ESPN College Football

The Heisman Pundit has released its official 2012 Heisman Trophy Watch List, and as you’d expect, it’s the usual suspects from the Pac-12 on the list.

Though in alphabetical order, it’s widely assumed that USC quarterback Matt Barkley is the front-runner with all others playing catch-up before the first snap has been taken. Here’s the list.

• Tavon Austin, Sr., AP, West Virginia
• Montee Ball, Sr., RB, Wisconsin
• Matt Barkley, Sr., QB, USC
• Tajh Boyd, Jr., QB, Clemson
• Tyler Bray, Jr., QB, Tennessee
• Knile Davis, Jr., RB, Arkansas
• James Franklin, Jr., QB, Missouri
• Landry Jones, Sr., QB, Oklahoma
• Collin Klein, Sr., QB, Kansas State
• Marcus Lattimore, Jr., RB, South Carolina
• Aaron Murray, Jr., QB, Georgia
• Keith Price, Jr., QB, Washington
• Denard Robinson, Sr., QB, Michigan
• Geno Smith, Sr., QB, West Virginia
• De’Anthony Thomas, So., RB, Oregon
• Sammy Watkins, So, WR, Clemson
• Tyler Wilson, Sr., QB, Arkansas
• Cierre Wood, Sr., RB, Notre Dame

The Pac-12 blog entertained which player from the conference we thought would emerge as the Heisman winner in a Take 2 back in March. Watch lists are always subject to change, and until we actually see some games, it’s only fun speculation at this point.

No question that Barkley is the early leader in the minds of many. Given his statistics last season, the receivers he has around him and the lofty preseason ranking the Trojans are expected to enjoy, he’s looking down on the pack – at least for now.

Thomas is going to have big play after big play this season, which makes him a very strong Heisman candidate. His exploits can be packaged into an explosive highlight reel that is easily digestible for East Coast voters. No one ever gets tired of seeing 85-yard touchdown runs (unless you're safeties chasing Thomas).

Price lacks the national brand at this point, but that could all change in Week 2 in Baton Rouge. A strong showing against LSU is certain to boost his exposure and could catapult him from dark horse contender to major candidate. And then he's got Stanford, Oregon and USC all in the first six games. He could be the leader at the turn ... or slip out of the running all together.

Happy Friday.

Lead me on Twitter!

To the notes!

John from Los Angeles writes: What, in your opinion, do you think, has made the SEC the preeminent conference in the country? I remember the good old days when Washington, Colorado, UCLA, and USC were in the top 5 and top 10, with some National Championships along the way (Personally, I thought it had a lot to do with recruiting the Los Angeles area). But with the rise of the SEC do you think it has more to do with the changing of the game? More specifically, the move to more spread offenses and the need for speedier athletes, which the SEC currently has? Or do you think it has a lot to do with the defensive lineman in the SEC, who seem to be so much better than West Coast d-lineman? A lot of people say conference strength is cyclical, but is the current change in the game really cyclical or has it just evolved? Maybe it is demographics, as more and more people move to the Sunbelt and the talent pool has gotten bigger? Sorry, a lot to digest here from a concerned West Coast football fan.

Ted Miller: This could be a 15,000-word essay. Or a 400-page book. But here's a CliffsNotes version.

• Money: The SEC's rise parallels the rise of the BCS and the game growing from a pretty big business to a multi-billion dollar business. The SEC always had huge stadiums packed to overflow, but over the past 15 or so years, the conference has been able to monetize its popularity. What does money do? It hires elite coaches like Nick Saban, Urban Meyer and Steve Spurrier and it pays top assistant coaches what head coaches make in other conferences.
• Recruiting: Demographics have concentrated more talent in the Southeast than anywhere else. You've got big guys and fast guys and fast big guys. (I mean Anthony Johnson: Are you kidding me?). The population may be greater in California, which still produces the premium quarterbacks, but a walk across a football field on a Friday night in the Southeast will have you asking if these are truly high school teams.
• Culture: College football is king in the South (not the NFL, as it is everywhere else). Almost all the best athletes play football, and dream of playing in college, even though playing the most physically and mentally taxing sport in the Southeast humidity is worse than anywhere else. Want to know where all the West Coast linemen are? Playing basketball. Go to a big high school hoops tournament this winter. See all those 6-foot-5 guys? They will never sniff a Division I basketball court but they could have become NFL tight ends or offensive tackles. 100s of young men on the West Coast miss out every year on Pac-12 scholarships because they choose -- or are steered to -- basketball.
• Self-fulfilling prophecy: Those who have been reading the Pac-12 blog since 2008, know I've taken on the topic of the SEC's dominance multiple times. Three years ago, I was more resistant to it. Not because I was a "Pac-10 homer," but because I didn't completely buy the "SEC rules" argument. That was three SEC national titles ago, including one lost by a Pac-10 team -- Oregon -- that I thought was going to stomp the team it lost to (Auburn). My feeling is all that "SEC rules!" talk, which has been around since Bear Bryant was the toast to of Tuscaloosa, was repeated so often, it became a recognized truth before it actually was true. And that perception helped the conference grow stronger and stronger until it became true. How? It also became a potent recruiting selling point. Consider the words of former top-rated recruit Ronald Powell of Moreno Valley, Calif. Yeah, not easy to hear for Pac-12 defensive coaches.

By the way, I know some of you might be tired of this topic. It seems like we take it on a few times a year. The reason I do that, though, is because it appears in the mailbag at least a handful of times every week. It seems like a topic that continues to be of genuine interest.

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Brian from Beaverton, Ore., writes: While you can't argue with the overall effectiveness of James at running back this year, have you noticed that even though they are running the spread offense, the majority of these running plays do not appear to be as read heavy between [QB Darron] Thomas and [RB LaMichael] James as they were last year? With Thomas being such an effective duel threat quarterback they are effectively removing an offensive weapon when he isn't taking the read option as much. This is allowing the defense to load up the tackle box and focus on the running back. Last year the defense had to be more honest because Thomas was more effective at holding onto the option and rushing himself. Do you see this as a fundamental change within the system or am I reading too much into it?

