One of my favorite writers, Andy Staples, made a very good point on Friday: Unless there are major upsets today, it will go down as a day that none of us remember. Sure, Oregon fans will likely remember the day the Ducks beat Oregon State to get into the national title game. And Auburn fans probably will remember when they won the SEC title. But other than that, most of us will look back at this day like, “meh.”

Now, if Oregon State or South Carolina do the unthinkable, things might change.

We might forget, at least for a weekend, that Miami has hired and fired and hired and accepted the resignation — all according to Twitter — of Jon Gruden.

The fact that Cam Newton’s dad solicited funds for his son without his son knowing might slip our minds, at least for a day.

Everyone might stop making fun of Rich Rodriguez for blaring Josh Groban at the Michigan football banquet at the end of an emotional plea for his job that is making most Michigan fans cringe.

Some upsets today would make us forget a lot of that. So what I’m saying is the only person rooting harder for those upsets than the people in Fort Worth, Texas is Rich Rodriguez. Seriously, dude. Josh Groban is even dogging you for liking his song.

This is my final time leading you through a college football Saturday, at least for this year. I’m sure I’ll be back with some bowl stuff, but I’d like to thank Anthony and the Scores Report for letting me hang out with all of you this season. Hopefully this will continue in the future. But before I make you all raise your hands while listening to “You Raise Me Up” let me just make some picks.

No. 2 Oregon at Oregon State, 3:30 p.m.: This is one of those games that you’d think would be truly scary for the top-ranked team in the country (in the human polls, anyway). But something tells me the somewhat close calls Oregon has had against Cal and Arizona make the Ducks more prepared for this game than they would have been normally. Oregon State is going to come out fired up, and Corvallis is an incredibly difficult place to win. But the Beavers just don’t have the firepower to keep up with the Ducks in this one. Pick: Oregon 31-24.

No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 19 South Carolina, 4 p.m.: It’s tough to beat a team twice in one season, or so they say, because the losing team normally has more adjustments to make than the winning team does. In this case, however, I don’t know if that works. Sure, Marcus Lattimore didn’t play the whole game the first time around, and that’s a big deal. And sure, Stephen Garcia was pulled because Steve Spurrier is an ego-maniac. But this regular season matchup represented the game that Auburn truly realized what to do with Cam Newton. Since then, he’s been completely unstoppable. I don’t know if that’s going to change today. Pick: Auburn 24-20.

No. 21 Florida State vs. No. 15 Virginia Tech, 7:45 p.m.: The Seminoles can be a dangerous team when Christian Ponder is on his game. He’s been on it lately, and the defense has some serious talent at most positions. Now, the ‘Noles haven’t played a team as good as Virginia Tech lately, and maybe not this year. Tyrod Taylor and the Hokies are rolling since losing their first two games against Boise State and James Madison. I think the Hokies are super-motivated in this one and win it. Pick: Va Tech 34-28.

No. 9 Oklahoma vs. No. 13 Nebraska, 8 p.m.: I’ve been a big fan of the Cornhuskers all season, but what they’re doing lately shouldn’t give even the most blind fan confidence. Nebraska’s offense is in complete flux since Bo Pelini screamed at Taylor Martinez a couple weeks ago, and as good as the defense is, it cannot thrive when continually put in awful situations. Oklahoma won’t expose the Nebraska defense, but it will get enough done with short fields. Pick: Oklahoma 21-16.

Connecticut at South Florida, 8 p.m.: This game will decide the Big East champion. The Big East is booty. Pick: USF 17-13.

One of the beauties of getting XM radio is that I get to listen to the Paul Finebaum show on a daily basis. For those that don’t know, Finebaum’s show is technically now a national college football radio show, but it can’t get away from its southeastern roots.

Every four out of five callers is from Alabama or Mississippi, and they’re crazy. The conspiracies they come up with on the officiating and play-calling from week to week would make Glenn Beck proud.

But the Cam Newton scandal has sent these folks into overdrive, and forced me to spend more time inside my car while it was sitting still in my driveway than one person should. People are blaming the press, Mississippi State, the press, Florida, the press, Nike, the press, Florida and the press. One caller, minutes after ESPN’s Joe Schad hung up with Finebaum, basically threatened to beat him up. It was amazing.

I don’t have a conspiracy theory on this, which is sad. But it will be really interesting to see how Auburn and Newton play today after having to listen to all of this over the last week.

