1. – With USC not scheduled to lose to anyone this week, the biggest game in the wacky Pac-10 is in Tucson, where 
3. – Another huge rivalry is headed in the opposite direction. This year the “
7. – In his final home game, Texas’ Colt McCoy is poised to become the winningest starting quarterback in college football history (and clinch the Big 12 South). He is currently tied with former Georgia star David Greene with 42 wins. All that stands in McCoy’s way is a careening Kansas team that’s won only one Big 12 game this season and is embroiled in an ugly controversy involving allegations of player mistreatment by head coach Mark Mangino. Two years ago, after leading the Jayhawks to a 12-1 season, quarterback Todd Reesing (pictured) never would have imagined that his first (and last) collegiate game in his hometown of Austin would be mucked up like this.
8. – Iowa and Penn State still have a shot at claiming a piece of the Big Ten title, but that would require Michigan upsetting Ohio State. Much more importantly, the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions are involved in their own non-contact battle against each other for an at-large berth into the BCS. Although no one can be quite sure of how the BCS “draft” will go down on Dec. 6, the merits of both Iowa and Penn State will be hotly debated in the next two weeks if they can win their respective games on Saturday against Minnesota and Michigan State.
9. – Officially eliminated from the BCS last week, Notre Dame’s new mission is to earn its New Year’s Day spot in the Gator Bowl. A loss to Connecticut on Saturday in South Bend would probably drop the Irish down into the realm of the Sun Bowl. Maybe that wouldn’t be all that bad, if we’re talking about a rematch with USC in El Paso. The Huskies, who have lost their last three games by a total of 10 points, need to win two of th
eir last three to become bowl eligible, but this game at Notre Dame is the most important since a victory would help open up a spot for a Big East team in the Gator Bowl, which would in turn create another spot for a team like the Huskies down toward the bottom of the bowl ladder.
10. – The Conference USA East title won’t be decided until next week, but UAB’s trip to East Carolina on Saturday will have a huge say in the matter. It’ll feature an interesting matchup between Blazer quarterback Joe Webb who passed for 378 yards and accounted for all of UAB’s touchdowns in a 31-21 victory at Memphis last week. He’ll be going up against a Pirate defense that scored three touchdowns of its own last week in the fourth quarter of a 44-17 victory at Tulsa.
Joe Webb is one of the more exciting athletes to watch outside the BCS. Last season he contributed to his team the highest percentage of yards than any other player in the nation.