Ted Miller: Chip Kelly has said repeatedly that Thomas is just doing his proper reads and has not been steered away from running the ball.

Of course, sometimes Chip just says "high" because a reporter said "low." I know that an opposing coach who was talking to me about the 3-4 looks Oregon sometimes uses on defense laughed in my face when I told him that Kelly said they didn't use a 3-4 defense. His response, which employed several colorful terms, was Kelly is full of malarkey and that reporters are stupid.

Thomas rushed for 486 yards in 13 games last year. He's rushed for 100 yards through five games. That does seem like a statistical trend suggesting he's running less. Is that just him reading what the defense gives him? I doubt it.

That said, Thomas rushed 10 times for 52 yards and scored both his rushing TDs against Arizona. So the threat is still there.

And, if I were going to crawl inside Chip Kelly's head and look around, I'd say that's exactly what he wants.

Because the Ducks run a spread-option, an opposing defense has to spend time accounting for the QB run. That takes up precious time. And if a defense coordinator takes note that Thomas rushed only five times in the first three games and decides to de-emphasize that possibility, he could get burned -- see Arizona.

Coaches spend a lot of time thinking about tendencies and what their opposition might be thinking. I think Kelly -- quite reasonably -- likes the idea of Thomas running less because it puts him at less risk for injury. But he also likes burning your butt when you start to think Thomas won't run.

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Mark from La Quinta, Calif., writes: Do you agree with your colleague Jesse Palmer when he stated that Cal had the two best wide outs in the conference? Or was he hyping the game as a lot of announcers tend to do on games they are broadcasting?

Ted Miller: There are so many good receiver combos in the Pac-12 it's hard to choose, but Palmer's position is defensible: Entering the weekend, Keenan Allen ranked third and Marvin Jones sixth in the Pac-12 in receiving yards per game. No other tandem matched that. And that's notable because QB Zach Maynard only ranked fifth in passing yards per game (268.2).

Allen will be in the mix with USC's Robert Woods, Washington State's Marquess Wilson and Arizona's Juron Criner for first-team All-Pac-10. He's a big-time player. I suspect Jones will get drafted this spring.

So these guys are both good, experienced, A-list players.

So do I share Palmer's take? I might not have in the preseason, and I might not at season's end, but at this point, yes, they are the best 1-2 punch in the conference.

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Jacob from Fort Hood, Texas, writes: I feel as though Foles is getting the shaft because he is on a losing record team, but can you tell me why he isn't even being considered for the Heisman award even though he has more passing yardage than nearly every qb in the country? It doesn't make sense to me. Maybe you can shed some light on how the voting works and who is deserving in reality of the Heisman trophy. Is it more of a beauty pageant than an award for shear talent? Also, if Foles continues down the path that he is heading what round of the draft do you think that he will be picked up in?

Ted Miller: The Heisman Trophy goes to a player for one of two reasons (and sometimes both). 1. Outrageous numbers; 2. Best player on best team. Often, those two are blended.

To start, Foles wasn't billed as a top candidate entering the season. Further, he is hurt because his team is 1-4.

To overcome those two issues, Foles would have to have outrageous numbers. He's got very good numbers, but not outrageous ones. He presently ranks 22nd in the nation in passing efficiency. And though he's piled up a lot of yards, 10 other QBs match or beat Foles' 14 TD passes.

As for the NFL draft, it's hard to say. I would be more surprised if he lasted past the third round than if he was selected in the first round. If you've ever chatted with him, he's a lot like Andrew Luck in terms of makeup. Smart, humble, eager to give credit to his teammates. And clearly very competitive.

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Evan from Charlottesville, Va., writes: You've written a couple times on the puzzling exclusion of LaMichael James from the current Heisman discussion. What is particularly confusing to me, however, is the fact that you yourself left him off of your ESPN Heisman Watch ballot this week. Assuming you vote Andrew Luck at number one, who filled out the rest of your ballot in spots two through five? And if you rated any other running backs ahead of James, what was your reasoning?

Ted Miller: We do a top-five for ESPN.com each week. Here's mine from last week.

1. Andrew Luck. 2. Kellen Moore; 3. Trent Richardson; 4. Robert Griffin; 5. Marcus Lattimore

(In retrospect, I should have dropped Lattimore after two straight underwhelming games).

My reasoning for leaving James off the ballot was twofold: 1. He didn't play well on a big stage against LSU (which he admitted); 2. His competition since then has been weak. His performance this week against a solid Cal defense will likely push him into my top five. Of course, now he's hurt and likely to miss at least a couple of weeks.

And if he doesn't, that would certainly add to his aura of being Heisman-worthy.

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Spencer from Baton Rouge, La., writes: Because I live a couple thousand miles away from the West Coast, Thursday's game against Oregon was the first time I have watched Cal play this season. Having listened to the other games via online radio streams, I knew Maynard struggled with accuracy. But I was shocked to see how poor his throwing mechanics are. How does a QB guru such as Jeff Tedford let such play fly? Granted, Maynard has not yet thrown the interceptions that Riley and Mansion did (which I attribute to poor decision making), but it is extremely surprising that Tedford would feel comfortable with the way Maynard throws the ball.

Ted Miller: Without asking Tedford, my guess is that he chose not to mess with Maynard's natural throwing motion too much. Maynard is 22-years-old. Making drastic changes wouldn't be easy, especially with Maynard arriving at Cal as a junior, not a true freshman.

Sure, Maynard did have to sit out last year after transferring from Buffalo, meaning he could have refined his technique to a degree. I suspect Tedford has worked with him on his technique. But it might have been pretty late in the game for wholesale changes.

