech and Oklahoma will meet in a key Big 12 matchup, but that conference has been so bad this season it won’t garner much national attention. The most watchable contest might end up being Stanford at Oregon State, where the sneaky Beavers have moved to 4-0 in the Pac-12 and will be playing for first place in the North. Still, if that’s the best game of the week…

Top 25

The top 25 was, as I said, very difficult to work out this week. At this point in the season the transitive property no longer applies, as too many teams have beaten each other in circular fashion. Trying to untangle this mess is extremely frustrating and the results of my effort to do so demonstrate that. There are several teams in places I don’t like, but they have to be there because so many other teams just lost. I don’t think there’s a real top-10 team in the Big 12 or Big Ten outside of Ohio State, whose credentials are shaky at best. Unfortunately, winning trumps everything, so squads with weak schedules are currently being rewarded for beating nobodies.

1) Florida State

I don’t understand how any self-respecting voter could not have FSU first after the firebombing of Clemson. Of course everyone still respects what Alabama can do, that’s not the point. Texas A&M’s loss was only a small contributing factor to ‘Bama’s fall. How is what the Seminoles did not stunning? Clemson – a very good team – had absolutely no chance. FSU overwhelmed them from the opening snap. That was one of the most impressive victories I’ve ever seen and it was certainly far and away the best win of the 2013 season. FSU should be ranked first this week.

2) Alabama

Not to sniff at 52-0, but we know what Arkansas is capable of… not much. The Ole Miss win is now a little better, but since it came at the expense of LSU, who 'Bama must also play, that’s really a wash. Texas A&M’s loss is more damaging given that most of Alabama’s cred (this year) was built on that win. The Tide still play in the SEC, so there are opportunities to return to the top spot, but at this moment FSU’s giant win at Clemson is more impressive than anything ‘Bama has accomplished. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Seminoles are the best team. They just deserve the ranking more.

3) Oregon

Done in by a somewhat disappointing showing against WSU and Washington’s horrid loss at ASU, the Ducks will nevertheless get a chance to buoy their ranking with consecutive games against UCLA and Stanford. Win both and UO will likely be back in the top two. Win both impressively and they might even wind up on top. But first: Wazzu passes a lot, but that’s still no excuse for the amount of yards Oregon allowed. A week after an exceptional showing against Washington’s offense, the Ducks were less than stellar against the Cougars. That will need to change when UCLA comes to town. The Bruins aren’t as good as UO, but it’s safe to say they’re a lot better than WSU.

4) Ohio State

In the four spot somewhat by default is Ohio State. The Buckeyes escaped with another lackluster win over a mediocre team in Iowa, yet retain a high ranking because there’s really no one to knock them out of it. The other undefeateds have bigger question marks than OSU and all the rest of the (presumably) superior teams have at least one loss. It will be fascinating to see who this squad gets in the Big Ten title game, even though there’s still probably nobody capable of beating them in the conference. I’m rooting for Michigan State – I’d love to see the Buckeyes face the Spartans’ outstanding defense. It would also provide a bit of legitimacy for a team that right now has very little.

5) Missouri

And here we reach our first hair-puller. Is Mizzou the fifth-best team in college football? I really, really doubt it. The only wins that matter (over Georgia and Florida) were marred by injuries and a terrible opposing offense on the road, respectively. However, the fact remains that they were wins. As fortuitous as the Tigers’ run might have been they’re still 7-0 and now completely in the driver’s seat for the East crown. It doesn’t even matter if the team beats South Carolina this week, as they’ll still have a cushion, but they probably will. A year after looking outclassed in their new surroundings, Mizzou is one win away from an amazing reversal.

6) Stanford

I believe there’s no doubt UCLA is overrated and Utah’s defeat at Arizona didn’t do anything to help the Cardinal’s cause. But here’s what I know about Stanford: this team is endlessly scrappy and annoying, plays great defense and (usually) avoids any mistakes. I can’t see them losing to anyone other than the teams above them on this list and with a single close loss they have to move back up the rankings. Anyone who has seen Stanford play the past few years knows that despite often looking like a complete mess they won’t go away quietly. They’ll probably hurt the Pac-12 again by taking out multiple teams with a chance to go to a bowl or, in Oregon’s case, the BCS Championship.

