There is still plenty of football remaining, but if Saturday taught us anything, we now know that just about all of the major conference races will be decided by one game.

We learned how top-heavy these conferences are and how far apart the leaders are from the rest of their conference mates.

Just look at the SEC. Not only are Alabama and LSU miles ahead of the rest of the league, but both are undeniably the class of the entire country. Saturday, both wiped away their opponents with relative ease on the road.

LSU walked all over Tennessee in a 38-7 drubbing Saturday afternoon, while the night belonged to Alabama. The Crimson Tide's punishing defense totally dismantled Ole Miss, and running back Trent Richardson is still shaking off tackles after a 52-7 shellacking of the Rebels.

When these two teams meet in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 5, the college football ground will literally shake. Eyes from all over the country will be watching a game surrounded by hype that will be similar to that of a national championship. The winner is in the SEC and national driver's seat.

The real shame is that with both teams playing in the SEC West, there won't be a rematch in the SEC title game. This is it.

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Joe Robbins/Getty ImagesRussell Wilson and Wisconsin might get their biggest test of the season at Michigan State on Saturday.

With Oklahoma's 47-17 win over Kansas and Oklahoma State outlasting Texas 38-26, these two are on a collision course to have Bedlam decide the Big 12. The Sooners still have to go to Kansas State on Oct. 29 (which has become the darling of the conference as it continues its improbable 2011 run), host Texas A&M on Nov. 5 and play at Baylor on Nov. 19.

The Cowboys have a lighter road, with their toughest game coming at home against Kansas State on Nov. 5.

Over in the Big Ten, Wisconsin continues to prove that, like Alabama and LSU, it's far and away the best in its conference. The Badgers' 59-7 win over Indiana reminded us that they might be too explosive for the rest of the Big Ten.

Wisconsin's toughest remaining game could come next week with its trip to East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State owns the nation's second-ranked defense, but does it have the grit and speed to slow down Wisconsin and Russell Wilson?

Fortunately, now that the Big Ten has joined the rest of the college football world and formed divisions, these two could meet again in the Big Ten championship game.

Finally, there is the Pac-12. If you didn't have the strength to stay up and watch Oregon and Stanford play Saturday night, you missed some good, fast football. Oregon was without its most dynamic player in running back LaMichael James and lost starting quarterback Darron Thomas, yet it racked up more than 500 yards of offense in a 41-27 win over Arizona State.

After an opening-night loss to LSU, the Ducks are cruising through conference play, averaging 47 points per game in league play. Oregon didn't need all of Thomas or James on Saturday, but when the Ducks hit the road to play Stanford on Nov. 12, you better believe they will need to be at full health.

The Andrew Luck-led Cardinal clobbered Washington State on Saturday, 44-14. Two of their next three games will be on the road, at USC and Oregon State. Securing those wins will mean the Oregon game will decide the Pac-12 North.

Anything and everything can happen in college football, but here is to hoping these games mean as much as we think they will. The pleading for a playoff is louder than ever, and if these games are what we hope, these next few weeks could be the next best thing.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Boise State has been the subject of rapidly escalating realignment talk all week. Would the Broncos become the next member of the Big East?

President Bob Kustra certainly has no answers. No invitation has been delivered. No face-to-face meeting has been had. No in-depth discussions have taken place.

Yet the expansion craze engulfed another Top 25 team, dominating headlines and taking the focus away from the field. Do you want to know what Boise State players thought about it? "We don't talk about it. We don't care about it," quarterback Kellen Moore said.

No, not when the Broncos still have so much to play for this season. Yes, that's right, they played a game on Saturday. And as usual, No. 5 Boise State dominated its opponent -- this time Colorado State 63-13 in the Broncos' Mountain West debut.

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Troy Babbitt/US PresswireIt was business as usual for Kellen Moore and Boise State on Saturday.

The Broncos rolled up a school-record 742 yards of total offense. Moore was as stellar as always, starting the game with 18 straight completions and finishing 26-of-30 for 338 yards and four touchdowns. Doug Martin had a career-high 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Tyler Shoemaker had a career-high 180 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

Defensively, Boise State held the Rams to 84 yards rushing, 147 yards passing and 1-of-12 on third down.

Simply put, the Broncos were an absolute machine. "We're getting into a little bit of a rhythm, but every week throws you twists and turns," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said.

It's rare when a week throws you as many twists and turns as this week, when realignment reached a fevered pitch. Kustra addressed all the speculation before the game Saturday, saying he wanted to keep all his options on the table, but had only informational discussions with the Big East.

There is no way the Broncos can make a decision about their future when there are so many unknowns. The Big East does not know whether it will be able to hang onto all its schools. The Big East does not know whether it will be able to hang onto its all-important automatic qualifier status -- something the Broncos have desperately sought. "They have to figure out what they're going to do, and from what I read, they really haven't made those decisions yet, so whenever that day comes, if in fact it would mean anything for our program, then would come the due diligence on our part," Kustra said. "But it's way premature since I have no indication of what they're up to and what their next steps are."