And I'm guessing that Maynard will get lots of work with Tedford based on how he threw at Oregon.

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Rotfogel from Oakland writes: You have Cal only scoring 17? Oregon's porous defense is going to hold the Pac 12's best WR tandem and offensive to 17? Maybe, highly unlikely but as you've said, Oregon is a tough place to play. I'm kinda happy you made that the score though, Cal's defense is far and away the Pac 12s best, hopefully they show it tonight.

Ted Miller: I predicted 44-17. Oregon won 43-15.

I know: Gloating is unseemly. So sorry about that.

And is it just me or does it seem like the mailbag fills up more when I'm wrong than when I'm right?

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Pete from Los Angeles writes: Not sure if you saw this, but the Times of London's prestigious international rankings of the top 400 universities was released this week, and the Pac 12 has 4 schools in the top 25...in the world! No other AQ conference comes close. Once again shows that the Pac 12 is dominant in at least one category!

Ted Miller: We are so smart.

Will I pick up any second-hand smart from hanging around with you guys?

The Football Writers Association (FWAA) 16-team preseason Grantland Rice Poll slots Oregon No. 3 and Stanford No. 7, just like the Associated Press.

Oklahoma is No. 1 and Alabama is No. 2, also just like the AP.

You can view the entire poll here.

The Sooners garnered seven first-place votes to Alabama’s five. LSU, Stanford and South Carolina each received one first-place vote.

The Grantland Rice Trophy, given to college football's national champion since 1954, is named in memory of the legendary sportswriter. It was the first national championship awarded presented after college football's postseason.

While the FWAA will not conduct a weekly poll this season, it will present the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week each Monday, as selected by a panel of select FWAA members.

There will be a steady flow of various All-American teams over the coming weeks, and this week it's Phil Steele.

You can see his four All-American teams here.

Steele's list includes 17 Pac-12 players, which ranks third behind the SEC (26) and ACC (18).

Alabama, Oklahoma and Oregon each have three first-team selections, while Alabama had more players total (7) than any other school, followed by Florida St (6) and Stanford (5). Oklahoma, South Carolina, Miami, Georgia, and Notre Dame each have four players.

You might notice that Stanford's Andrew Luck is the second-team quarterback. You might have the same reaction to that as I did.

Kellye and Kevin Jones of Artesia, N.M, would pick Luck ahead of Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones for their team, and they're Jones' parents.

Jones did put up some eye-popping numbers last season -- and his team is a national title contender in 2011 -- but he was far less efficient than Luck.

Here are the Pac-12 players on the team.

First-team
Offense
RB LaMichael James, Oregon
OG Ryan Miller, Colorado

Defense
LB Vontaze Burfict, Arizona State
CB Cliff Harris, Oregon

Special teams
PR Cliff Harris, Oregon

Second-team
Offense
QB Andrew Luck, Stanford
WR Juron Criner, Arizona
OG David DeCastro, Stanford
OT Jonathan Martin, Stanford

Defense
S Delano Howell, Stanford

Third-team
Offense
WR Robert Woods, USC

Defense
T.J. McDonald, USC

Special teams
P Bryan Anger, California

Fourth-team
Offense
RB Chris Polk, Washington
WR Jermaine Kearse, Washington

Defense
LB Shayne Skov, Stanford

Special teams
P Jeff Locke, UCLA

It's not often that NC State has something to offer the Pac-12, but more than a few of you apparently think the Wolfpack and coach Tom O'Brien have a gift for the Conference of Quarterbacks: Russell Wilson.

Some of you say, "Who?" Others exclaim, "Go west Russell! Go west!"

Wilson, as ESPN.com's Ryan McGee points out , is presently the second baseman for the Class A Asheville Tourists of the South Atlantic League. But in a previous incarnation he was a dual-threat quarterback for the Wolfpack, one who led the ACC in total offense (3,563 yards passing, 435 rushing).

And O'Brien has released him from his scholarship, which means he can play anywhere free-and-clear next fall (other than another ACC team or NC State nonconference foe).

Hey, California and UCLA: Is that something you might be interested in?

Sure, it might make sense for Wilson to remain in the region, which means the SEC. And South Carolina and Auburn are two schools that might be interested in Wilson. But what about a sense of adventure? Los Angeles or the Bay Area would broaden your horizons, Russell.

There is a catch: baseball. Wilson is under contract with the Colorado Rockies and, as McGee points out, they don't seem terribly flexible about allowing Wilson to skip off this summer for a preseason camp, on the East or West Coast.

[Rockies senior director of player development Marc] Gustafson said he had read the stories and the comments made by Wilson. Asked if he expected Wilson to play for the Tourists until the season ends Sept. 5, he said, "Absolutely."

Sept. 5, obviously, means that Wilson wouldn't be available for the opening of the season on Sept. 3. Would any team be willing to bring him to town, despite missing fall camp and the first game? Well, stranger things have happened but it's not a great formula for locker room chemistry.

Of course, desperate times at quarterback call for desperate measures. And there are always loopholes and politicking that could get Wilson aboard sooner. If Wilson really wants to play football, he will.

The odds, though, seem remote, particularly of him ending up in the Pac-12. But in January 2010, who would have thought that Jeremiah Masoli would end up the starting quarterback at Ole Miss and not Oregon?

"College Football Live" has completed its preseason top 25, which was completed by a 38-person panel consisting of our analysts, studio hosts, play-by-play announcers, bloggers, researchers and production team members.

It includes three Pac-12 teams: No. 3 Oregon, No. 7 Stanford and No. 25 Arizona State.

Here's the complete poll.