I’m not picking the game because I have no idea who’s taking the field, but if Newton doesn’t play, expect the Bulldogs to win. A.J. Green has made them a legit SEC team. If Newton plays, however, the Tigers will roll on.

It’s a fairly light week in college football, meaning we’re probably going to see something crazy happen. So let’s look at what should be the biggest games.

No. 24 Kansas State at No. 17 Missouri, 12:30 p.m.: These teams are going in opposite directions, which could have a big impact on this game. Missouri has lost two straight games after making it deep into the top 10. Kansas State, meanwhile, is coming off a beating of Texas. I know the Longhorns are awful this year, but that’s still a confidence booster for the Wildcats. It’s kind of like beating up the school bully while he has a broken leg. It’s obviously not as cool as it should be, but it’s still helps your confidence. But I do think that Missouri is the better team, and the home-field advantage will help, too. Pick: Missouri 31-28.

Penn State at No. 9 Ohio State, 3:30 p.m.: Detroit News columnist Terry Foster threw out a random “Joe Paterno is retiring” tweet this afternoon. Now, before you take that to heart, you should realize that Foster uses his Twitter feed for verbal diarrhea as opposed to actually breaking news. Either way, Ohio State is way too strong for the Nittany Lions, no matter how good they’re playing right now. And of course, how good they’re playing right now is relative, considering they just played Michigan and Northwestern. The Buckeyes are severely overrated, considering the schedule they’ve played, but they’ll win this one without a lot of trouble. Pick: Ohio State 24-10.

No. 19 Mississippi State at No. 12 Alabama, 7:15 p.m.: Mississippi State is probably better than you think it is. The Bulldogs lost to Auburn and LSU, and the Auburn loss was very close. Alabama is struggling a little bit with defending its title, but it’s also struggling with calling plays, lately. The Crimson Tide have ridiculous playmakers in Mark Ingram, Trent Richardson and Julio Jones, but are somehow finding ways to not put them in the best ways to succeed. Moving halfway toward to finding that will be enough this weekend, because as good as the Bulldogs are, Alabama is that much better. Pick: Alabama 31-14.

No. 23 South Carolina at No. 22 Florida, 7:15 p.m.: Florida’s offense was a lot of fun to laugh at early in the season, and that’s not totally gone. But the Gators are improving as the season goes on, and Steve Adazzio completely succumbs to Urban Meyer’s commands starts to use his playmakers. I’m hearing that Marcus Lattimore is completely healthy for this one, which will help the Gamecocks, but I don’t think even he and Alshon Jeffery will overcome a Florida team that’s at home and finally moving in the right direction. Pick: Florida 21-17.

No. 10 Oklahoma State at Texas, 8 p.m.: I keep thinking that the Longhorns are going to come up with a Texas-type effort and win a game they shouldn’t. The problem is, nothing I’ve seen from them so far has shown me they’re in any position to do that. Texas is obviously in flux, and struggling with its young players. This is not a good week to be in that situation, as Oklahoma State looks to be firing on all cylinders. Justin Blackmon is the real deal, and I don’t think Texas, or anyone for that matter, can stop him. Pick: Oklahoma State 34-24.

Today is a big day for TCU and Utah, as they get to prove themselves to a national audience in a huge game between top five teams.

Oh. Wait. This game is somehow not on any kind of normal television. I keep hearing CBS College Sports Network, which does nothing for me because I have a digital basic package. I figured Versus was going to bail me out, but nope. Versus is showing us the very important and very sought after Princeton vs. Penn game. I’d rather watch those two schools square off in quiz bowl. OK, that’s a lie. I don’t want to see that either.

Luckily for TCU and Utah, there’s a lot of hype around the game, meaning the winner will get some preferential treatment in the polls just by the final score. Not to mention the fact that TCU is being listed at No. 3 (its BCS ranking) and Boise at No. 4, while the Broncos are actually No. 3 in the coaches poll and TCU is No. 4. A win by the Horned Frogs just may push them past Boise, if for no other reason than the coaches might have just figured they already were. Don’t you love the BCS?

I went 3-2 last week, because I didn’t believe in Baylor, and I believed too much in USC. Oh well, I feel a 5-0 day coming up.

