With only two weeks left in the regular season, how much could possibly change? I stuffed my face with turkey knowing USC would have their way with Arizona State and knew Oklahoma would rebound by dismissing Oklahoma State.

But what I did not expect was the nation’s first and second ranked team to go down in the same weekend. For the second time this season it happened, marking the twelfth time this year that a top five team was clipped by an unranked opponent. 

LSU’s home loss to unranked Arkansas was a glaring reminder of how terrible Les Miles has been this year.  Miles was out-witted, out-game-planned and out “chutzpahed” by a now unemployed Houston Nutt. 

Miles’ coaching style is fit for Gamblers Anonymous as he is constantly risking it all. But any gambler will tell you that although you might win big sometimes, the house always wins.  In this case, the house was Arkansas.

As for the Border Showdown between Kansas and Missouri, the Tigers were just the better team. If Missouri can beat Oklahoma this week in San Antonio, they will have earned their opportunity to play for the national championship.

This is truly championship week, as eight games have BCS implications.  Speaking of the BCS, there is an opportunity for them to really screw things up here.  If UCLA beats USC, and Arizona beats Arizona State, the Bruins would go to the Rose Bowl…at 7-5.  If that were to happen the BCS will have completed its evolution into BS.  As for AccuScore’s Top Ten, no BS, just common sense.

In the words of Slick Rick, my Top Ten “goes a little something like this….hit it.”

10) LSU – Last week I had the Tigers ranked number one, but after watching them play four-loss Arkansas, I feel they lack the intangibles to be a serious contender.  As I said above, Nutt out-coached Miles, and the one knock that always followed Miles throughout his career is coaching credentials.

If four other teams could figure out how to beat the Razorbacks, why couldn’t LSU?  The Tigers have been in so many close-calls that sooner or later the outcome wasn’t going to go their way. Sadly for Miles and the Tigers, it came at the most inopportune time.

Luckily for LSU, they face Tennessee in the SEC title game rather than red hot Georgia. If LSU wins, they still get to play in New Orleans, just not in the national championship game.

9) Kansas – While the rest of the country continues to give the Jayhawks respect, please look at the cold hard facts.  Kansas is 11-1 and still have not beaten a ranked team. Kansas spent the first half of the Border Showdown playing like a team who doesn’t belong.  They were flat, made costly mistakes and looked more like the KU of old rather than the nation’s number two team. 

Luckily for Kansas, they don’t have to play another game until they go bowling.  Only then can we determine if KU is a top ten team or a product of an easy schedule.

8) Oklahoma – The Sooners are here by default.  The seven teams ahead of them either have a better record or are playing better right now.  Despite what they did against OSU, I almost feel as though the Sooners are cursed.  Since winning the national championship in 2000, they have had nothing but bad luck. 

It started with the two lopsided losses in national championship games to LSU and USC.  That was followed by Rhett Bomar’s failed attempt to be a car salesman, a controversial “loss” in Oregon and then being on the wrong end on one of the greatest football games in college football history against Boise State.

Now this year, Oklahoma lost to a sub-par Colorado team and then went back to the dark ages on offense when Sam Bradford got knocked out in what became a loss at Texas Tech that knocked the Sooners from the national championship chase.

Bradford is the most efficient quarterback in the country and when he is healthy, the Sooners are scary. If only they had some luck.

7) Hawaii – See, I told you.  If you tuned into the WAC championship game between Hawaii and Boise State, you were treated to a great football game.  The battle between the Warriors and Broncos had a little of everything; bone-crushing hits, an emotional roller-coaster ride, Heisman implications, offensive fire-power, and surprisingly two stout defenses.

In the end, Hawaii proved, if they can get past Washington, they deserve to play in a BCS game.  A look at the score doesn’t give justice to the way UH dominated from the second quarter on.  The Warriors rarely went deep, but rather used a formula that has worked all year long, dump it underneath and let your receivers do the rest.  June Jones has said it, I’ve said it, and now you all have witnessed it, Davone Bess, CJ Hawthorne, Ryan Grice-Mullen and Jason Rivers are the best receiver corp in the nation.  Colt Brennan finished the night 40-53, 495 yards and five touchdowns.  Not only that, the defense is pretty good also.

The Hawaii defense held Boise State to 27 points, 20 below its season average.  The Warrior “D” held Ian Johnson to only 11 yards in the second half, and held the nationally ninth ranked Boise offense to 150 yards lower than its season average 475 yards. 