1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. LSU
5. Boise State
6. Florida State
7. Stanford
8. South Carolina
9. Oklahoma State
10. Ohio State
11. Texas A&M
12. Arkansas
13. Nebraska
14. Wisconsin
15. TCU
16. Michigan State
17. Notre Dame
18. Florida
19. Virginia Tech
20. Texas
21. Mississippi State
22. Auburn
23. Missouri
24. West Virginia
25. Arizona State

Obviously, this poll makes clear how big the Oregon-LSU game is on Sept. 3 in Cowboys Stadium. Odds are the winner will rise to No. 1, which would then essentially guarantee it a berth in the national title game if it finishes undefeated.

And how times change: Oregon and Stanford ranked in the preseason top-10 and USC nowhere to be found. Not very 2004, eh?

I would have ranked Arizona State higher.

As for the nine unranked members of the Pac-12: Who do you think should have been the fourth ranked team?

Couple of good notes that might answer your questions. First, lots of folks have emailed asking if Zeus swaggered down from Olympus -- lightning bolts in hand! -- and visited Oregon last weekend. And by "Zeus" of course you know we mean defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 recruit in all the land.

The long answer is no. Per Jamie Newberg:

There were rumors that he was making an official visit to Oregon over the weekend, but the fact he was at both of his basketball games Friday and Saturday ended that talk. But expect more talk and speculation about Clowney's future right up until he steps up to the microphone and makes his announcement.

Clowney is picking between Clemson, South Carolina and Alabama on Feb. 14, his 18th birthday.

Keeping with a recruiting focus, ESPN.com's Bruce Feldman asks himself which junior college imports could have the biggest impact on the 2011 season? You might recall that a couple of JC transfers helped Auburn a bit this past season. Feldman ranks eight, and Utah fans concerned about losing Matt Asiata and Eddie Wide will be glad to know John White ranked eighth on his list. Writes Feldman:

The Utes lost two very good runners, but the 5-foot-9, 190-pound back should be a good complement to highly regarded power runner Harvey Langi. "He is an SEC-type talent," says one coach who tried to recruit White.

Sure all of you will love that "SEC-type" talent quip.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Oregon and Auburn are the same: They both thrive in the second half. And they are different: The Ducks have yet to trail in the fourth quarter and just one foe lost by less than 11 points. The Tigers have trailed in eight of 13 games and won six by single digits.

Both teams dominate the second half. Auburn has outscored foes 246 to 117 after the break, including 125-48 in the fourth quarter. Oregon has outscored foes in 277-77 in the second half, including 115-24 in the fourth quarter.

Oregon has trailed three times at halftime -- Stanford, California, Arizona -- and only Cal stayed close with the Ducks into the fourth quarter. Tennessee, Arizona State and Oregon State were tight with the Ducks at halftime but ended up losing by 35, 11 and 17 points.

The Ducks often looked like a completely different team after halftime.

"That's something we take a lot of pride in, in terms of having a second-half mindset, a finish mindset," offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said.

Auburn trailed Clemson, South Carolina (regular season) and Alabama at halftime this year and was tied with LSU and Georgia. It trailed by double-digits at some point in four games. But the Tigers also were a different team in the second half. Not that they wouldn't like to be a good first-half team, too.

"We'd like to get that corrected before we run out of the tunnel to start the game," Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof said. "I even thought of blindfolding them before the game started and telling them it was the start of the second half."

But Roof did have a serious explanation, which is not unlike what Oregon coach Chip Kelly and defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti have said: We want to see what teams do against us, then adjust.

"We've seen several times teams doing things we haven't seen before in the first halves," Roof said.

Every team wants to own the second half and the fourth quarter. Finishing strong says something good about a team. But both Auburn and Oregon would prefer to be in top form for all four quarters, particularly when they meet Monday in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game.

"There's a discrepancy there," Roof said. "And we can't afford to do that in this game against this bunch."

Auburn's performances in the SEC title game impressed voters more than Oregon's Civil War win at Oregon State.

Auburn eclipsed the Ducks in the AP poll. Oregon remained No. 1 with the Coaches Poll, which counts in the BCS standings, but the Tigers added 14 first-place votes.

What that means is the Tigers almost certainly will finish No. 1 in the BCS standings ahead of the No. 2 Ducks. They then can decided the matter on the field in the BCS national title game on Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz.

Oregon had been No. 1 in the AP poll for the past seven weeks. The Tigers whipped South Carolina 56-17 in Atlanta to finish 13-0. The Ducks are 12-0 after dumping the rival Beavers 37-20.

Auburn got 36 first-place votes in the AP poll, Oregon 23 and unbeaten TCU one. In the coaches poll, Oregon got 34 first-place votes, Auburn 24. The Tigers finished 13 points behind the Ducks.

Stanford remained No. 5 in both polls but it is expected to retain its No. 4 BCS ranking over Wisconsin, which is fourth in both polls, in the final BCS standings, which would guarantee the Cardinal an invitation to a BCS bowl, either the Orange (most likely) or Fiesta (still possible).

Oregon, Stanford and Arizona are on the list of 11 teams still contending for berths in BCS bowl games, the BCS announced Tuesday.

First, there are the contenders for AQ conference titles.

ACC: Florida State, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech

Big East: Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, West Virginia

Big Ten: Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin

Big 12: Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M

Pac-10: Oregon, Stanford

SEC: Auburn, South Carolina

A seventh spot will be reserved for the top-rated team from a non-AQ conference: Boise State or TCU. That means there will be three at-large invitations this year.

In addition to the aforementioned teams, the pool of teams remaining under consideration also includes (in alphabetical order): Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Boise State, LSU, Nevada, Utah, and TCU.

The final BCS standings will be compiled Sunday, Dec. 5. The BCS bowl pairings will be announced at 8:15 p.m. EST that evening on ESPN.

It's time for a blogger debate! And it doesn't get much better than when we match the SEC and Pac-10.

Our topic: No. 1 Oregon and No. 2 Auburn. Who's better and why?

