This Saturday, the Oregon Ducks (24) take on the California Golden Bears in a competition for the top of the PAC-10.  The Ducks are tied with USC for top in the conference, but Cal is a mere half game behind.  Importantly, Cal will play both of the top teams in the coming weeks.  Oregon has had a strange year.  They had a good starting QB lined up, who got injured.  Their backup also got injured early on in the year, so they are on their third QB!  That’s almost enough quarterbacks to fill an offensive line.  But nevertheless, third stringer or not, this guy, Jeremiah Masoli is his name, has led them to the top of the PAC 10 this year.  Cal is also having a heck of a year. They are also shifting QBs frequently, but they seem to be able to do well without that stability. It’s gonna be a great game!

After losing this weekend, both Louisiana State and Ohio State find themselves up against difficult odds in trying to get into the BCS Championship for the second year in a row.  Neither team is completely out of contention, but their losses have put them into a position needing a lot of help from other teams.  LSU lost to Georgia, 52-38, leaving them at 5-2 this season.  OSU lost badly as well. After a successful year last season for both teams, it comes as a surprise that neither one could even have much of a chance this season.  On the other side, Penn State is surging this year.  USC is struggling, but isn’t in quite the same difficult position that LSU and OSU are in.  LSU and OSU played against each other last season for the BCS championship, where LSU won 38-24.

Tonight, two teams who were expected to do well this season will play each other: the Auburn Tigers and the West Virginia Mountaineers.  Auburn was predicted to rank #10 this year, but has had trouble generating offense.  The most recent embarrassment came at the hands of Arkansas, losing 25-22 two weeks ago.  In that game, the team rushed only 56 yards and both quarterbacks completed less than half of their passes.  This all adds up to one long afternoon of football for the Tigers.  They hope to redeem themselves this weekend.

West Virginia has also underperformed this year.  Last year, the team averaged 456 yards per game; but this year they have only been able to muster up 342.2.  Under their new coach, Bill Stewart, they have had trouble remaining consistent on either side of the ball. Stewart has seen offensive improvement recently though. The game between these two teams will be a good one, but expect it to be low-scoring.

Although the Big-10 Conference lacks a championship game, you may as well consider this Saturday’s Penn State at Ohio State football game to be just that. Penn State (8-0) versus Ohio State (7-1) will showcase the two best squads in Big-10 play this year and will go a long way as to determining which team plays in which bowl game. Ohio State wants to move past their loss weeks ago to the USC Trojans and reclimb the slippery BCS rankings poll while Penn State is searching to hold on to their number 3 ranking at worst, and move up to number 1 at best. It will be a knock down, drag out battle and you can preview the action at ncaafootball.com.

If you thought that Boise State had forgotten about last year’s 39-27 loss against Hawaii, which led to Hawaii’s Western Athletic Conference Title and Sugar Bowl berth, think again. It still smarts for some of the players and alumni who were part of the Boise State Broncos football teams that won the WAC title for five consecutive years prior to Hawaii’s victory. So when the Broncos get their chance at redemption tonight at 8:00 ET, prepare to see a lot of intensity and emotion. The Broncos (5-0) will not want to give up any ground to the Warriors (3-3).

It’s kind of what makes the arbitrary nature of college football ranking so exciting. One bad game and you can shoot down ten spots in the poll. One great game and you can do the opposite. It was Georgia in the preseason before USC usurped their spot. Then USC dropped the ball against Oregon State and Oklahoma slipped in as the new number 1. Now, in the 7th week of NCAA football, the Texas Longhorns have stepped into the spotlight of number 1.

After yet another weekend of upsets in the college football world, which featured Missouri and LSU losses, the Oklahoma Sooners fell to the then number 5 Texas Longhorns by a score of 45-35. Led by the accurate passing ability of Colt McCoy (who posted a 79% completion ratio), the Longhorns rallied against the Sooners, going on a 25-7 point run. Both their running and passing games looked to be in top form.

But will it stick? Yes, it was a great game and great win for the Longhorns. But at number 1, as seen constantly even in the short history in the 2008 season, every team is gunning for you. There is no hiding at number 1 and teams prepare extra hard to dethrone you, even if there’s no real gain for themselves. In that case of Texas, however, their immediate schedule will be against ranked teams that have a lot to gain by beating the Longhorns. Texas will play four ranked teams in their next four games: Missouri (No.11), Oklahoma State (No.8), Texas Tech (No.7), and then Kansas (No.16).

It’ll be the number 11 Florida Gators hosting the number 4 LSU Tigers this weekend in an NCAA football matchup. And while each team’s respective offensive and defensive units are absolutely solid, coaches, critics, players, and fans feel that the determining factor of the game will come down to the special teams.

The belief is supported by outcome of the last two meetings between these powerhouse schools. The last two meetings were decided by significant contributions from each side’s special teams. In the 2007 season, LSU scored the go-ahead points on a fake field goal touchdown play en route to their 28-24 victory. The year before that, the Florida Gators won 23-10 after forcing a fumble on a second half kickoff, recovering a muffed punt, and blocking a punt attempt.

This year, both teams have extremely talented (and somewhat diminutive) kickoff/punt return specialists. LSU’s Trindon Holliday (5′5″) is the second best in the country with punt returns (average 25.1 yards) and leads his team in kickoff returns (averaging 24 yards). Florida’s Brandon James (5′7″) is seventh in punt returns (20.5 yards) and 11th in kick returns (30 yards). Each returner is explosive, agile, and can change the outcome of the entire game with one move. Look for the game to balance on the shoulders of these two players.

And, as a bit of added incentive for the war between these two teams, the winner of their last two meetings went on to be victorious in the National Championship Game. Just something to think about when you watch the game this Saturday at 8 pm ET.

The team mentality is extremely positive in the Oklahoma Sooners football camp this week as they’ll be welcoming back some key players who had been previously injured. This will make the Sooners squad at full strength just in time for their big matchup against the Texas Longhorns this Saturday. It will prove to be the Sooners’ toughest match yet against an impressive number 5 Texas team.

Reporting back to active duty for the Sooners will be both defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and center Jon Cooper, two starters who received minor injuries in the game against Baylor last Saturday. Additionally, defensive linemen Demarcus Granger and Frank Alexander will be probable to start as well.

Everyone will be needed as Texas football is no comparison to Baylor football. While the Sooners easily rolled over the Baylor Bears this last Saturday, their upcoming match with the Longhorns should prove to be a much closer, much more heavily contested battle of college football. It’ll be time for the Sooners to prove that they can not only take the number 1 spot, but hold on to it as well. The game time is 12:00 ET this Saturday.

After achieving its highest AP polls ranking in 32 years, the number 7 Texas Tech Red Raiders football players are feeling a surge in confidence that they hope will assist them in their big games this year. They need to keep themselves level headed, however, and not fall into the disappointing malaise that has surrounded other promising seasons.

They have been here before. Undefeated after impressive victories in their first few starts. Last year they went 3-0 before losing in the shootout match against Oklahoma. In 2005 they went 6-0 before being humbled by a 35-point loss to Texas. 1998 and 2000 were just two more years that ended up disappointing after a promising start.

So the Texas Tech Red Raiders are taking it one week at a time. Don’t look ahead to the big games, just concentrate on the game at hand. Too often Texas Tech has had their eyes on the prize when there were still many hurdles in the way.

Not this year.

Every one of the football players at Texas Tech is dedicated to focusing and practicing…and plenty of each. Texas Tech’s embarrassing past is more than enough motivation for the players, who won’t even think of a national title until they earn their shot at it. This weekend the Red Raiders will face off against Kansas State and look to continue to 5-0 on the year.