Dreams Revived and Crushed: Five Things We Learned in Week Ten

As the season winds down, every game is more and more meaningful as the BCS picture gets clearer. Florida and Alabama are on a collision course for Atlanta, and Texas has little competition left to get to the National Title game in Pasadena.

And as we near Thanksgiving and the conference title games, starting this Saturday in Columbus with the unofficial Big Ten title game, it's time to find out who will be playing the big games in January 2010.

With the end of 2009 coming around the corner, here are five things we learned in a tell-tale Week 10 in college football:

1.) Injuries Eventually Killed the Magical Hawkeyes

Northwestern DE Corey Woutton falling on Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi's ankle in the endzone effectively signaled the beginning of the end of Iowa's perfect season.

Injuries to S Brett Greenwood and RB Adam Robinson were just small warning flares before Stanzi got hurt in Saturday's loss.

Even with Iowa's talented defensive unit, they do not have the offense without Stanzi to keep the balance that made Iowa so clutch when it counted.

RB Brandon Wegher will be counted on heavily the rest of the way, and as long as backup QB James Vandenberg can find WR Derrell Johnson-Koulianos and TE Tony Moeaki, Iowa could be fine.

But there are no more championship hopes in Iowa City with the Hawkeyes missing their Captain Clutch in Stanzi.

2.) The Big Ten Still Runs Through Columbus, Literally and Figuratively

Staying in the Big Ten, not too many people thought that Ohio State could beat Penn State with a limited offensive capacity.

Apparently, someone forgot to tell the offensive coaching staff.

Ohio State rode a great offensive line performance and slightly more imaginative play calling job featuring bubble screens and even some Wildcat plays to a 24-7 domination of the rival Nittany Lions.

The Buckeyes defense was as smothering as usual, holding stud RB Evan Royster to just 36 yards rushing on 13 carries and holding WR Derek Moye without a catch.

The win sets the stage for the de facto Big Ten championship game this Saturday in Columbus, with the red-hot Buckeyes facing the suddenly-vulnerable Hawkeyes.

This brings the top defenses in the Big Ten together for the matchup that will send the winner to the Rose Bowl for the first time in this decade.

Entertaining fact: The last time Iowa played a BCS bowl was in January 2003 against USC, the same year Ohio State beat Miami for the national title.

3.) The BCS is So Convoluted With Multiple Teams Either Being Undefeated or Having Two Losses

There have been many problems with the BCS in recent seasons, but nothing quite like this since the poll came out over a decade ago.

The only one-loss teams in the top ten left are Georgia Tech and Iowa. After that, only Pitt, Houston, and Utah have one loss, while only one, Pitt, can feasibly make a BCS berth.

Three teams, Texas, Florida, and Alabama, control the destinies of the next three teams in line, two of whom, TCU and Boise State, could be the first mid-majors to play for a national title.

After those six teams and seventh-ranked Georgia Tech, there is a .14 percentage differential between the Jackets and the next team down on the list: eighth-ranked LSU.

So for teams fighting for at-large bids, the two-loss teams will need to rank up style points, especially teams like USC, Miami, and the loser of Ohio State-Iowa.

4.) Josh Nesbitt and CJ Spiller Are Bringing Stability to the ACC, One Run at a Time

In the ACC where picking a winner has been as random as the lottery, Georgia Tech and Clemson have emerged as the teams to beat in the ACC.

The Tigers have reeled off four straight wins, including a 40-24 win against Florida State. Meanwhile, the Jackets are riding seven straight wins and only one more ACC game to go before the ACC Championship Game.

Clemson has turned their season around thanks to Heisman dark-horse CJ Spiller who has 12 touchdowns, including four big return touchdowns. Spiller has quickly become one of the deadliest offensive weapons in the country.

For the Jackets, it has been about QB Josh Nesbitt, another Heisman sleeper with 21 touchdowns and the potential to run and throw for 1000 yards in Paul Johnson's triple option offense.

These two teams should clash in Tampa for the ACC title and a shot at the Orange Bowl, and it will be a rushing matter when these teams clash. Last time they met, in Week Two, it was a prime time classic with the Jackets escaping 30-27.

A win for Clemson over NC State should clinch them a rematch with the tricky Jackets in December.

5.) TCU or Boise State Have Something Cincinnati Needs in Order to Have a Shot at the Title Game This Year

Saturday night, the college world got their first national look at the Cincinnati Bearcats, as they put on a show with over 700 yards of offense against Connecticut.

However, they were only able to win the game by two points.

This has created a lot of concern that the Bearcats do not have enough defense to play with the top teams in the country even though they have the offense to do so.

Everyone knows how good TCU is defensively and that Boise State has improved as well. But both those teams have amazing quality wins with TCU beating BYU and Clemson on the road, and Boise State shutting down Oregon's high-powered offense.

If Cincinnati wants to have a legitimate claim at the BCS title game should two of the top three teams fall, they will need to beat West Virginia and Pitt convincingly to do so.