7) Clemson

Clemson… deserves to fall further than this. Undoubtedly. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. As with Stanford, looking down this list, I don’t see anyone I’m confident could beat this team. Now, I predicted FSU would win, but I wasn’t expecting anything like that. Clemson, despite my vote of confidence here, is clearly not quite on the same level as the top contenders. But that’s a tiny, elite group and there’s no shame in ending up one tier lower. The Tigers still have a quality defense, a highly explosive offense and an upper-echelon quarterback in Tajh Boyd who merely had a bad game Saturday. Don’t feel bad for Clemson. They’re not going to just disappear.

8) Miami (FL)

The Hurricanes had their requisite close call and now must work on shaping up ahead of their game with Florida State. The road ahead is about as tough as it gets for an ACC team: along with the Seminoles, the ‘Canes face Virginia Tech in a game that will decide the Coastal Division. Efforts like the four-turnover, fourth-quarter comeback the team had versus North Carolina won’t cut it against the league’s better squads. I’ll be honest, losing WR Phillip Dorsett is probably going to K.O. Miami’s already-slim title chances. But they’ll get a chance to prove me wrong.

9) Baylor

I can’t describe how much it bothers me to have not one, but two Big 12 teams in the top 10. The conference is a disaster this team and it’s highly likely no team deserves a BCS bid. As I said before, though, teams have to be rewarded at least a little for winning. Neither Baylor nor Texas Tech has a single quality win between them, but if I’m right they’ll lose to someone along the way and renounce all right to a top ranking. The problem is, of course, the Big 12. The Bears might actually be the league’s best team. How the mighty have fallen.

10) Texas Tech

After a second close call in two weeks against an opponent of, let’s say "questionable" quality, the Red Raiders are officially in the danger zone. A road test against Oklahoma this week will tell a lot about these guys, or at least it should have, until OU got gored by Texas. Up until recently I would have predicted a comfortable Sooners’ win. They're still the more talented team. However, getting embarrassed by Texas in 2013 loses you all benefit of the doubt. I could believe TTU going into Norman and winning to keep this magical streak alive… or I could believe a repeat of the 2008 massacre.

11) Virginia Tech

VaTech took a week off to prepare for mighty Duke, so here’s hoping the Hokies win by more than 10, something they haven’t managed against a single FBS opponent thus far. I’ve been over this team’s limitations many times and it’s probably not necessary to re-hash. The sticking point is defense; in this age truly elite defenses are at a premium and VT has one. Regardless of how high or low the offense gets, Tech has the luxury of falling back on a unit that can actually win games. When comparing great offenses to great defenses, the defense is always going to get more credit. From me at least.

12) LSU

If you see the Georgia game for what it really was – a one-possession game against a great team – LSU is still basically a one-loss team. That’s a strange way to look at it, I know, but it’s also the fairest way to evaluate the Tigers against teams that have played much easier schedules to this point. LSU is still a very good team, just one that – like Clemson – played very poorly Saturday. I can’t see the Oklahoma schools beating LSU and the Tigers HAVE to be ranked ahead of the Auburn team they soundly beat. That probably inflates their position a little, but with games against Alabama and Texas A&M remaining it doesn’t matter much.

13) Oklahoma

For about 20 minutes of game action Saturday, Oklahoma looked as if it might drop out of the rankings entirely. A loss to Kansas, even on the road, would have unquestionably been the most shocking development of the week. Fortunately the Sooners regrouped and managed to win fairly comfortably, but… eesh. I would hope the flat performance was due to not taking the Jayhawks seriously. If not, and OU is only two touchdowns better than Kansas, the rest of the season might be very depressing. I refuse to believe that’s the case. With Texas Tech in town this week, Oklahoma has a chance to make a statement.

14) Oklahoma State

It wasn’t a blowout win over TCU, but it was a dominant one, despite the relatively close (24-10) margin. OSU now gets imploding Iowa State before a rebound game with Big 12 leader Texas Tech. This puts the Cowboys in a great position, because even if Tech beats OU they’ll likely be more tired from playing a grueling road game. What’s less promising is the QB situation. Okie State has now yo-yoed from Clint Chelf to J.W. Walsh and back and needs to pick a firm starter. The old adage “If you have two quarterbacks, you have none” isn’t completely true, but it applies here. OSU needs to pick a guy and stick with him.

15) UCLA

The Bruins deserve to move down more, but would you really take Auburn over UCLA? I don’t see that at all. This squad still has a legit win at Nebraska on the resume and, despite being exposed at Stanford, shouldn’t be punished too much for losing to a top-10 team. It’s clear what UCLA’s strengths and weaknesses are at this point, which makes it easier to predict how they’d fare against other ranked teams. I’ll delve more into that in the Pac-12 section. For now, bid farewell to Brett Hundley’s Heisman campaign and any outside shot at the national championship.

