Incoming Big Ten member Nebraska can't be left out of the national championship race in the Cornhuskers' last season in the Big 12.
Nebraska's Lavonte David (4) might have enjoyed his first-half sack of South Dakota State's Tyrel Kool on Saturday, but by the end of the 17-3 victory over a Football Championship Subdivision team, the Cornhuskers were more embarrassed than exultant.THIS WEEK'S BEST NATIONAL GAMES
1. No. 7 Florida at No. 1 Alabama, Saturday, 8, CBS: When these teams met 10 months ago, No. 2 Alabama beat No. 1 Florida. The Crimson Tide is still at that level. The Gators aren't.
2. No. 9 Stanford at No. 4 Oregon, Saturday, 8, ABC: Originally scheduled for an 11:15 p.m. Eastern start, the game was shifted because it deserves a bigger audience. Want a tossup game that could affect the national title picture? This is it.
3. No. 21 Texas vs. No. 8 Oklahoma, Saturday, 3:30, ABC/ESPN: Neither team is quite as good as people expected. The Longhorns are coming off a 22-point loss to UCLA while three of the Sooners' wins are by seven, three and two points.
THIS WEEK'S BEST BIG TEN GAMES
1. No. 11 Wisconsin at No. 24 Michigan State, Saturday, 3:30, ABC/ESPN: Through four games, we still don't know much about the Badgers, who escaped Arizona State by one point, didn't look great against UNLV and San Jose State and destroyed a lower-level FCS team.
2. No. 22 Penn State at No. 17 Iowa, Saturday, 8, ABC/ESPN: Nittany Lions running back Evan Royster rushed for 110 yards in first three games of the season, then for 187 against Temple on Saturday. Penn State needs him.
3. No. 20 Michigan at Indiana, Saturday, 3:30, ESPNU: Along with Wisconsin-Michigan State, this is one of two Big Ten games matching undefeated teams.
HEISMAN WATCH
1. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan, Soph., Odds: 5-1, at Indiana: Left Bowling Green win early with knee injury, still ran for 129 yards on five carries, still leads nation in rushing, second in total offense.
2. Terrelle Pryor, QB, Ohio State, Jr., Odds: 11-2, at Illinois: Ranks 13th in passer rating, 13th in total offensive yards and is one of 10 quarterbacks in the country with at least 10 touchdown passes.
3. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State, Jr., Odds: 8-1, at New Mexico State: Threw for 288 yards and accounted for four touchdowns while leading the win over Oregon State.
4. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama, Jr., Odds: 10-1, vs. Florida: Truly thought he was done after missing first two games, but it's now like he never left after punishing Arkansas for 157 yards and two TDs.
5. Patrick Peterson, DB, LSU, Jr., Odds: 25-1, vs. Tennessee: In win over West Virginia, blocked a field goal and returned his second punt of the season for a TD, then dropped a Heisman pose as Baton Rouge hyperventilated.
6. Cameron Newton, QB, Auburn, Jr., Odds: 35-1, vs. Louisiana-Monroe: The Terrelle Pryor of the South is leading a 4-0 team while throwing nine touchdowns, running for five and averaging 292 yards in total offense.
7. Ryan Mallett, QB, Arkansas, Jr., Odds: 50-1, Off: Put up big numbers, throwing for 357 yards, but made bigger mistakes, three killer interceptions, while missing the chance to knock off Alabama.
Dropped out: Stanford QB Andrew Luck (4); Washington QB Jake Locker (7)
DOUG’S TOP 25
1. Ohio State; 2. Alabama; 3. Boise State; 4. Stanford; 5. TCU; 6. Oregon; 7. Arizona; 8. Nebraska; 9. Auburn; 10. Florida; 11. LSU; 12. Miami; 13. Oklahoma; 14. Utah; 15. Arkansas; 16. Wisconsin; 17. South Carolina; 18. Iowa; 19. Michigan; 20. Michigan State; 21. North Carolina State; 22. Penn State; 23. Nevada; 24. USC; 25. Kansas State
Explaining my ballot
• Ohio State received just four first-place votes in the two polls, two in the coaches poll and two in the AP poll. I'm one of those voters, because the Buckeyes' easier win over Miami remains a more impressive win to me than Alabama's comeback win over Arkansas. And as we saw with Penn State's struggles with Temple, beating the Nittany Lions shouldn't carry too much weight for the Crimson Tide. But Alabama gets No. 7 Florida this week while Ohio State visits Illinois, so another quality win on the resume for Alabama and Ohio State's win over Miami probably won't be enough anymore.