Both are unbeaten, and if the season ended today, they'd play for the national title.

We've got lots of football left, and probably many more plot twists in the hunt for the national title, but there's no reason we can't engage in a hypothetical, is there?

So the Pac-10 blog -- Ted Miller -- and the SEC blog -- Chris Low -- have decided to meet for some civilized debate on Auburn versus Oregon.

Ted Miller: Chris, since things are so quiet in the sleepy SEC, I think we should spice things up with a Pac-10-SEC blogger debate! It seems like a long time since we last had a debate between our two conferences. How’d that one go? Let’s see I championed Taylor Mays and you celebrated Eric Berry. Wait. Why did I bring that up?

Anyway, our topic is Oregon and Auburn: Who’s better and why.

This is a potential national title game between the No. 1 Ducks and No. 2 Tigers, who are both unbeaten and feature Heisman Trophy candidates leading high-powered offenses.

You get first blood. Tell me about Auburn. It seems like it wasn’t too long ago that Jay Jacobs was getting hounded for hiring Gene Chizik. Guessing that’s died down a wee-bit.

Chris Low: No doubt, Ted. I wonder where that obnoxious guy is now, the one yelling at Jacobs as he was leaving the airport after finalizing the deal with Chizik? Maybe Jacobs knew what he was doing after all. The guy with the 5-19 record at Iowa State has done all right by himself on the Plains. He has a Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterback and the SEC's leading rusher in Cam Newton, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound freak of nature who runs like Bo Jackson and also has an NFL arm. Keep your eyes, too, on freshman running back Mike Dyer, who they haven't had to lean on much this season, but is oozing with talent and has fresh legs for this stretch run. The Tigers' defensive numbers are nothing to write home about, but they do have the kind of dominant interior defensive lineman, Nick Fairley, who can take over games. Georgia coach Mark Richt said Fairley's the closest thing he's seen to Warren Sapp. Auburn's calling card defensively has been making plays at key times in the fourth quarter. The Tigers have been a serviceable defense through three quarters this season, but they've been a championship-caliber defense in the fourth quarter -- which is why they're 10-0.

So tell me about Oregon?

Ted Miller: Speaking of coaches: How about Oregon’s Chip Kelly? How could he possibly expect to top winning the Pac-10 and playing in the Rose Bowl his first season? How about contending for a national title in his second? The Ducks, however, expected to be here when the 2009 season ended because just about everybody was coming back from the Pac-10 champions. That is until a guy you are now familiar with -- quarterback Jeremiah Masoli -- got caught up in some off-field issues and eventual got himself booted from the team. That seemingly left a void behind center, but sophomore Darron Thomas has not only filled Masoli’s shoes, he’s gone up a few sizes: He’s 15th in the nation in passing efficiency and 21st in the nation in total yardage. Meanwhile, speedy running back LaMichael James is the top Heisman alternative to your guy, Newton. As for the defense, it’s like the offense: Extremely fast. It ranks 13th in the nation in scoring defense and it has forced 28 turnovers, second-most in the nation. Folks often underestimate the Ducks' defense because it gives up some yards -- it ranks 29th in the nation in total defense -- but that’s because the offense scores so quickly: The nation’s No. 1 offense ranks 115th in the nation in time of possession. But the Ducks only give up 4.45 yards per play. Our factoid of the day is that number would rank No. 1 in ... wait for it ... the SEC!

Obviously, we're talking about two very good teams that have done impressive things on their way to remaining unbeaten. I know we both have Oregon ahead of Auburn in our power rankings, but give me the case for Auburn.

Chris Low: Ted, I think what separates Auburn is Newton. Nobody has been able to stop him. If you commit to taking away the run, he's proved he can beat people throwing the ball. And if you come after him and/or don't have enough people in the box, he's been magic running the ball. Keep in mind, too, that we're not talking about a 220-pound guy running the ball. We're talking about a 250-pound guy who's physical, tough and doesn't run out of bounds. In the red zone, he's the great equalizer, because he gains 3 yards when he falls forward and has the size and the strength to push the pile. On top of it all, he's always a threat to throw the ball. Similar to Oregon, Auburn doesn't flinch if somebody puts 30-plus points on the board, because the Tigers' mentality is that they're going to score 50. Their offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn, will make you defend everything -- reverses, throwback passes, passes to the backs, even passes to Newton. He caught a touchdown pass two weeks ago against Ole Miss. The Tigers also play at a tempo on offense that has opposing defenses gasping for air in the fourth quarter. But when they have to, they can put teams away and finish games by running the ball. They're fourth nationally (one spot ahead of Oregon) this week in rushing offense with an average of 307.2 yards per game. Auburn's top four rushers -- Newton, Dyer, Onterio McCalebb and Mario Fannin -- are all averaging at least 6.4 yards per carry. Do the Ducks have any answers for that running game?

Ted Miller: That’s what’s so interesting about this as a potential national title game match -- there’s an odd familiarity that both teams will have with each other despite never crossing paths. My guess is Malzahn and Kelly already have studied each other, just in terms of mutual admiration. And both defenses will be familiar with up-tempo, no-huddle, spread-option offenses that can power you and finesse you and throw downfield. Further, the Ducks have played against a number of big, fast, capable quarterbacks with NFL futures: Washington’s Jake Locker, Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor and Stanford’s Andrew Luck. The results have been mixed. Last year, Luck and Pryor got them. Luck beat the Ducks with uncanny downfield accuracy, which is why he’ll go No. 1 in this spring’s NFL draft. Pryor shocked them with the best passing game of his career in the Rose Bowl. Locker missed this year’s game, but he’s never had much luck against Oregon. In general, Oregon has a good run defense: Opponents are averaging 3.38 yards per rush. But the Ducks are undersized. A physical Stanford team had some success, rushing for 177 yards. But one thing about Oregon on both sides of the ball: It is masterful with halftime adjustments. They shutout Stanford, owners of the nation’s No. 5 scoring offense, in the second half, and have given up just 48 points in the second half this year -- just seven in the fourth quarter!