No. 21 Baylor at No. 17 Oklahoma State, 12:30 p.m.: I covered a high school game Friday night that finished 49-48. It was insane. That’s what this game will be like, although instead of me standing outside in 30-degree temperatures, I’ll be inside my warm house, watching a game played in a fairly warm climate. What I’m saying is both of these teams have super explosive offenses, but lack very good defenses, meaning we’re in for a track meet. It could be a “whoever has the ball last” kind of thing, in which case I just go with the home team. Pick: Oklahoma State 45-42.

No. 3 TCU at No. 5 Utah, 3:30 p.m.: Utah is carrying a 21-game home win streak into this one, which is pretty impressive. The Utes are also somewhat under the radar, if you can say that about an unbeaten team ranked in the top five. But with all the attention being paid to TCU and Boise State this year, people seem to have forgotten that Utah — the original BCS buster — has just as good a shot as being the team that completely breaks the mold this year. But … TCU is better. The Horned Frogs have an incredible defense, and have a more impressive resume to this point than Utah. They pounded Baylor, and for that matter, everyone they’ve played since beating Oregon State by nine in the opener. Utah could keep it close being at home — and the Utes are damn good team, too — but I don’t think it can win it. Pick: TCU 28-24.

No. 6 Alabama at No. 10 LSU, 3:30 p.m.: The breakdown in this game is simple — Alabama is a well-rounded team and shouldn’t have a ton of trouble with an LSU team that can’t score — so let’s look for other things to write about. Um, well, both teams are coming off a bye. That means the Tide had an extra week with Nick Saban and LSU had one with Les Miles. So the advantage in this one just went from “Alabama” to “are you kidding me? Alabama.” Pick: Alabama 23-12.

No. 18 Arkansas at No. 19 South Carolina, 7 p.m.: This game could be a shootout, considering Arkansas is still in search of a good defense, and South Carolina has a rough pass defense. I have a lot more faith in the South Carolina defense, however, than I do Arkansas’ to come up with a stop or two when it matters. Not too mention South Carolina has Alshon Jeffery, who’s awesome. Pick: South Carolina 34-31.

No. 15 Arizona at No. 13 Stanford, 8 p.m.: This should be a big test for Andrew Luck and the Stanford offense as Arizona is No. 7 in the country in scoring defense. Arizona, though, has had one and a half tough games, and it lost the half (which actually counts as a whole … but I digress). Stanford has kind of fallen off the radar after losing to Oregon, and I think some people forget that the Cardinal had the Ducks on the ropes for a while. That’s about as good as you can get against the Ducks this year. Pick: Stanford 28-20.

The Southeastern Conference may have lost its stranglehold on the national championship today.

South Carolina shocked the world (OK, so it wasn’t exactly the biggest upset ever, but it was still pretty big) when it knocked off No. 1 Alabama 35-21 this afternoon. The win is huge for Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks, who were showing signs of being a legitimate SEC title contender this season. It’s also vindication for Stephen Garcia, the much-maligned South Carolina quarterback who could only watch from the bench two weeks ago as his team lost to Auburn.

But for the conference, it could be a big problem. In most years a one-loss SEC team makes the title game without hesitation, but this isn’t most years. This year is all about the Boise State argument, and don’t look now, but TCU is still undefeated, and Ohio State might not have anyone on its schedule that can beat it. And, oh yeah, that team in Eugene, Ore. is looking pretty good this year, too.

Basically, the chances of there being two undefeated teams at the end of the season are pretty high right now, and while Alabama (or heck, South Carolina) would have played one heck of a schedule if it runs the table the rest of the way, keeping out one of the undefeated teams would start quite an uproar.

I am personally of the belief that while the SEC is probably still the country’s toughest conference, you can’t keep an undefeated Boise State team out of the championship game. The Broncos have done enough over the past few years to show they’re not a fluke, and it would be high time they got their shot.

What do you think? Should a one-loss Alabama (or SEC) team get a title shot over Boise?

College football season continues to be awesome. It seems like every week I sit down to write my picks (which also continue to be awesome) there are a handful of games that are can’t miss.

I don’t know if that’s because there’s an increasing number of good teams in college football, or if all the cupcakes teams were feasting on at the beginning of the season beefed up their records artificially. Either way, I like being excited on a Friday night for what I’m about to see the next day, and I’ve been like that for a few weeks now.

This week is no different, in fact, it’s about as big as any weekend of the season. And maybe that’s artificially inflated for myself living in Michigan and seeing about 50% of my Facebook “friends” switch their profile picture to something Michigan or Michigan State related. It’s half exciting and half terribly annoying (example: New friend request from John Doe. Hmm, John Doe doesn’t ring a bell, I wonder what he looks like. Oh, he looks just like Denard Robinson. Strange. Ignore. (Not true, I never ignore. My ego can use all the friends it can get, virtual or not.)).