• To me, there's a big gap between Ohio State and Alabama, who both own a very impressive win and have dominated their other games. No other teams have such complete resumes.
• Boise State moved up from seventh to third because Oregon State was a quality win. The Broncos had a little easier time with Oregon State than TCU did in beating the Beavers earlier in the year.
• I have Stanford ranked No. 4, higher than anyone in the country. Stanford hasn't played great teams, but they have controlled every game against BCS schools UCLA, Wake Forest and Notre Dame and haven't thrown in a clunker game, which some other undefeated teams like Arizona and Nebraska did this week.
-- Doug Lesmerises
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After Nebraska slipped past the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, 17-3, on Saturday, Nebraska coach Bo Pelini told reporters "tonight we were a bad football team."
That might make this an odd time to talk about Nebraska as a national championship contender. But when Ohio State visits Nebraska on Oct. 8, 2011, as part of the Cornhuskers' first season in the Big Ten, there's a chance it won't be the teams' first meeting since 1956. It could be their second meeting in a year.
Any of the 25 teams currently without a loss are still in the national championship race, though only Alabama and Ohio State control their own destinies. If the No. 1 Crimson Tide and No. 2 Buckeyes win out, no team will pass them.
Alabama earned 57 of 59 first-place votes in the latest coaches' poll and 57 of 60 in the AP poll. Ohio State was almost as locked in at No. 2 as Alabama was at No. 1.
The coaches' poll doesn't reveal individual ballots, but we can tell by the points that Ohio State, along with two first-place votes, got something like 51 second-place votes and six third-places votes. In the AP poll, where ballots are revealed, Ohio State had two firsts and was ranked ahead of Boise State on 52 of 60 ballots.
The No. 3 Broncos, despite a solid win over Oregon State that moved them up a bit, are a long way back. With the schedule they have remaining, and knowing the voting patterns -- whether you agree with them or not -- Boise State won't be making up that distance.
But as Alabama's close call in the Crimson Tide's 4-point comeback win over Arkansas proved, what really matters is which team is ready to step in if either the Buckeyes or Crimson Tide stumble.
Enter Nebraska.
The Pac-10 looks to have a couple legitimate teams -- take a step back Lane Kiffin, it's not USC -- in Oregon and Stanford. So their showdown on Saturday night has early national title implications.
Florida doesn't look like Florida so far, so even if the Gators take down Alabama on Saturday, you wonder if they can make it through the rest of the SEC without a loss.
TCU was my preseason pick to play Ohio State for the national title, and with games remaining against Air Force and Utah, it's not impossible for undefeated TCU to finish ahead of undefeated Boise State in the BCS rankings.
But, again, enter Nebraska.
Texas and Oklahoma, the teams that have controlled the Big 12 in recent years, meet each other on Saturday, but that game isn't what it has been. The Longhorns are lacking on offense and stumbling off a 22-point loss to UCLA. Oklahoma, a trendy preseason title contender, has escaped with tight wins against Utah State, Air Force and Cincinnati.
Five of the last seven national championship games have included either the Sooners or the Longhorns, but the best team in the Big 12 this season, with the best chance at making it to Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 10, is Big Ten member-in-waiting Nebraska.
Despite Pelini's frustrations with his team's struggles against an FCS team on Saturday, the Cornhuskers have a quarterback they think they can win with in freshman Taylor Martinez. Despite the loss of graduated defensive line superstar Ndamukong Suh, they have a defense they can trust. And they have a schedule they can manage.
No. 21 Texas, which would become unranked Texas with a loss to the Sooners, is the only current top-25 team among Nebraska's eight remaining regular-season games. Undefeated Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M could offer various degrees of difficulty.
But a 12-0 Nebraska team isn't a stretch. Neither is a Pac-10 or an SEC where no one escapes unscathed. If the Buckeyes win out, that could leave the Cornhuskers battling TCU and Boise State for the right to face Ohio State in the BCS National Championship, but Nebraska would have an ace in the hole: What may be the last Big 12 title game.
A team from the Big 12 North hasn't won the conference's title game since Kansas State upset No. 1 Oklahoma in 2003. The North has had the higher-ranked team just once in the last decade, and in that 2007 game No. 1 Missouri lost to Oklahoma. But when the Big 12 was formed, it belonged to Nebraska, and it may be time for the North to rise again in Nebraska's farewell.
Beating Oklahoma or Texas on that Big 12 title stage, as TCU and Boise State watched from home, could lift even a No. 4 Nebraska up to No. 2. And then Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany would spontaneously combust from pure elation.
Ohio State at Nebraska in a little over a year should be a great one. Meeting in Arizona wouldn't be a bad warmup.