Obviously, two very good teams that have done impressive things on their way to remaining unbeaten. I know we both have Oregon ahead of Auburn in our power rankings, but give me the case for Auburn if it played Oregon in the national title game. How do you see it going?

Chris Low: Well, if that happens, the first thing we all better make sure we have is a calculator. That and make sure there's no danger of a power surge to the scoreboard. You're right about Oregon. Nobody in the country has been better in the second half. The Ducks' ability to score points in bunches is amazing, but the Tigers are equally adept at going on head-spinning scoring sprees. Just ask Arkansas, which saw Auburn roll up 28 points in the fourth quarter in Xbox-like fashion. I have no doubt that an Auburn-Oregon matchup would be played in the 40s. I think the difference, though, would be Auburn's ability to put the breaks on the track meet and run the football in the fourth quarter, especially with Newton being so good at converting on third down. So I'm going Auburn 45, Oregon 41 in a game that rates up there with the Texas-USC classic to decide the 2005 national title.

Ted Miller: That's clearly something we can all agree on: This likely would be a highly entertaining, offensively driven national title game if these two teams manage to get themselves there. Further, I think, after never getting a USC-SEC title game, folks on both coasts would enjoy an SEC-Pac-10 matchup. No trash-talking there, right? And I do see a clear advantage for Auburn: It has been tested. It's played five games decided by eight points or fewer, and three decided by a field goal. The Ducks closest game? An 11-point win at Arizona State. But that's also why I'd pick Oregon in this one. Oregon beat the No. 6 team in the nation, Stanford, by 21 points. It shut Andrew Luck out in the second half. And I look at all of Auburn's close games: Mississippi State, Clemson, South Carolina, Kentucky and LSU, and think: None of them would be within 10 points of the Ducks. Maybe LSU, because any game Les Miles touches is surprising. And I think Vegas would agree with me. So if we ended up with an Oregon-Auburn national title game, my guess is the Tigers would go TD for TD with the Ducks in the first half, then the Ducks would pour it on late for a 50-35 win. But I reserve the right to change my mind, particularly because I think the Tigers' toughest test -- Alabama -- is ahead.

Moreover, both teams should be advised: You probably should get to the Jan. 10 date in Glendale before you start trash-talking each other. At least before you use your best stuff.

Chip Kelly's mantra for the Oregon football program is not "Win a national championship" or even "Win the Pac-10." It's "Win the day." And that's not just about Saturdays. Or Thursday nights. It's also about Mondays and Fridays and Sundays. And even days during off-weeks, which Kelly scoffs at the very notion of.

"We don’t have a week off," he harrumphed during the Ducks, er, week without a game last week.

So being ranked No. 1 in both major polls for the first time in school history and No. 2 in the BCS standings feels like an abstraction that has little immediate and concrete value today. Or next Monday. Or on Nov. 17.

Kelly did note he might be more effusive about it on Dec. 5, the day after the final regular-season game.

It was a mild surprise during Kelly's media sessions this week, however, that he actually opted to fully entertain the topic of his team's new, lofty standing. Yes, he's aware of it. Yes, it's pretty cool. Yes, he knows it's fun for his players. Yes, there is some value to being ranked so highly at midseason. No, it doesn't have anything to do with winning the day. And, no, he doesn't plan to talk about it with his players.

"Obviously, it's out there," Kelly said. "It's not like we're trying to avoid it. Or let's not talk about it because it's a jinx. Really, what it is is it's nice to be ranked. Obviously, it's beneficial to us because we don't have to go far [up in the rankings]. But we still have to win. And if we lose one -- that's something unique about college football now -- if you lose one you're probably out of it."

The Ducks have one Thursday night against a baffling UCLA team that was good enough to win big at Texas and bad enough to get crushed by California. And, yes, if the Ducks lose this one they are almost certainly out of the national championship race.

The burden of being No. 1 appears real. Alabama seemed to have a stranglehold on it until it lost by two touchdowns to a mediocre South Carolina team. Ohio State then fumbled it away at Wisconsin. If the Ducks should go rear-end-over-tea-kettle against the Bruins, we might have to start wondering if it's 2007 all over again, when a top ranking served mostly as a bull's-eye for an ax stroke between the eyes.

Senior receiver Jeff Maehl has had a front-row seat during the Ducks rise to the elite of college football. They were ranked No. 2 in 2007 before quarterback Dennis Dixon went down with a season-ending knee injury. They finished ranked in the top-10 in 2008. They ended USC's seven-year run atop the Pac-10 last fall. The unexplored territory of No. 1 isn't actually that shocking to the Ducks system.

"It's cool," Maehl said. "It's something the school is never experienced before. It's something this program has been building to for a while now. You got to give a lot of credit to the past classes that came through here. We're excited to see what we can do with it."

Kelly said he's confident that his locker room culture will prevent players from getting drunk on fawning praise from media and fans. He turns the notion back onto itself toward the potential effects of negative outside appraisals, recalling the outpouring of doubt and derision the Ducks' rotten performance in the 2009 opener at Boise State inspired.

Folks, you might recall, suggested that Kelly, in his first year as head coach after replacing Mike Bellotti, was in over his head. It's possible that no second-year coach has seemed less "in over his head" than Kelly, who just got a contract extension and raise, but that was a popular impression one game into his tenure.

"We learned a really valuable lesson in the opening game of 2009," he said. "We lost to Boise State and if we had listened to outside influences we might as well have canceled our season. We were done for the year. It was, 'Oh, my God, we're the worst football team ever assembled!' Our guys didn't pay attention to it when it was obviously negative in that situation. So therefore you can't just flip the switch and say, 'Well, now it's positive -- let's listen to it!'"

