Ohio State doesn't play to win, Pac-10 champ will

No matter who winds up winning the wild Pac-10 race, at least somebody is going to have to win it. They'll go out and do something special ... or they'll lose trying. Say what you will about their shootouts, but Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State, and Arizona all play exciting and eventful football. And they always play to win. That's how it works in an exciting conference like the Pac-10, which is coming down to a race as epic as Stanford's double-nickel at the L.A. Coliseum. That's how it works, too, in the ACC, where Clemson's late-season surge and Georgia Tech's remarkable campaign appear to be leading to a wild ACC Championship Game. Same goes in the SEC, obviously. And in the Big East too, where Cincinnati will have to earn everything it can get. Even in the Big 12 this year, Texas has shown it will let it all hang out in order to hook 'em. But in the Big Ten, it's not like that. In the Big Ten, they go out there and "not lose one for the Gipper." Given the option, Jim Tressel would have fast-forwarded to penalty kicks. In Saturday's Big Ten championship showdown, Tressel and the Buckeyes did not lose better than the Iowa Hawkeyes did not lose. Tressel's approach almost didn't work, since Iowa replacement quarterback James Vandenberg performed better than anticipated. Vandenberg was intercepted twice, but he also threw two touchdown passes, including one for the game-tying score with five minutes to go. But when the score was tied and the Hawkeyes were 35 yards from a championship-winning field goal attempt, Kirk Ferentz decided to go Tressel one better. He was on the road, his team was a three-touchdown underdog, his quarterback had completed five consecutive passes for 61 yards to tie the score on their previous possession, yet Ferentz decided to not try to use the last minute of the game to try to win. Instead, he declared, we'll go into overtime and start over. Sigh. Predictably, it didn't work. At all. And so Ohio State didn't lose. But in seven weeks from now, they'll almost surely lose the Rose Bowl, because they'll face a team that won't agree to Big Ten rules of limiting their own possibilities and playing not to lose.

Always compete?

Too bad the Buckeyes won't get a chance to face USC again. The Trojans have backpedaled their way right out of the Rose Bowl race because they keep running into Pac-10 opponents who throw everything at them, and do everything they can to win. (See the difference?) Just in case anybody was thinking Pete Carroll had solved his team's defensive inadequacies, or that this season would be accepted as rebuilding on the fly while still getting to a BCS bowl, Stanford scored more points than any team has ever scored against USC in its 121 years of playing football. And each of the eight touchdowns in the 55-21 rout seemed to be just a little easier than the one before. As a result, the wild Pac-10 race continues without the Trojans, who have been officially dethroned for the first time since, let's see, Nebraska's Eric Crouch was winning the Heisman Trophy. Yes, that's how long ago it was. And quite a race this is, with Oregon, Arizona, Oregon State, and Stanford still very much within reach of the Rose Bowl.

Leader of the Pac? Hard to say

This week's Oregon-Arizona game is huge, but it's not all that matters, since the winner of that game still faces huge challenges. Here's the pecking order for the Pac-10 in search of the opportunity to run circles around Ohio State: 1. OREGON (6-1) needs to beat both Arizona and OSU; Ducks need to finish ahead of the pack, since they lose any tie-break scenario. 2. ARIZONA (4-2) needs to win out (Oregon, at ASU, at USC). 3. OREGON STATE (5-2) needs to win at WSU and Oregon, and have Arizona lose any of its last three. 4. STANFORD (6-2) needs to beat Cal, and have Oregon, Oregon State, and Arizona all lose (not entirely unlikely: Arizona over Oregon, UO beats OSU, and Arizona loses to USC or ASU). 5. This race is so crazy that it could still finish in a six-way tie for first place at 6-3. That means USC and California mathematically still could finish in a tie for first place, but the Trojans and Bears lose any tiebreak scenario, and so they cannot get to the Rose Bowl.

Big day for Big Ten

Despite the way that Ohio State clinched a backdoor trip to the Rose Bowl, Saturday's collection of results will ensure that the Big Ten will wind up with two teams in BCS bowls. Losses by USC, Miami, Utah and Houston mean that either Penn State or Iowa will certainly finish among the top 14 in the country and become eligible for a BCS bowl (as long as Penn State beats Michigan State and/or Iowa beats Minnesota in their season finales this week). Watch for the Fiesta Bowl to snap up one of the Big Ten runners-up, but whom they put them against is becoming increasingly problematic.

