Sure enough, Oregon State started playing with its collective hands wrapped around its throat, USC started moving the ball with ease, and suddenly, they were scoring a touchdown with seven seconds left and setting up for a potential game-tying two-point conversion. With that field goal the Trojans passed up, the touchdown pass to Steve Smith (who had a monster game with 11 catches for 258 yards and two scores) would have given them a 34-33 win, without the need for any two-point conversions.

But that's not the way it went down, and the result was a shocking victory for Oregon State. How shocking? They broke USC's 38-game regular season winning streak and 27-game Pac-10 winning streak and in the process defeated the Trojans for just the third time since 1967. And they did it without their best player. Pretty heady stuff.

So now the Pac-10 is wide open. Cal is undefeated and in the driver's seat for the Pac-10 title and automatic BCS bid, since the conference champ is decided by a bizarre tiebreaking system of "who hasn't won it most recently." Seriously, that is the tiebreaker in the Pac-10. The team that more recently won a conference title loses out in the event of a tie. Dumb as can be, but there you have it. So even if the Trojans defeat Cal, the Bears would still have the tiebreaker should they both lose one game. If that is how it goes down, what will become of USC? Will they make a BCS game or even get back in the national title picture? That would require a lot of help and running the table. If not, they could be Holiday Bowl-bound (as have other very good Pac-10 teams that have finished behind USC in recent years, like Cal in 2004 and Oregon last year). Wouldn't that be something?

(Sorry to neglect the rest of the conference, but frankly, there was only one game in town. Washington State continued to impress by thumping UCLA, Arizona State edged Washington, and Oregon annihilated Portland State.)

--Adam Hoff

SEC

The marquee matchup this week was supposed to be Georgia/Florida, but Georgia conspired to suck horribly and this week's plate of games was about as unappealing as the food on a middle school lunch tray.

The Bulldogs managed to make the final score look respectable but the difference between Georgia and Florida this season is quantum. Florida won 21-14 and continues to control its own destiny in the SEC East race.

A Steve Spurrier/Phillip "The Great Pumpkin" Fullmer matchup is always exciting, right? Not so much. I am still at a loss for why so many in the national media think Tennessee is a big boy team this year. The Vols' performance could be charitably called mediocre, barely holding off a decent South Carolina effort, 31-24. Gamecock quarterback Syvelle Newton is a carbon copy of Georgia Tech QB Reggie Ball: when he is on, he electrifies his team with unbelievable athleticism. When he is off, as he was in the early going Saturday, he can kill his team.