16) Auburn

I hesitated moving Auburn up too far, because this is not a truly great team. The Tigers were soundly beaten by LSU and only have one impressive win. It came this week at Texas A&M. Was it a quality win? Yes, on the road, absolutely. But – I feel as though this needs to be harped on – the win was FAR more about matchups than overall quality. We know A&M has a great offense and a terrible defense. That makes them dangerous, but not a serious contender. Auburn simply matched up well against that awful D. Good job, but it doesn’t make the Tigers great either.

17) UCF

Here’s the thing about UCF: I really like the Knights. They’re the AAC front-runner for a reason, and unlike Louisville actually got a decent win out of conference at Penn State. With the comeback against the Cardinals, UCF announced itself as the team to beat to get that all-important BCS bid. Even though South Carolina lost, that close game should further boost this squad’s reputation. However… with the schedule the rest of the way, it’s hard to see the Knights rising much higher in the polls. The AAC giveth, and the AAC taketh away – the same league that offers a cushy-soft sked will also significantly damage a team’s ranking.

18) Louisville

Even though I thought Louisville was overrated it hurt to drop the Cardinals this far. I keep flashing back to the promise of that Sugar Bowl win, when it seemed anything was possible for this group. The worst part of Thursday’s loss was that the ‘Ville went down to the one team who could actually finish ahead of them in conference play by season’s end. That’s the danger when you play in a league like the AAC, though. The margin for error is always razor-thin. Louisville had been walking a fine line with unimpressive victories in recent weeks and now must pray for a pair of UCF losses to get back to the BCS.

19) Texas A&M

I can’t say I didn’t see it coming. A&M played with fire one too many times and Auburn finally got them. As I said at the beginning of the season, you can’t just outscore everyone. It’s not sustainable in the long run and you will eventually lose. The problem for this team has been that the defense is so poor it essentially allows every opponent in the game. Auburn has a weaker offense than the Aggies, but you’d never know that watching aTm’s defenders grasping at air and watching ball carriers fly by. This team will still be a tough out, but just like last year, they’ve been eliminated from the SEC race by midseason.

20) Wisconsin

If a seven-point loss at Ohio State is the worst thing you can say about this team (because I’m not counting the ASU debacle), Wisconsin is in pretty good shape. The Badgers have beat up on all the patsies they’ve played and took advantage of their only other big conference showdown by demolishing and exposing Northwestern. I doubt they could play with some of the top teams in the rankings, but there’s nobody near that level in the Big Ten. As I’ve said before, a 10-win finish is definitely in play. I don’t know if this team would deserve a BCS bid, but it could happen.

21) South Carolina

Carolina’s unimpressive play this season finally bit them, as the Tennessee loss will almost assuredly cost the Gamecocks the East. Considering what’s happened to Georgia, this might go down as one of the biggest blown opportunities in program history. SC gets one final chance this week at Mizzou and will need to win and hope the Tigers lose again (most likely to Texas A&M in the finale). They’ll also need to win out themselves. The fact that it came to this should embarrass these players. Carolina is flawed, but they should have been better than this.

22) Oregon State

It’s difficult to evaluate Oregon State because the Beavers have looked so good rolling to six straight wins after the flop in the opener. To the undiscerning eye, the offensive success probably seems as if it will never end. But there are so many concerns, starting with the nonexistent running game and ending with the atrocious schedule. As cool a story as it would be for Beavs to bounce back from the Eastern Washington loss with a Rose Bowl run, here are the facts: OSU is 4-0 in the Pac-12 and has played the four worst teams in the conference. Starting with Stanford this week, it’s about to get a lot tougher.

23) Fresno State

Well done, Fresno State. That’s two weeks in a row you’ve held an opponent to 14 points. That kind of defensive effort is going to be crucial in scoring points with the voters who will get you into the BCS. And make no mistake, it’ll have to be the human voters, because the computers will never fall for that schedule. I do like Fresno, but I’m skeptical about how good they really are, as seen by their place here. An undefeated season would likely result in a BCS trip, so if you like such things keep rooting for Derek Carr and Co. It would be fitting to see the original feared mid-major finally make it in the final year of the old system.

24) Northern Illinois

Congrats to QB Jordan Lynch on that rushing record, but I’m still not taking this team seriously. They deserved to go to the Orange Bowl last year with the way everything fell, but once there the Huskies were squarely put in their place by FSU. I have a hard time believing it’ll be any different if NIU sneaks back in this season. Honestly, the team hasn’t been as good in 2013 anyway, as last year’s blowouts have been replaced by a series of decent but hardly impressive victories. In the MAC, we need a little more than that to work with.