The target, however, is now squarely on Oregon. UCLA is beaten up with injuries, including the decidedly questionable status of starting quarterback Kevin Prince, but has shown itself capable of playing well on a big stage against a highly ranked foe. The Bruins are fast, too. The Ducks' speed advantage, so obvious against Stanford and Tennessee, won't be as dramatic Thursday.

Maehl said he thinks a fast start, which the Ducks haven't produced often this year, is a key. Stepping on the gas early might leave the Bruins hopelessly lost in the fumes.

"One of the biggest things is when they get down they start to lose focus a little bit," he said. "I think if we can jump on them pretty quick, it's going to be an advantage for us."

If the Ducks do overcome the Bruins, that sets up a marquee showdown at USC on Oct. 30. The Trojans, who are off this week, looked like their old-school selves while poleaxing Cal last weekend. But, after that, things don't get any easier trying to maneuver through a deep Pac-10. The home stretch of Washington, at Cal, Arizona and at Oregon State is not a schedule conducive to perfection.

But Kelly isn't concerned with those challenging days ahead. He only wants to win today.

Of course, for his players -- and here's a guess for some coaches, too -- it's difficult to completely block out the scintillating potential endgame, which is only the pinnacle of college football. Oregon, after all, has never won a national championship.

"That's a hard thing to not think about," Maehl said. "I know guys do their best to try not to think about it, to try to focus just on the week. But definitely, if you're in position to play for a national title, even if you know, it's just halfway through the season, it's hard to not think about it. To me, it should just make us more confident coming out each week. The best I can do is to treat each game like it's the national championship, because if we lose we understand those hopes go away."

In other words, if you keep winning days, the last one will come with a crystal football.

Who's running with a bull market? Who's battling the bears (not the Golden ones)?

Stock up

Oregon State: The Beavers announced their return to relevance with a 29-27 win at No. 9 Arizona.

Ryan Katz, QB, Oregon State: The Beavers announced their return to relevance in large part because Katz passed for 393 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score in a breakout performance.

California's defense: Forget the brain cramps at Nevada: This is one of the Pac-10's best units. After throttling UCLA's pistol, the Bears are now eighth in the nation and No. 1 in the conference in total defense, yielding just 254.8 yards per game.

Shane Vereen, RB, California: Vereen rushed for 151 yards and two scores against UCLA and caught three passes for 51 yards. The competition for first-team Pac-10 at running back is going to be fierce.

Juron Criner, WR, Arizona: Criner, quite simply, is the best receiver in the Pac-10. And it's not just because he's No. 7 in the nation and No.1 in the Pac-10 with 106.2 yards receiving per game. It's that he makes plays on his own, notably when Arizona really needs them.

Washington State: For the first time in a long time, analysts are putting a "hold" rating on the Cougars instead of a "sell." The consecutive competitive performances vs. UCLA and Oregon indicate this team is trending up.

National title hopes: With Alabama's loss at South Carolina, Oregon moved up to No. 2 in the nation. If the season ended today, the Ducks would play for the national title.

Stock down

UCLA: Wow, that was a terrible day at California.

Kevin Prince, QB, UCLA: Wow, that was a terrible day at California. After completing just 13 of 31 passes for 99 yards, Prince's hold on the starting job isn't terribly firm.

Washington: Take a step forward at USC. Take a step back against Arizona State -- inside Husky Stadium, no less.

Arizona's pass defense: Entering the Oregon State game, the Wildcats ranked 21st in the nation in pass defense, giving up just 129.5 yards per game. After Katz passed for 393 yards against the Wildcats' secondary, 53 yards were added to that number.

Kevin Riley, QB, California: UCLA-Cal was a game that made fans of passing offense cringe. Not to be outdone by Prince, Riley completed just 9 of 16 passes for 83 yards. Afterward, coach Jeff Tedford said Riley needed to play better.

Thomas Weber: The 2007 Groza Award winner for the nation's best kicker was 1-for-3 at Washington last weekend. This season, he's 9-of-14 on field goal attempts. His 64.3 conversion percentage ranks ninth in the conference.

Hopes for two BCS bowl teams: Arizona's loss to Oregon State means the Ducks are the only unbeaten Pac-10 team. A second-place team with two losses would make hopes for an at-large BCS bowl berth a long shot.

Good teams string wins together. Doesn't matter if they are on the road or at home. Injuries? No excuse. Quarterback's girlfriend leave him for a linebacker? If it's not a part of the winning formula, it gets left behind when the locker room doors swing open.

If it were only so easy. Just ask Alabama, which just saw a 19-game winning streak that was distinguished by extraordinary focus and consistency end at a South Carolina, a program that has lost at least five games for eight consecutive seasons. Or USC from 2002-2008. That college football dynasty and NFL factory only produced two unbeaten regular seasons and one perfect record.

"I don't care what kind of team you are, to go undefeated at all you have to have some breaks," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said.

How hard is undefeated (and untied)? In 1972, USC rolled to a 12-0 finish. The next time a conference team finished with a perfect record was Washington in 1991. After that, it was USC in 2004. All three were national champions.

How hard is it to go undefeated (and untied) in Pac-10 play? Besides those aforementioned seasons, and using that same time frame, USC also did it in 1973, 1976, 1988 and 2005. Arizona State was perfect until the Rose Bowl in 1996. UCLA lost two games in 1998 but was perfect in conference games.

That means teams ended up unbeaten in Pac-10 (and Pac-8) play just nine times in 38 seasons. For comparison's sake, the SEC champion was unbeaten in conference play17 times during that span-- 18, really, because two teams were unbeaten in the conference in 1981. In fact, it's happened seven times in the SEC since 1991.

