October 17, 2009

Tom Dienhart
Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer

Does anyone want to advance to the BCS title game?

Several contenders teetered on the edge of extinction Saturday. Florida survived Arkansas 23-20, and Texas snuck by Sam Bradford-less Oklahoma 16-13.

Some fell off the edge. Ohio State was stunned by Purdue 26-18, and Virginia Tech was dumped by Georgia Tech 28-23.

The first BCS standings of the season will be released Sunday afternoon. No matter how they look this week, we likely will end up with the winner of the SEC title game playing USC or Texas for the BCS championship in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 7.

Here's how the BCS contenders stack up.

No. 1 Alabama. The Crimson Tide are on top, no matter what the polls say. Alabama showed its grit by grinding out a victory over South Carolina, its toughest game yet. The Tide have been a devastating combination of offense, defense and special teams. We all knew Alabama would excel on defense and special teams, but it's the play of the offense that has made Nick Saban's squad the team to beat.

Big games left: vs. LSU; at Auburn; SEC title game

No. 2 USC. The Trojans are rolling now that they have their annual confounding early loss to an unranked team out of the way. A defense that had to replace eight starters has developed a nasty edge and become a strength. Now, the offense is taking flight as true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley gains experience. If the Trojans win at Oregon on Halloween, pencil in an 11-1 record and a likely trip to the title game.

Big game left: at Oregon.

No. 3 Florida. The Gators needed a last-second field goal to survive with a 23-20 home win over unranked Arkansas. This is a team that's struggling on offense, as there's no semblance of a vertical passing game. Who is the big-play threat at receiver? Florida is getting by on defense.

Big games left: vs. Georgia in Jacksonville; at South Carolina; SEC title game

No. 4 Texas. This is the most unimpressive unbeaten team in the nation. The Longhorns had to sweat out a win over a short-handed and battered Oklahoma team. Texas' other wins? Louisiana-Monroe, Wyoming, Texas Tech, UTEP and Colorado. In addition, no contender has more challenging games left.

Big games left: at Missouri; at Oklahoma State; vs. Kansas; Big 12 title game

No. 5 Iowa. Kirk Ferentz has Iowa playing well, especially on defense. Iowa already has won at Penn State and Wisconsin, while beating Michigan at home. You can't find any team with three better wins. The program is off to its best start since that magical 1985 season that saw Iowa win the Big Ten and play in the Rose Bowl.

Big games left: at Michigan State; at Ohio State

No. 6 Cincinnati. The Bearcats' offense gets the headlines, but it's the defense that has impressed and surprised after having to replace 10 starters. A big key to Cincy's Cinderella ride will be the health of quarterback Tony Pike, who hurt his left hand in a win at USF on Thursday.

Big games left: vs. Connecticut; vs. West Virginia; at Pittsburgh

Clemson. How can the Tigers be so good one week (38-3 vs. Wake Forest on Saturday) and so bad another (24-21 loss to Maryland on Oct. 3)? Typical Clemson. The Tigers' win makes the title chase in the ACC Atlantic Division wide open.

Iowa. The Hawkeyes pulled out a 20-10 win at Wisconsin and now stand as the lone unbeaten team in the Big Ten. Iowa is doing it with a suffocating defense that pitched a second-half shutout and held the Badgers to 230 yards.

Purdue. The Boilermakers eased the pain of a five-game losing streak with a stunning 26-18 win over No. 7 Ohio State. Illinois visits next.

Texas. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't impressive, but it was a 16-13 win for the Longhorns over Oklahoma. It was Texas' fourth win in the past five meetings with Oklahoma. Texas remains unbeaten but unimpressive.

Texas Tech. In the past two weeks, the Red Raiders have scored 97 points in victories over Kansas State and Nebraska - with a backup quarterback, no less.

California. Jeff Tedford's Los Angeles jinx officially ended with an emphatic 45-26 win at UCLA. Tedford has been 0-7 in L.A. as coach of the Golden Bears, who had scored a total of six points in their two previous games.

Arizona. Anyone notice that the Wildcats are 4-2 after a home win over Stanford?

Arkansas. Yes, the Hogs lost at Florida, but they sent a message that they are headed in the right direction in Bobby Petrino's second year.