It seems the nation has always known about the offense, but it's time Greg McMackin and the Warrior defense start to get recognized.  This squad, questionable schedule or not, is not a one-trick pony.

6) USC – Give them an inch, and they’ll take a mile.  That’s the best way to describe the USC fans.  After hiding in a ditch for the past ten weeks, the Trojan faithful are touting their team once again and with good reason.

USC went into Arizona State and completely demolished the number seven Sun Devils. The Trojans have relied heavily on the nation’s second rated defense for most of the year, and it seems the offense is finally coming around.

John David Booty threw for 375 yards and four touchdown passes and added another on the ground en route to a 44-24 thumping. 

“The individual showing from (John David Booty) was just perfectly timed.  He’s back now.  He’s ready to go.  He comes up with a huge night,” said USC Head Coach Pete Carroll.

The main reason for USC ranking sixth however, is the defense.  The Trojans held ASU to zero yards rushing through three quarters with the Sun Devils finishing with just 16 yards on 35 carries.  Lawrence Jackson led a stingy front seven sacking Rudy Carpenter six times, four by Jackson.

It seems the Trojans have finally gotten their swagger back, too bad for them, it is a little too late.

5) Virginia Tech – In their last test to prove this team is worthy of the hype this reporter granted them to start the year, the Hokies showed up against rival Virginia.  Va Tech used a steady dose of Tyrod Talyor and Sean Glennon to confuse their commonwealth brethren. 

Like USC, the defense has been the saving grace for the Hokies (disregarding the LSU game), and, like the Trojans, the offense has stepped up in the latter half of the year.  In their last four games against Georgia Tech, Florida State, Miami and Virginia, the Hokies have outscored their opponents 144-59.

But I can not forgive the Hokies.  Had they not blown what seemed to be a sure victory against Boston College in the regular season, my prediction of a Virginia Tech-West Virginia National Championship game may have come to fruition.  Now, the only thing the Hokies can get for beating Boston College in their rematch is a BCS bowl berth.

4) Ohio State – Sometimes being idle can hurt you, for Ohio State, it helps.  The Buckeyes are one upset away from squeaking into the BCS game.  If that happens, the Buckeyes should change their name from The Ohio State to De-fault Ohio State.  Ohio State using other teams failures instead of on the field pay to move up in the rankings.

3) Georgia – The Bulldogs have been taking names and leaving victims all over the south. After Georgia made quick work of Georgia Tech, Yellow Jackets head coach Chan Gailey was fired.

It was another ho hum week for Georgia. The Bulldogs rushed for 218 yards and three touchdowns despite Knowshon Moreno being denied his fifth straight 100-yard game.  Senior Thomas Brown picked up the slack rushing for 139 yards.  The scary thing is as good as this team is right now, the team is made up on offense of mostly freshmen and sophomores.

If Georgia did not get beat early by South Carolina and Tennessee, they would be in the thick of the national championship picture. However, barring a Tennessee victory in SEC championship game, the Bulldogs will have to settle for a Fiesta Bowl berth.

2) Missouri – The Tigers made their move in the BCS this week and took their first number one ranking since 1960.  Now that Dennis Dixon is done for the year, Chase Daniel is the most important player to one team. 

The Tigers showed on Saturday night they deserve to be atop the rankings and now have to prove it all over again against Oklahoma.  In the Border Showdown, Mizzou continued to show how lethal their offense can be when Daniel is making plays with his feet and his arm.

Unlike Kansas, the Tigers have a big win under their belt, a season-opening victory over Illinois.  Couple that with a win over Oklahoma this weekend and a national championship game appearance seems prudent.

1) West Virginia – The Mountaineers dominating performance over a great defensive team like Connecticut is all the proof you need that this team is the best in college football.  When Pat White and Steve Slaton are healthy and running, they can’t be beat.

What happened months ago in South Florida was more a case of West Virginia shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers and White not playing in the second half.  When the motors are running they show why I picked this team at the beginning of the year to play for it all.

West Virginia stamps their trip to New Orleans with a win against Pittsburgh in the Backyard Brawl.  This team is too good on both sides of the ball to lose this week.

But then again, what would this season be, without one final twist.

Questions of Comments.  Email Wai at wsallas@accuscore.com.