Who you calling a buster, buster?

TCU completed its amazing stretch by burying Utah, just as they buried BYU earlier, just as they defeated Clemson and Virginia in non-conference games earlier and now they're looking downright presidential. Well, they probably won't get to the national title game, but they have outlegged the image of a typical BCS buster by playing that schedule and already rising to No. 4 in the BCS rankings. They have two walkovers to finish the season (at Wyoming, at home against New Mexico) before they are tabbed by the Orange, Fiesta, or Sugar bowl. After the Sugar takes the SEC runner-up, and the Fiesta probably chooses Penn State, the Orange gets to decide who to put against the ACC champion, and chances are the bloodspitters from Fort Worth will be invited to Miami.

BCS bowl update

Not a lot of changes this weekend, but let's not get carried away with the Big East, as some folks are. There's little likelihood that a Big East runner-up will get a BCS at-large invitation. But who will? The number of quality candidates is shrinking, although Boise State continues to hang around.

BCS Championship Game: Florida/Alabama vs. Texas

Rose Bowl: Ohio State vs. Pac-10 champion

Orange Bowl: TCU vs. Georgia Tech/Clemson

Fiesta Bowl: Penn State vs. Boise State or Pac-10 team

Sugar Bowl: Florida/Alabama vs. Cincinnati

Golden dome ... pink slip?

OK, so Charlie Weis is back to exactly the same .583 winning percentage that got Tyrone Willingham and Bob Davie fired at Notre Dame. Of course, he has had two years more than Willingham did to improve on that un-Notre Dame success rate. Was it just a couple of weeks ago that we were mentioning the Irish as a possible BCS bowl team? Now they're 6-4, with two games remaining, and it seems appropriate that they have a sub-.500 Big East team this week. If they can somehow get past Connecticut, there's a good chance they'll still get invited to the Gator Bowl ahead of more-deserving Big East teams. Problem is, they finish the season at Stanford, which is the best team Notre Dame has faced all season.

Heisman update

There's not much to update, other than to note that Case Keenum violated one of the very small print rules: Any player whose team loses to Central Florida becomes ineligible. But consider the regional approach, since that's how the votes are eventually broken down.

West: Toby Gerhart has emerged with 400 yards against top-10 teams the past two weeks.

Southwest: Colt McCoy has shown the kind of consistency that a national champion needs.

Southeast: Mark Ingram and Tim Tebow will do battle in Atlanta on Dec. 5.

Midwest: Golden Tate keeps being nothing less than spectacular.

East: C.J. Spiller scores every which way, and he's got those crazy legs.

ACC down to one

It looks like we'll get a replay of the Georgia Tech-Clemson game of early September. Remember that Thursday night game? Tech took a 24-0 lead, and then fell behind before getting a pair of field goals in the last five minutes to steal back a 30-27 victory. This time, they'll be playing for the ACC championship ... assuming that Clemson can win its sixth game in a row this week when it finishes its home season against lowly Virginia. Georgia Tech is already set for the title game in Tampa. But if Clemson loses, Boston College is next in line, although the Eagles have to beat resurgent North Carolina and Maryland or Clemson still wins the Atlantic Division.

Double jeopardy

A team calls time out to set up an offensive play. During the timeout, the officials determine that the previous play was a fumble, and the team doesn't have the ball anymore. At the very least, shouldn't the team that called the timeout get the timeout back? Well, that decision might not have determined the outcome of the game — Notre Dame had a fourth-and-16 with 2:10 remaining, but it was a chance. Still, by taking the timeout as well as the ball away from Notre Dame, the officials doubly derailed ND's comeback attempt.

A glance ahead

Saturday, Nov. 21

Kansas at Texas: Could be a trap for Horns preceding short week of A&M game.

Oregon at Arizona: Pac-10 shootout showdown in old Tucson.

Virginia at Clemson: Tigers need this one to clinch division championship.

Ohio State at Michigan: Wolverines have lost 6 in a row; 1 win would make it all better.

Oklahoma at Texas Tech: This one is for bowl positioning ... and pride.

TCU at Wyoming: Hey Frogs, you're playing at elevation!

Penn State at Mich. St.: Nittany Lions need this one to work into a BCS bowl.

California at Stanford: Dig this: A Big Game that's really a Big Game!

Kansas State at Nebraska: Big 12 North Showdown: Winner sacrificed to Longhorns on Dec. 5.