This season, the discussion of potential Pac-10 perfect starts and ends with Oregon. The No. 2 Ducks are 6-0 overall, the conference's only unbeaten team. Oregon State is the only other team that, at 2-0, hasn't lost a conference game.

The conventional wisdom is the Ducks need to finish 12-0 to play for the national title, though there are many variables in play that could quash the conventional wisdom and allow them to do it at 11-1. Still, the question is can the Ducks, as coach Gary Gaines asked in "Friday Night Lights," be perfect?

Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh saw the Ducks make his Cardinal's early 21-3 lead go poof in a 52-31 loss on Oct. 2. Perfection, he admits, will be extremely difficult to obtain in the Pac-10. And yet.

"I think Oregon has a very good chance of doing it, though," he said. "I don't know what the percentages are. It's a high degree of difficulty. Oregon's got a shot at."

But perfection is rare. And the question of stringing together wins goes beyond Oregon. What about the conference producing multiple elite, top-10 teams? Or a second BCS bowl team? That hasn't happened since 2002.

Since the conference expanded to 10 teams in 1978, the Pac-10 has produced two or more teams that finished the season with two or fewer defeats just 10 times. And it hasn't happened at all since the nine-game, round-robin conference schedule was adopted in 2006.

What's clear: The Pac-10 tends cannibalize itself. And the depth this season suggests stringing wins together will be difficult.

"There aren't any easy games," Stoops said. "That becomes a mental grind, a toughness deal where you've got to show up and play pretty well to win [every week]."

Four Pac-10 teams are presently ranked: No. 2 Oregon, No. 14 Stanford (5-1), No. 17 Arizona (4-1) and No. 24 Oregon State (3-2). How many will end up in the top-10? A second BCS bowl team can't have more than two losses. There typically is room for only one or two three-loss team in the final top 10. So the margin for error is small.

Stoops already knows how hard it is to get his team to an optimum level for every game. While he gave credit to the Beavers for their win in Tucson last weekend, it was clear that the Wildcats didn't look much like the fast, physical, frenzied team that beat Iowa on Sept. 18.

How hard is it for a coach to get his team's best, most focused effort every weekend?

"It's just impossible," Stoops said. "That's just not the way it is. You play your extreme [best] maybe three or four times a year. People who say otherwise are being ridiculous. You just want to be good enough to win games. That's where your preparation is so important. You may not be in the peak moment, where you're playing with that emotion, at that high edge, but you've got to be good enough to go out there and play well every week. That's what good teams do."

Washington coach Steve Sarkisian got a peak performance at USC two weeks ago. But instead of riding that momentum into a home game against a reeling Arizona State team, the Huskies got beaten soundly, 24-14.

"That's the mystery of sports, right?" Sarkisian said. "If there is a formula or a button to push then everyone would have it, and we would never need to play the games. The best teams would always win.

"We continually fight for that consistency. We look for the ingredients that make that work, whether that be our preparation, our practices, our installation, or our routines on Friday and Saturday. You're always are looking for that right formula and those right ingredients to try to re-create that same intensity, that same energy level, that same enthusiasm level, and, ultimately, that same execution. But somewhere in there, it can get lost. If it didn't, we have a bunch of undefeated teams."

Finding that elusive formula on a consistent basis isn't easy, even for great coaches. But great coaches and great programs tend to find it more often.

Perfection is extraordinarily difficult to obtain, particularly in a deep conference. Most programs, even good ones, have never posted a perfect season. Oregon is the latest Pac-10 team to get to midseason with the possibility still alive.

But, beyond the Ducks, there are at present a gaggle of other teams looking for successful seasons, whether that be defined by 10, nine or seven wins. To get to their number, they are going to have to find a way to consistently hit their peak performance.

Or the Pac-10 will end up appearing -- fair or unfair -- mediocre rather than deep.

What did we learn this week?

They're baaaaaack: The Oregon State Beavers are 2-0 in the Pac-10 after winning at No. 9 Arizona. Sure, their defense is suspect and the offensive line is questionable. Sure, it's not good that it appears All-American receiver James Rodgers was lost for the season with a knee injury. The bottom line is this: The Beavers, despite losing two tough nonconference road games, will be a factor in the Pac-10 race (again).

Arizona (still) is not ready for its close-up: While credit goes to Oregon State for a strong performance on the road, there was something clearly off about Arizona on Saturday night. That was not the same team -- the defense, in particular -- that made its superiority clear against Iowa. After the game, coach Mike Stoops seemed perplexed by the performance, particularly considering the Wildcats were coming off a bye week. One loss doesn't ruin the season. But this was a game the Wildcats could have won, and probably think they should have won.

The muddled middle is muddled: Washington wins at USC but loses to Arizona State at home. UCLA posts a dominant win at Texas but gets dominated at California. USC is closer to 6-0 than any other 4-2 team in the nation, but it's 1-2 in the Pac-10 just like ASU and UCLA. Washington State makes life surprisingly difficult for Oregon. Things are going to be messy in the Pac-10 this year. The conference is clearly nine teams deep, and even the Cougs -- the designated patsy -- are looking much improved. While Oregon is clearly at the top, the scramble for bowl pecking order and bowl eligibility is going to be interesting.

Fear injuries: Oregon seeing Kenjon Barner and QB Darron Thomas go down. Oregon State seeing the same with receiver Rodgers. UCLA's good games or bad games seemingly a direct result of whether QB Kevin Prince gets a full week of practice. The wear and tear is going to wear. The teams that keep injuries at a minimum will move up, while the less fortunate will move down.

Oregon (again) is a national-title contender: Alabama's14-point loss at South Carolina ended the illusion that any team is that much better than any other. It also opened up the national title race. Alabama was the only team in the hunt that most figured would rate as first among equals -- an unbeaten or one-loss Crimson Tide team would eclipse any other in the BCS standings. Now things have opened up. If Oregon wins the rest of its games, it's extremely likely it will play for the national title.