The Good
Pete Carroll and USCw
What can you say? Carroll always has his team ready to play the big games, and this one was no different. This is a talented, well-coached team, and the only thing that stands in their way is themselves. If they can keep from having any of the brain fart games they've had over the past two years, mark them in for the BCS title game. Personally, I'd love to see them take on Florida or Georgia.
The Big 12
This conference hasn't looked too hot on the national stage for the past few years, but right now it looks to have three solid championship contenders in Oklahoma, Mizzou, and Texas. My friends and I used to call the Big 12 the Big 2, but it looks like Mizzou, for years the Big 12's South Carolina, has finally surfaced as an equal to the traditional powers.
The Bad
The Pac-10
This is usually one of my favorite conferences other than the SEC, but this year there seems to be even more distance than usual between the Trojans and the rest of the conference. Among this weekend's foibles: Cal losing to a Maryland team that lost to Middle Tennessee State a week ago, Washington getting pasted by Oklahoma, ASU losing to UNLV, and, perhaps worst of all, UCLA losing by the stunning margin of 59-0 to BYU. And don't forget that Oregon needed overtime to edge Purdue, one of the Big 10's more mediocre teams.
SEC Offenses
Are SEC offenses bad or are the defenses good? Hard to say at this point, but Georgia's 14-7 win over South Carolina and Auburn's 3-2 win over MSU will make the pundits wonder. The SEC, after being considered a defensive league for most of its history, seemed to be moving to higher-profile offenses over the past few years. Is that trend over?
The Ugly
Ohio State
Not that we didn't expect it, but Ohio State once again looked like boys playing with men this past weekend. Jim Tressel, once thought a premier big game coach,
now looks completely lost when his Buckeyes take on top-flight competition. In credit to Tressel, USCw looks really, really good. But top five teams just don't lose 35-3. If these guys sneak into the national title game again after this, I say we start the revolution.
Gamecock Man leads the anti-BCS revolution after Ohio State sneaks into another national title game.
Also, are Buckeyes fans turning on Tressel? After taking a look at the comments on some blogs that cover the scarlet and gray, I'm beginning to wonder. Note to Buckeyes fans: these losses are embarrassing, but you guys still have a good coach. How many straight Big 10 titles have you won? How many straight victories over your most hated rival? Trust me; it could be worse.