25) Michigan State

Oh, MSU. We have a fun relationship, you and I. The Spartans are probably the most unwatchable team in the country, fielding an offense than can generously be described as plodding and a defense as rock-solid as it is boring. Even Virginia Tech is good for a goofy turnover once in a while. Michigan State is content to play each game seemingly between the 30-yard lines and win games with scores like 14-0 and 21-6. I say the same thing for this team I did about the Hokies, though: you can never count out a team with an elite defense. MSU is a sleeper.

Pac-12 Report

Good for Colorado to dominate Charleston Southern after I predicted the decision to schedule the undefeated FCS could come back to bite the Buffaloes. CU, thankfully, was the much better team and seemed rejuvenated with freshman Sefo Liufau making his first start at QB. There’s a total of three games left for the Buffs in which they won’t be completely overmatched: Arizona, Cal and Utah. The first two are at home. I don’t expect it to happen, but with some luck Colorado could sneak to six wins in 2013. Four or five would be great. A .500 record would be fantastic.

The other game not matching two Pac-12 schools was USC at Notre Dame. It was every bit as ugly as the two teams have been individually at times this season. The Fighting Irish lost QB Tommy Rees and struggled to move the ball, while the Trojans scored 10 points early and never threatened again. The honeymoon for interim coach Ed Orgeron is now over. USC’s weaknesses were on full display in South Bend and while Notre Dame isn’t terrible, there are certainly harder games on the Trojans’ schedule.

Speaking of weaknesses, let’s talk about UCLA. It’s patently clear how the Bruins operate now. Their offense is pretty good but lacks any explosive playmakers at running back or receiver. Brett Hundley, while talented, isn’t good enough to win games by himself. That was a dream matchup for Stanford’s defense, which has a great front seven but is vulnerable in the secondary. The same can be said for UCLA’s D, which has some impressive players at the linebacker positions but a very leaky defensive backfield. It’s no wonder the Stanford – UCLA game unfolded the way it did, as both teams consistently ran plays into the strength of the opposing team and didn’t have the weapons to threaten anywhere else. UCLA isn’t bad, but the Bruins aren’t on Stanford’s level.

The Oregon schools did what was expected on offense, though the Ducks gave up a ton of passing yards. Washington State threw and threw and threw, which set an NCAA record for attempts in a game but was largely ineffective outside of two big spurts. However, when the clock read zeroes UO had still surrendered more than 500 yards through the air. It’s true that they grabbed four INT’s and the game was out of reach, but it’s still frustrating for a team with championship aspirations to allow so much defensively. OSU had no such problems with Cal, though the Beavers probably kept the offense in a little too long.

The shocker of the day was Washington getting annihilated in the desert. ASU isn’t bad, but to this point in the season UW was unquestionably the better squad. That got turned upside down Saturday, as the Sun Devils scored 29 straight after an early TD and held the vaunted Husky offense to 212 total yards, including an unbelievable negative five on the ground. Washington couldn’t stop ASU at all and never really threatened. What happened?

First, QB Keith Price was banged up, which didn’t help. Second, ASU’s supposed biggest strength – the D-line – showed why, embarrassing the UW front and eliminating the run threat entirely. From there, it was simply a matter of how the Husky defense would handle the Sun Devils’ attack, and they broke. Perhaps it was a matter of exhaustion after a pair of brutal games with top-10 teams, but I think that’s an excuse. This looked to me to be the kind of game Washington was supposed to be past having: the utter meltdown against a team the Huskies should beat. Last year it was Arizona in Tucson, now this. Very disappointing all around.

Less surprising but still somewhat a head-scratcher was Arizona’s 34-25 win over Utah. The Utes were significantly outgained and lost QB Travis Wilson late in the first half, but still had many opportunities to win the game against a very flawed ‘Zona squad. Particularly after beating Stanford the week before, this performance was unimpressive. The late TD that sealed the game wasn’t that bad, but the sequence of events that led to that point were bizarre. Trailing 28-24 with less than four minutes to play, Utah’s Kyle Wittingham elected to kick a field goal on fourth-and-four from the Arizona 23. This absurdly conservative decision immediately backfired when Andy Phillips missed the attempt. You have to think that decision cost the Utes the game.

