College Football Notebook: Don't Expect Another 2007

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

Now that the No. 1 team in the country has lost for the second straight week, everyone wants to talk about 2007 and how crazy the second half of that season turned out to be.

Don't get your hopes up, Ohio State fans. History shall not repeat itself in 2010.

In addition to the Buckeyes' loss Saturday, fellow top 10s Nebraska and South Carolina also suffered setbacks at the hands of conference rivals. The new AP top 10 has two notable surprises through seven weeks:

+ Did anybody expect LSU to be 7-0?

+ Did anybody expect Michigan State to be in the top 10?

Looking at new No. 1 Oregon's upcoming schedule, the Ducks should breeze by UCLA on Thursday, but I have a weird feeling about UO's trip to USC the following weekend. Oregon dressed up as worldbeaters in a Halloween thrashing of USC last year, but something tells me Lane Kiffin might have a trick up his sleeve for the Ducks when they visit on Oct. 30.

Other notes:

+ The SEC still looks like a league that will get a one-loss team into the national championship game. Figuring out which squad that will be is another matter. LSU is at Auburn in college football's biggest game next Saturday. Alabama and LSU each have bye weeks before meeting in what should be a great game at Death Valley on Nov. 6. Auburn is at Alabama on Nov. 26 and LSU visits Arkansas the following day. Congratulations to whomever comes out of the SEC West.

+ How about that Big Ten? Its four top teams are in the top 13 of the poll, but could you see any of them beating, say, an Oregon or an Oklahoma or an SEC West champ? Such a matchup would be ugly.

+ It's about time we took note of the Big 12. In the first month, Oklahoma may have had trouble closing out inferior opponents, but the Sooners finally do look legit and might have a more complete resume than Oregon right now. But Texas shut Nebraska down for a very nice win Saturday, and Oklahoma State and Missouri, both 6-0, are deserving of their top 18 rankings. The Cowboys, however, play Nebraska Saturday, and the Tigers have it even worse. They welcome OU Saturday, then visit Nebraska the following week. Good luck with that.