Enough parentheses, let’s get to the games.

I went 4-1 again last week, because I can’t seem to nail down Michigan State, which, oddly enough, is the major university closest to me geographically.

No. 1 Alabama at No. 19 South Carolina, 3:30 p.m.: A lot is being made of the fact that Alabama’s next five opponents will be playing the Tide after a week off. The first of those opponents is South Carolina, which features a solid defense, a bruising true freshman running back and a not-so-consistent passing game. I like Stephen Garcia. I don’t know why, I just do. But there’s no way in Hell he can be the reason the Gamecocks beat Alabama, which is what needs to happen. You need to be able to throw the ball better than just OK to beat the Tide this year (as Arkansas nearly proved), and South Carolina doesn’t have that luxury. Marcus Lattimore is a stud, but he’s going to get a rude awakening this weekend. Pick: Alabama 24-17.

No. 17 Michigan State at No. 18 Michigan, 3:30 p.m.: I’m not sure Denard Robinson can be stopped for a full game. He’s going to get his at some point, he’s just way too explosive not to. But you can stop him once or twice a game, which, unfortunately for Michigan, could be enough to beat the Wolverines. Seriously, if your offense doesn’t beat itself, you could literally score every time it took the field. Michigan’s defense is somewhere between putrid and whatever is worse than putrid. UMass made the Wolverines look like a D-II team, which is bad, because UMass is a I-AA team (FCS, whatever). Today is the day Michigan finally truly pays for this. Pick: MSU 38-35.

No. 12 LSU at No. 14 Florida, 7:30 p.m.: First, watch this. Now, think to yourself, how could a team that does that (even though it survived) beat a team coached by Urban Meyer? Well, here’s how: When that Urban Meyer coached team can’t score points, and is coming off a physical beatdown by Alabama, it’s beatable by anyone, including a team coached by Les Miles that relies completely on its defense. Yes, I’m predicting Les Miles to be 6-0. Pick: LSU 14-10.

No. 23 Florida State at No. 13 Miami, 8 p.m.: Florida State looks awesome this year, against teams that are awful. Miami has the strange ability to look really good and really bad in a matter of minutes of the same game. I attribute this to quarterback Jacory Harris, who personifies that ability. If he’s 75% good Jacory tonight, Miami will win. Pick: Miami 24-20.

USC at No. 16 Stanford, 8 p.m.: The thought of USC getting pounded again is kind of exciting to me, I’m not going to lie. Although, instead of “What’s your deal,” I’d imagine Lane Kiffin might just shake Jim Harbaugh’s hand and say, “Well played.” Expect several fourth down tries in this one, as well as some two-point conversion attempts. Also, expect Andrew Luck to absolutely dominate USC’s horrific passing defense. Pick: Stanford 45-31.

By the end of the day today, we could have a whole new look at the national title picture. Then again, you could say that any week in college football.

This time, however, there’s actually a chance that things could get jumbled up. The top team in the country, Alabama, is facing by far its stiffest test of the season as it travels to Fayetteville to take on Ryan Mallett and Arkansas. No. 3 Boise State will play in its second — and probably last — “showcase” game of the year when it plays host to Oregon State.

We know that if Boise State loses, a lot of the debate about who deserves what will go away, at least until we have to sort through a handful of one-loss teams at the end of the season (but we’ll save that for later). If the Tide lose and the Broncos win, is Boise all of the sudden in the driver’s seat for a spot in the title game? Probably not, actually.

It’s a big slate today, so find a spot on the couch by the mid-afternoon games and settle in for some good football.

I was 3-2 last week, as Arizona came through (for itself, not for me) against Iowa, and Notre Dame succumbed to one of the more staggering coaching calls we’ve seen in a while. Staggering in a good way, that is. Let’s see if I can’t improve upon that mark.

No. 1 Alabama at No. 10 Arkansas, 3:30 p.m.: The top-ranked Crimson Tide have been dominant early on in the season, including in a win against a ranked Penn State team. But one thing the Nittany Lions, Duke and San Jose State didn’t do is test an inexperienced secondary. Penn State didn’t because it was starting a true freshman his first time away from home, and the others didn’t because they’re San Jose State and Duke. Mallett will test that secondary, however, and he’ll do it often. But what will win this game today for Alabama is not its defense, which has been so powerful under Nick Saban, but its offense. Arkansas won’t be able to stop the Tide on the ground, and Greg McElroy will look less like a game manager and more like a Mallett. Pick: Alabama 31-27.