This week we’re back to solely intra-conference matchups, although WSU and ASU are sitting out. Utah and USC is the first game up, a rematch of the very first game the Utes played as a member of the Pac-12 in 2011. They acquitted themselves well in L.A. that day but lost. This version of the South rivalry is anyone’s guess after the Trojans’ recent bipolar act. The same SC team that solidly beat Arizona (who Utah just lost to) looked toothless against Notre Dame. As usual the question is, which USC team will show up? Utah is much the same after a rough game in Tucson. Wilson’s availability will be key, as will Trojans’ WR Marqise Lee’s.

UCLA at Oregon will have GameDay on hand, but let’s be honest: no one expects UCLA to win this game. If the Bruins had topped Stanford it might have been questionable, but at this point UO is pretty much universally viewed as the undisputed king of the conference. The loss to the Cardinal exposed some issues with the UCLA offense and their young secondary. With that said, an Oregon win isn’t a foregone conclusion here. UCLA has the exact thing known to give the Ducks fits – a powerful, athletic front seven. I think Oregon will struggle to run against this team, who will force QB Marcus Mariota to beat them. He can take advantage of the Bruin secondary, but he might face some heavy pressure for the first time all year. Defensively, it’s less frightening for UO, as UCLA isn’t really capable of challenging Oregon through the air. At the same time, Hundley probably won’t play two bad games in a row unless he’s forced into it. The Ducks are better, but they have to take care of business here.

Arizona and Colorado are only separated by one win, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who thinks the Wildcats will have much trouble in Boulder this week. Even I, an out-and-out ‘Zona hater, don’t think the Buffaloes will win. Arizona scored a minor upset (in my mind) by beating Utah this week, but the Utes coughed that game up as much as UA won it. That doesn’t really factor into the call this week. It’s more a matter of Colorado still being a below-average team, despite their encouraging blowout last week. As I said earlier, this is one of the few contests left for CU in which they won’t be completely outclassed… but they still won’t be able to slow down the ‘Cats’ Ka’Deem Carey.

Oregon State plays yet another late game this week, but this time the Beavers don’t get Wazzu or Cal to kick around. Stanford rolls into town with a ton on the line. As much as it seems OSU should be overwhelmed by the higher-ranked Cardinal, I’m not sure I can realistically call for it. I’ve been over the Beavs’ flaws several times – and there are many – but let’s be honest, Stanford hasn’t exactly blown anyone away this season. Until last week against UCLA, they were probably one of the most underwhelming good teams in all of college football. So how will this matchup play out?

Obviously the Cardinal have a fantastic front seven, but OSU never runs the ball. The Beavers’ O-line isn’t great so there will be pressure, but I think they will have the advantage in the passing game. Stanford hasn’t been in a shootout all year and we have no idea how they would respond to finding themselves in that situation. It’s tempting to say the Cardinal will just grind out a couple hundred yards and control the clock, but with their inconsistent play you can never predict how this team will perform. Eventually, the squad with the superior talent level should win out, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see OSU give Stanford a lot of trouble.

The nightcap (an 8:00 start time? Really?) features reeling Washington hosting even-more-reeling Cal. The Huskies looked shell-shocked against ASU, but hopefully that was the lingering effect of playing Stanford and Oregon back-to-back and not a symptom of something worse. If UW loses this week Steve Sarkisian should be fired immediately, but that won’t happen. Cal is far inferior to Washington on a good day and the Golden Bears aren’t close to full strength. Coming home and regrouping should set UW on the right track. Cal will give up another 40+ points, as they have in nearly every game. Unless the Huskies do the same, this will be another big loss for the Bears.

Heisman Watch

We’re down to two players. Unless someone makes a tremendous late-season run, only two guys have any business being in New York.

Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

Mariota had his first two turnovers of the season (both fumbles) but still has the most impressive resume to this point.

Jameis Winston, QB, Florida State

Mariota has the stats but Winston has the big win, which is generally one of the requirements for a Heisman winner.

Random Thoughts and Observations

The on-field product was exceptional Saturday. It should have been apparent the weekend would be special from the morning studio shows, when the legendary Keith Jackson returned to talk with Fox Sports 1 and Bill Murray made for a memorable GameDay on ESPN. Jackson’s appearance – a rarity from the retired play-by-play man – was a real treat; for the uninitiated, the crew’s reverence in hosting Jackson was a sign of just how much he means to the sport. No announcer is more closely associated with a sport than Jackson is with college football, thanks to his incredible 64-year career. Generations of fans grew up with “The Voice of College Football” and it was special to have him in studio again.

