Jonathan Lee    AccuScore Analyst
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The first BCS polls were released earlier this week with Texas and Alabama on top as expected followed by Penn State, Oklahoma, and USC. The past five initial No. 1 teams all reached the BCS championship game although only one (USC in 2004) actually won the national title. Four non-BCS schools were ranked in the top 20: Utah (11), Boise State (12), Tulsa (19), and Ball State (20). All four are from different conferences so all four could conceivably go undefeated.

The standings are just numbers next to names for now. The movement and eventual pairings will be settled (hopefully) in the coming weeks on the field. Let’s get to the games and storylines.

GAME OF THE WEEK
(6) Oklahoma State at (1) Texas
Texas once again finds itself involved in the Game of the Week. Two weeks ago, the Longhorns upended then No.1 Oklahoma 45-35. Last week they raced out to a 35-0 lead over then No. 11 Missouri en route to a 56-31 victory. Saturday they will host yet another Big 12 challenger in a resurgent Oklahoma State, ranked No. 6 in the nation. Both teams feature high-powered offenses, and fans should expect plenty of points just like in Texas’ last two match-ups. AccuScore projects there to be 77 points scored on average between the two teams, but with Texas coming out on top 75 percent of the time.

If No. 8 Texas Tech can handle its business at Kansas, it would be a perfect 8-0 and awaiting a visit from the Longhorns. The Red Raiders would be the last team in a grueling four game gauntlet for Texas. If the Longhorns were to come out unscathed, it might be the most impressive feat any team accomplishes this season even if they eventually fail to win the BCS championship at season’s end.

Terrelle Pryor has injected life into
the Buckeye offense.

TWO OTHER CRITICAL BCS MATCH-UPS
(3) Penn State at (9) Ohio State
Don’t look now, but the Buckeyes are back. Yes, Penn State is undefeated. Yes, it probably holds the easiest road to the BCS title game given its current position at No. 3, the overall strength of the Big 12 and SEC, and the lack of a Big 10 championship game. But the Buckeyes could muddle up the picture very quickly. With just one loss to current No. 5 USC, Ohio State is in a position of strength. A win over the Nittany Lions would likely propel them up further in the computer polls and greatly boost the strength of schedule factor. The Buckeyes would have to move ahead of Penn State if they were to win, and several teams in front of them have difficult games ahead. This could end up a nightmare for the BCS and college football fans who don’t want to see them anywhere near the championship game given their flops the past two seasons. A win this Saturday would go a long way into making those nightmares a reality.

(7) Georgia at (13) LSU
So LSU doesn’t appear to have one of their vintage best squads of recent years. So what? The Tigers still have a tenacious defense led by a deep defensive line, and a power running game led by Charles Scott (105 yards/game). Plus they get to host Georgia at home. Everyone across the country knows just how difficult it is to play against LSU in Baton Rouge. Since 2005, the Tigers have lost just once at home. The team that beat them? Georgia.

The Bulldogs have proven to be a terrific road team under Mark Richt, and at 3-1 still control their own destiny in the SEC East. If they can win Saturday, the following week’s game against Florida looks to be the only significant hurdle between them a berth in the SEC championship. Knowshon Moreno had a season-high 172 yards rushing last week. He will need to have that same form on Saturday in order to slow down the swarming LSU defense and help his team to a win.

ACC Picture Should Become Clearer…Or Not

Here are the five conference games going on this week in the ACC along with each school’s league record in parentheses:

Boston College (2-1) at North Carolina (1-2)
Wake Forest (2-1) at Miami (1-2)
Virginia Tech (2-1) at Florida State (2-1)
Virginia (2-1) at Georgia Tech (3-1)
North Carolina State (0-3) at Maryland (2-1)

Duke is 1-2 and is taking on Vanderbilt this week. Clemson is also off and is 0-3 in league despite being the preseason favorite. Clemson and North Carolina State are both out of the league race already saddled with three losses. Everybody else has a chance to win the conference, or at least their own division. This weekend will go a long way to settling the eventual ACC champion.

Georgia Tech currently leads the Coastal Division at 3-1 and is ranked No. 18 in the BCS. Four teams are tied for the Atlantic lead at 2-1. There is clearly no dominant team in the ACC, and all the squads have major flaws and can be beaten by any other team in the conference. Some might call this parity and use it to laud the overall depth of the conference. I simply call it mediocrity.

TY BOWL LACKS LUSTER

Ty Willingham likely will
not return as coach of the
Huskies next season.

This was supposed to be the week. This was supposed to when all the rhetoric and talk could end, and the decision as to whether or not Ty Willingham should still be the coach at Notre Dame would be decided on the field. Too bad that question has already been answered. Notre Dame (4-2) visits Washington (0-6) on Saturday pitting Willingham’s old team against his new one. The Huskies however have failed to improve or re-establish itself over the past four years, and there appears to be very little chance for Willingham to return next year. Notre Dame meanwhile looks to be on the way back up. The results haven’t come as quickly as originally hoped, but with yet another stellar recruiting class coming in the Irish should continue to make improvements. The Huskies meanwhile will likely be looking for yet another coach at year’s end.

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