Oregon ran off 24 unanswered points to come from behind, and blow USC off the Coliseum turf 53-32. Which impressed people, but they already had Oregon atop the polls. The computer component of the BCS isn't supposed to be impressable, but obviously it is, as the BCS also has elevated the Ducks to #1, and dropped Auburn, who handled Ole' Miss, and Jeremiah Masoli, 51-31, to #2.

Oregon St. is still outside the AP top 25, but their 35-7 win over Cal did move them up to #28, and slightly ahead of USC, who fell back out of the top 25.

Neither Stanford, who walloped Washington 41-0, or Arizona, who used 5 field goals to down UCLA on the road 29-21, in the backup quarterback bowl, made any BCS hay, however. The Cardinal climbed into the AP top 10, up from #13, but stayed stuck at #13 in the BCS. The Wildcats clawed their way up from #15 to #13 in the AP poll, but remained at #15 in the BCS.

And though two of six unbeaten teams fell on the road on road-block Saturday, Missouri, who fell 31-17 at Nebraska, is still ahead of both Stanford and Arizona. And the Cornhuskers climbed all the way to #7 in the BCS. And Michigan St., who Iowa mauled 37-6, is still ahead of Arizona in the BCS.

Despite the fact that the winner of this week's Arizona at Stanford game will get a quality win bump in the BCS, its becoming increasingly apparent that the Pac-10 won't get a second BCS team, and the nearly half-million dollar per school payout that would result in.

Defending national champion Alabama continues to top the one loss teams, at #6 in the BCS, and #5 in the AP, and given the way their schedules lay out, there's little chance the winner of the Iron Bowl, between Auburn and Alabama, won't wind up in Glendale, and there are too many other teams in the way for a second Pac-10 team to gain an at-large berth. An Arizona upset win in Eugene probably would even squeeze the Ducks out.

TCU climbed past Boise St. into third place in the BCS, with a 48-6 rout win on the road over UNLV. Future Pac-10 member Utah, who defeated Air Force 28-23, climbed from #8 in both the BCS and the AP poll to #6 in the AP, and #5 in the BCS, is actually the best bet to get a BCS berth, if they can upset TCU this coming Saturday in Salt Lake City. Boise St. could still climb back over the Mt. West winner, as they still have five games left to accumulate wins in, while the Horned Frogs have only 3 contests still on their schedule. The Utes have only 4 games left, but will get more pr mileage than they should from a win over Notre Dame if they can handle TCU, then not have a let down (or get Golden Domed).

All probable combinations continue to indicate TCU, Boise St., or Utah, will be headed to the Rose Bowl. Wouldn't it be ironic if the Pac-10/12 gets a second team into the BCS, but it's Utah, and one year too soon?

Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com