For the actual football team, the next steps are always the same. Win, and hope that is enough to get recognized at the end of the season.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Nathan Scheelhaase knew people were waiting for Illinois to stumble.

Whether it's a dislike for Illinois coach Ron Zook, a belief the Illini's schedule was designed for a 6-0 start (with five consecutive home games and a road contest at Indiana), an overall doubt in their talent or other reasons, the Illini haven't had many national backers. Even before Saturday, there were critics who considered Illinois to be one of the worst teams in the Top 25.

With the Illini suffering their first defeat of the season Saturday -- a 17-7 loss to Ohio State -- those same people will have a field day.

Scheelhaase, the Illini's sophomore signal-caller, gets that. "Doubters are going to say what they can," Scheelhaase said. "The best thing about Big Ten play and college football is you got another chance to prove yourself next week. That's where our mindset is at. We can't worry about what people are saying. I'm sure people are going to say stuff, and they have the right to."

Whether those doubters are right is another story.

It was unfair to reward Illinois too much for its 6-0 start. It is also unfair to demean it too much for Saturday's loss.

So what is fair to say about Illinois? That's still to be too determined. With Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin remaining on the schedule, there's still a chance for Illinois to prove itself worthy of either praise or ridicule.

To read the rest of Scott Powers' story, click here.

LAWRENCE, Kan. -- Good thing Oklahoma has uncovered a reliable field goal kicker. Because lately, the Sooners have been settling for a lot of field goals.

Saturday night against the worst statistical defense in college football, OU's otherwise high-powered offense continued to sputter in the red zone.

Eight times the Sooners drove the ball inside the Kansas 20-yard line. Only thrice did they punch the ball in.

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Peter G. Aiken/US PresswireRyan Broyles and Oklahoma's offense struggled again in the red zone, but managed to handle Kansas, 47-17.

Much good could be gleaned from the 47-17 victory over Kansas. The Sooners stunk it up in the first half and still nearly covered a five-touchdown spread.

Ryan Broyles broke multiple records, including Taylor Stubblefield's NCAA career receptions mark, with a monster 13-catch, 217-receiving-yard performance.

After halftime, the defense was phenomenal, limiting Kansas to 54 total yards and a single first down the entire second half.

And Michael Hunnicutt tied an OU single-game record with four field goals.

Alas, that was also the problem, and it overshadowed the rest of the game. "Sorry we didn't score every time -- we're working on it," coach Bob Stoops said, downplaying the issue. "It's typical, we always score 47, so everyone's like, 'How'd you not get 60? You should've scored every time in the red zone.'"

Outside of Stoops, though, nobody brushed off how the Sooners have been faring inside the 20.

"Right now, it's not very good," said quarterback Landry Jones, who completed 50 percent of his passes in the red zone but was 64 percent everywhere else. "We're just not executing down there."

It's been tough sledding down there for the Sooners all season. Going into the night, OU ranked No. 66 nationally in touchdown conversion rate, a ranking that figures to plummet further. "It needs to be better in the red zone, getting 7s instead of 3s," said offensive coordinator Josh Heupel. "Doing our assignments, couple better play calls, guys finishing blocks, the whole thing. It's not just one guy. "

Credit Heupel for attempting everything in his playbook. He tried pounding the ball with Dominique Whaley. He called screens and fades. He even resorted to chicanery, flexing tackle Donald Stephenson wide left.

But nothing worked consistently.

EUGENE, Ore. -- How bad did things look for Oregon early in the third quarter against Arizona State? Let us count the ways.

One, running back LaMichael James, the best running back in college football, was on the Ducks' sideline in street clothes with a dislocated elbow. Two, he had been joined by QB Darron Thomas, who hurt his knee on a three-and-out possession to start the second half. Three, the Sun Devils took the ball and raced 67 yards in four plays -- all running -- to take a 24-21 lead. And four, redshirt freshman QB Bryan Bennett was coming off the bench cold for his first meaningful career action on ESPN.

The Four Sun Devils of the Duckapocalypse!

Or not.

Number five is the doozy: With Bennett running the show, Oregon asserted its will, wore down the Sun Devils, took over the game and won impressively, 41-27, rushing for 269 of its 327 yards in the second half. "I had to pull myself together and be poised and go out there and lead this offense," Bennett explained.

Oregon has an unquestioned superstar in James, a 2010 Heisman Trophy finalist and Doak Walker Award winner. And it has a second-team All-Pac-Conference QB in Thomas. But there's more to this team. The Ducks also have a defense that can make a stand and several players who are mostly unknown outside the Ducks' maniacal fan base but fully capable of breaking an opponent's heart.

To read the rest of Ted Miller's story, click here.