The selection committee for the College Football Playoff was announced last week to a strange amount of vitriol. Members were assailed for their alleged regional biases and lack of football knowledge. No one felt the heat more than former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who was attacked for being a woman, a former Bush cabinet member, an Alabama native, a Stanford grad and not knowing anything about the sport. I assume her place of birth was also questioned. It was a little bizarre to see such a high level of anger directed at the committee before they’ve had any impact on the game and at Rice in particular. It’s doubtful Rice, who is apparently a big football fan, knows any less about the sport than any of the other members. The reaction feels more like thinly veiled sexism than anything else. The only reservation I have is if she, and the rest of the committee members, were chosen as impressive names to gloss over the fact that the playoff is still a closed-door process designed to benefit the same power schools.

Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti’s fiery postgame comments directed at Washington State and coach Mike Leach were surprising, though not completely unexpected given Aliotti’s previous comments regarding officiating in the Pac-12. Despite a large amount of negative responses, Aliotti was correct on both counts. Pac-12 refs are among the worst in the nation. Mocking reactions like this of CBS Sports demonstrate a child's comprehension of the issue. This article (which, unlike the others, actually references real coaches, not just the writer's experience) has it right: generally, when a team with a huge lead pulls its starters, the losing team does the same or at least replaces its best players. That’s not in question at all, as it’s much smarter to not risk injury in a meaningless contest. It doesn’t matter that WSU was passing – that’s what they do – but at the very least QB Connor Halliday should have left the game after he threw his fourth interception. However, given that Oregon had the win well in hand, Aliotti was probably better off not saying anything.

It was quiet on the Stanzi front after last week’s explosion, but the big headline was the second Double Stanzi in as many Saturdays! This time it was BYU’s Taysom Hill (don’t know how he hasn’t gotten one yet) and Houston’s John O’Korn who stank it up, throwing three picks apiece in the comedy of errors that was the Cougars’ 47-46 win. The winners and standings are below.

Stephen Morris, Miami (FL)

Opponent: North Carolina

Performance: Four INT, led two fourth-quarter TD drives

Taysom Hill, BYU

Opponent: Houston

Performance: Three INT (one for TD, one in end zone), took safety, threw game-winning TD pass

2013 Stanzi Awards

Devin Gardner, Michigan: 2

Keith Wenning, Ball State: 2

Stephen Morris, Miami (FL): 1

Taysom Hill, BYU: 1

Connor Wood, Colorado: 1

Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech: 1

Braxton Miller, Ohio State: 1

Corey Robinson, Troy: 1

Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M: 1

Christian Hackenberg, Penn State: 1

Jake Heaps, Kansas: 1

Gary Nova, Rutgers: 1

Trevone Boykin, TCU: 1

Brett Hundley, UCLA: 1

Connor Halliday, WSU: 1

A.J. Doyle, Massachusetts: 1

Justin Worley, Tennessee: 1

Taylor Heinicke, Old Dominion: 1

Terrel Hunt, Syracuse: 1

Washington’s free-fall went from bad to worse when, hours after a throttling at the hands of Arizona State, the program lost former coach Don James to cancer. James, whose name is legendary in the Northwest, guided the Huskies for 18 seasons and won six Pac-10 championships, four Rose Bowls, two Coach of the Year honors and a share of the 1991 national title. Even more impressive than his 71 percent winning percentage, though, was his character. James is not only spoken of in reverential terms as a mentor, he also brought Warren Moon to Washington as the Huskies’ first black quarterback. Along with John McKay, James was probably one of the two most important coaches in the history of the conference.

The initial BCS rankings came out and yes, Florida State is ranked ahead of Oregon. That's not surprising at all given what happened at Clemson. The Seminoles have better wins than the Ducks. If Oregon wins out they will play for the national title, as will Alabama. The perceived strength of the SEC and Pac-12 trumps all, because two-thirds of the BCS formula is human polls. The computers will also like UO more with wins over UCLA and Stanford. Florida State's remaining schedule, while decent, doesn't compare. Ohio State, despite what their strangely confident fans seem to think, will be left far behind barring losses to two of the top three teams. It's that simple.

Next week: the games aren’t particularly promising. The first watchable contest is Texas Tech at Oklahoma. It’s possible Tennessee at Alabama could be interesting. The two best matchups are South Carolina – Mizzou and UCLA – Oregon, so of course those games are at the same time to ensure maximum viewer frustration. Other that that, Stanford at Oregon State provides the only real intrigue on paper. We’re going to need an out-of-nowhere upset by an unranked team to make this weekend worth watching. But this is college football, so that will assuredly happen.