No. 16 Stanford at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m.: It’s been nothing but heartbreak for Notre Dame the past two weekends. First, Dayne Crist goes down for nearly all of the first half before rallying the Irish against Michigan, only to see Denard Robinson lead one final drive for a Wolverine win. Then Mark Dantonio makes the call of his career, with a fake field goal in overtime to push the Irish to 1-2. Stanford likely won’t need dramatics in this one. The Cardinal haven’t exactly played the toughest schedule to date, but they’re the best defensive team, and most balanced offensive team the Irish have seen yet. One good thing for Brian Kelly and Irish fans to hold onto: Lou Holtz was the last Notre Dame coach to start his first season 1-3. Granted, that came with losses to two top 10 teams, but I’m just trying to help out. Pick: Stanford 38-35.

No. 12 South Carolina at No. 17 Auburn, 7:45 p.m.: I probably shouldn’t admit this on the Internet, because the last thing I want is for “man crush” to be in one of the first Google results my name would bring up, but two of my man crushes are playing in this one, which is going to make it kind of hard to decide on a winner. South Carolina freshman Marcus Lattimore is showing why he was so highly touted coming out of high school, and Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is showing glimpses of why people are so excited about his future. The key in this one is that Auburn is coming off a tough overtime win against Clemson, and now has to turn around and try and tackle Lattimore for 60 minutes, which isn’t an easy task the week after a spa treatment. Pick: South Carolina 21-17.

No. 24 Oregon State at No. 3 Boise State, 8 p.m.: One would think that Boise State’s task of blowing out everyone it plays all season long would take its toll. It hasn’t in the past, however, and with this being perhaps the best Broncos team we’ve ever seen, I don’t expect that to start now. That’s not to say Oregon State doesn’t have a chance to end the title talk, though. The Beavers have been completely written off in this game, which is always an easier place to be. With the Rodgers brothers in the lineup, the Beavers should never be completely written off. That being said, I’m writing them off tonight. Pick: Boise State 33-20.

No. 22 West Virginia at No. 15 LSU, 9 p.m.: When Boise State starts to pull away, go ahead and switch over to this one. There’s nothing quite like a night game in Baton Rouge, and I’d expect it to be rocking tonight. The Tigers may not be the most impressive offensive team in the country, and may not have the most reliable coach in the land, but they might have the best player, Patrick Peterson. West Virginia can neutralize him by kicking away in special teams, or relying on its run game, but in order to do that second thing, it will have to get ahead early on. That’s a tough thing to do, and maintain, in that environment. Pick: LSU 24-20.

Lost among the major Week 1 storylines in college football was Kansas’ loss to FCS (I-AA) opponent North Dakota State in coach Turner Gill’s debut.

The Jayhawks not only lost to NDSU, but looked absolutely awful doing it, scoring just three points and getting held below 100 yards rushing. But today, Gill went a long way toward erasing a lot of the early doubt Kansas fans might have had after that loss, as the Jayhawks knocked off No. 15 Georgia Tech, 28-25.

It’s another reminder that we shouldn’t pay too much attention to what we see in Week 1, or at least not do too much prognosticating based off of it. Many teams hold a lot back when playing lesser opponents, as basic plays, along with a higher talent level is usually enough. That obviously didn’t work for Kansas a week ago, and Gill deserves a lot of the blame for not having his team ready for its opener. But it looks like the Jayhawks aren’t going to be the pushover Week 1 seemed to have shown us.

In other early-game news, Marcus Lattimore is the kind of running back that can make even Steve Spurrier a run-first kind of coach. The South Carolina true freshman carried the ball nearly 40 times today against Georgia, and each one was more punishing for the Bulldog defenders. If Stephen Garcia can get things figured out, South Carolina could contend in the SEC this season.

- Virginia Tech clearly has a little bit of a Boise State hangover, as it struggled with James Madison through the first half, leading 13-7 (that’s since gone to 16-7). The Hokies run game, which was supposed to be its strong point, is struggling again, as super sophomore Ryan Williams is being held under four yards a carry. This, of course, is bad news for Boise State, as some will use any poor outing by the Hokies as a reason to punish the Broncos.