Georgia Tech. A week after scoring a nice win at Florida State, the Yellow Jackets scored a huge home win over Virginia Tech. They won despite quarterback Josh Nesbitt completing just 1 of 7 passes with an interception. The win puts Georgia Tech, which ran for 308 yards against the Hokies, in the thick of the ACC Coastal Division chase.

Tim Tebow. The Florida quarterback may have had his Heisman moment in driving the Gators 69 yards in the final minutes to set up a game-winning 27-yard field goal with nine seconds left in a 23-20 win over Arkansas. Tebow threw for 30 yards and ran for 22 on the drive. The win kept Florida unbeaten and in line to defend its national title.

Virginia. It's time to stop reading Al Groh his last rites. He has rallied the Cavaliers to three wins in a row, with the latest being a 20-9 win at Maryland. How did this team lose to William & Mary?

Colt McCoy, Heisman contender. He completed 21 of 40 passes for 127 yards with a touchdown and interception to go along with four sacks. McCoy also ran 13 times for 30 yards with two fumbles.

Nebraska. Last time we saw Nebraska, it was scoring an emotional win at Missouri. This week? A brutal 31-10 home loss to Texas Tech.

Ohio State. Forget national title hopes, the Buckeyes' Big Ten championship aspirations are in peril. For the second week in a row, Ohio State's offense fizzled. The Buckeyes gained just 287 yards, with only 66 coming on the ground against a Boilers defense that entered the game ranked 10th in the Big Ten against the run (167.3 ypg).

Oklahoma: The 16-13 loss to Texas drops the Sooners to 3-3. OU's losses have come by a total of five points, all on neutral or road fields against ranked foes. In case you were wondering, the most losses Bob Stoops has suffered at OU came in his debut season in 1999, when OU went 7-5 and played in the Independence Bowl.

Sam Bradford. It's time for the Oklahoma quarterback to shut it down for the season. In the first quarter, Bradford reinjured the right shoulder he hurt in a season-opening loss to BYU. Bradford missed three games but returned to rave reviews last week in a win over Baylor. Now, with three losses and little hope for a Big 12 South title, there's no reason for Bradford to jeopardize his NFL career any more.

UCLA. It's official: The Bruins are a bad team. A 45-26 home loss to Cal was the third setback in a row for UCLA, which had opened the year 3-0. There may be just one win left on the Bruins' schedule: at Washington State on Nov. 14.

Auburn. That's two losses in a row for the Tigers. Getting routed by Arkansas was bad enough. But Saturday's 21-14 home loss to Kentucky is downright appalling.

Illinois. A 27-14 loser at Indiana. Crushing.

Kansas. Scratch the Jayhawks from the ranks of the unbeaten after they fell 34-30 at Colorado. Now, the Big 12 North race is wide open. KU needs to fix a leaky defense to stay in the hunt.

Texas A&M. A 62-14 loss at K-State was the Aggies' third setback in a row after a 3-0 start. Mike Sherman is being questioned in his second season. This team may not win again.

Virginia Tech. The Hokies' 28-23 loss at Georgia Tech ends their BCS title bid and throws the ACC Coastal Division up for grabs. Georgia Tech is in the thick of things, along with Miami.

Steve Kragthorpe. Louisville fell 38-25 to Connecticut, its ninth loss in the past 10 games against a FBS team.

1. Big 12 showdowns: It's North powers vs. South powers, with Texas at Missouri and Oklahoma at Kansas. The South has dominated the conference for most of this decade. Playing on their home fields, the North has a chance to show its means business.

2. Is Penn State for real? The Nittany Lions can forget about their Big Ten title dreams if they lose at Michigan. This will be Penn State's biggest road test of the season and it will come against a Wolverine team at a crossroads. The last time the Nittany Lions played someone decent, they got dumped by Iowa.

3. TCU at BYU. For all intents and purposes, this is the last scary game for the Horned Frogs. Win in Provo, and you pretty much can stamp TCU as a 12-0 team with a good chance to pass Boise State in the non-Big Six pecking order and claim a BCS bid.

4. The Third Saturday in October: It's here, Tennessee at Alabama. But the real storyline is the that this will be Vols coach Lane Kiffin's first taste of the rivalry. How will he fare against Nick Saban in Tuscaloosa?

5. Iowa at Michigan State. The Hawkeyes take their unbeaten record to East Lansing to face a surging Spartans team that has won three in a row.

Tom Dienhart is the national senior writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at dienhart@yahoo-inc.com.