College Football Week 7: The Oregon Ducks and Other Rumblings and Grumblings

This was a huge week in college football. The BCS standings came out, number 1 Ohio State was upset, Auburn proved that they are the real deal, and Oregon jumped to number one in the AP and the coaches polls without even playing this week. There is a lot to discuss after this last Saturday, so sit back and enjoy this weeks edition of Rumblings and Grumblings.

Oregon Wins the Day

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EUGENE,OR - DECEMBER 03: Oregon Ducks mascot Puddles cheers after his team's 33-37 victory over the Oregon State Beavers after the game at Autzen Stadium on December 3, 2009 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Tom Hauck/Getty Images)

Oregon had the week off and still "Won the Day." For the first time in Oregon history, the Ducks are ranked number one. I know that they are number two in the BCS, but anything/anyone with a pulse has the Oregon Ducks in the number one slot.

Oregon controls their own destiny from here on out. The Ducks have one of the toughest remaining schedules in all of college football (LSU and Auburn could argue that they have brutal schedules as well). If Oregon can continue to dominate the way that they have been, then they will play in the national championship without a doubt.

The buzz surrounding Oregon's squad hasn't been this loud since Dennis Dixon was around.

Oregon State's Loss Hurts Little "big" Schools

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TUCSON, AZ - OCTOBER 09: Head coach Mike Riley of the Oregon State Beavers during the college football game against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium on October 9, 2010 in Tucson, Arizona. The Beavers defeated the Wildcats 29-27. (Photo by Chris

Let's take time to thank the Washington Huskies for defeating the Oregon State Beavers. Why? A week ago,ESPN had projected Boise State to be number 1 in the BCS and TCU to be number 3. Both schools' "bigger" victories of the season came against the Beavers, and had Oregon State beaten the Huskies, the Broncos and Horned Frogs would probably be higher in the BCS.

Nobody wants to see Boise State or TCU in the National Championship game; it's just flat out bad for college football. These two schools beat up on bottom feeders for most of the season and then expect to play in the big dance. Are the two schools good programs? Sure. Would they go undefeated playing a SEC or Pac 10 schedule? No way. And you're kidding yourself if you think they would.

Boise State will probably continue to slowly move down in the rankings as the other big schools will square off against other formidable teams throughout the rest of the season. Boise State's only "show me what you got" game the rest of the season is against Nevada, and they lost to Hawaii this last week. Boise State will run the table again, but they shouldn't play in the title game and here's why.

Here are the remaining schedules for the teams that could contend for the title:

1. Oklahoma: No. 11 Missouri, Colorado, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor, and No. 14 Oklahoma State

2. Oregon: UCLA, USC, Washington, California, No. 18 Arizona, and Oregon State

3. Boise State: Louisiana Tech, Hawaii, Idaho, Fresno State, Nevada, and Utah State

4. Auburn: No. 6 LSU, Ole Miss, Chattanooga, Georgia, and No. 8 Alabama 

5. TCU: Air Force, UNLV, No. 9 Utah, San Diego State, and New Mexico     

6. LSU: No. 4 Auburn, No. 8 Bama, Louisiana Monroe, Ole Miss, No. 23 Arkansas

7. Michigan State: Northwestern, No. 15 Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, and Penn State

8. Alabama: Tennessee, No. 6 LSU, No. 24 Miss State, Georgia State, No. 4 Auburn.

Every team in the top eight except the Broncos will be challenged several times throughout the rest of the season. Is an undefeated Broncos team more deserving than a one loss Auburn or Bama team? No way, look at the competition each team plays.

Boise State claiming to be number one is like watching Chihuahua's bark at Rottweilers.

The SEC Is Loaded

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AUBURN - OCTOBER 16: Linebacker Daren Bates #25, wide receiver Darvin Adams #89 and running back Onterio McCalebb #23 of the Auburn Tigers celebrate with the crowd after the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Jordan-Hare Stadium on October 16, 2010

The SEC is without a doubt the toughest conference in college football. No. 4 Auburn, No. 6 LSU, No. 8 Alabama, No. 21 South Carolina, No. 23 Arkansas, and No. 24 Mississippi State all reside in the SEC. And those are only the ranked schools; Kentucky and Florida are also still pretty good programs.

Each week, college football fans get the pleasure of watching these teams compete with one another. There is not any clear favorite in the SEC. Right now, Auburn and LSU are in the drivers seat being undefeated, but one of them will fall next week as the two play at Auburn this Saturday. You could argue that the winner of their showdown should be number 1 in the country.

Alabama is still very alive in the title chase and has yet to play LSU or Auburn. If they can run the table the rest of the way, then Bama could argue that their season was more impressive than other teams who went undefeated.

We've also seen that South Carolina, Arkansas and Mississippi State can compete with anyone on any given Saturday and could upset these title contenders later in the season.

The teams in the SEC never get a break (actually in week 11 they all play week schools, but not other than that), they are constantly challenged week in and week out.

The SEC is tough, period.

Upset Special

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MADISON, WI - OCTOBER 16: James White #20 of the Wisconsin Badgers rushes for a touchdown against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall Stadium on October 16, 2010 in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin defeated Ohio State 31-18. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Get

We had three top 10 teams go down this last Saturday. No. 1 Ohio State was upset by No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 5 Nebraska was upended by Texas and No. 10 South Carolina was defeated by Kentucky. This was the second week in a row that the number one team in the country went down.

This week, No. 1 Oklahoma travels to Missouri to take on an undefeated No. 11 Tigers team. Could we see a number one team fall for the third week in a row?  

Heisman Watch

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AUBURN, AL - SEPTEMBER 25: Quarterback Cameron Newton #2 of the Auburn Tigers against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Jordan-Hare Stadium on September 25, 2010 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

The Heisman is now a three man race: Cameron Newton, LaMichael James, and Kellen Moore, and it's Newton's to lose.

Cameron Newton had another monster game in Auburn's 65-43 victory over Arkansas this weekend. The quarterback was 10-14 for 140 yards and a one touchdown to go along with 188 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Newton has come up huge in every big game that Auburn has played in this years.

Here are his stats in games against his tougher competition.

In a 35-27 victory over South Carolina: 16-21 158 yards 2 touchdowns passing. 25 carries, 176 yards and three touchdowns.

At Kentucky in a 37-34 win: 13-21 210 yards passing. 28 carries, 198 yards and four touchdowns.

Last week in a 65-43 victory over Arkansas: 10-14 140 yards and one touchdown passing. 25 carries 188 yards and three touchdowns rushing.

Newton has been at his best when it counts the most. Auburn takes on LSU this upcoming weekend, and Newton will have another opportunity to show the nation that he is college football's best and most exciting player.