No doubt: Longhorns, Trojans smelling roses

Whatta Saturday (Sunday out here in the Pacific). I'm really looking forward to the release of the polls Monday (Tuesday) to see who's ranked third through seventh in the nation in college football. Barring some monumental collapse in the Big XII Championship, it's a foregone conclusion now that Texas and USC will hookup in Pasadena on January 4. Here's some thoughts about Rivalry Week:

• Miami, the only team left that could cause any BCS drama thanks to Alabama's oh-so-timely collapse, lost to - ahem - unranked and underachieving Georgia Tech.
• USC's Reggie Bush solidified his position as the nation's top player with 513 all-purpose yards of production, second most all time in NCAA Division I. He's still a Heisman lock in my book.
• Oregon gets no respect, despite their 10-1 record in the improving Pac-10. Maybe it's those God-awful unies.
  
• Northwestern/Illinois didn't get enough press. Two good teams played a decent game and should have been recognized.
• ESPN's Mark May prognisticated that the Fiesta Bowl committee may opt for Notre Dame and Oregon. Not a bad matchup.
• Assuming these guys stay in school, my pre-season Heisman hopefuls for next season are Iowa's Drew Tate, Michigan State's Drew Stanton, Georgia Tech's Reggie Ball, USC's Dwayne Jarrett, Virginia Tech's Marcus Vick and Notre Dame's Brady Quinn. I like Tate.
  
• I like pitting fun-&-gun offenses against snot-bubble "D": square Boston College off against California on fake turf or have Arizona State face Nebraska or Washington vs. Louisville in a neutral stadium in a bowl game. That'd be fun.
• Rah-rah Crimson! Harvard beat Yale for the fifth straight time in the SAT Bowl. The undercard might be the Smart Kids Classic featuring Duke and Stanford. Joking aside, a Rhodes Scholarfest between Northwestern and Vanderbilt this season wouldn't be so bad.
• Is there anything more embarrassing for Wolverine fans then losing to both ND and Ohio State in successive years?
  
• Penn State deserves to catapult to #3 in the standings followed by LSU and then ND, but look for the Tigers to claim the third spot. The Fighting Paternos have taken out some pretty heavy hitters in some very hostile territory, but BCS mathematics favors the Bayou Bengals.

...and looking ahead to next week's catch-up matchups:

• I hope Lee, Kirk and Chris bring the GameDay set on location to Annapolis next week for Army/Navy. Records aside, the game is going to be monumental.
  
• USC/UCLA lost some of the fervor it had earlier this season when the Bruins were tearing it up. It'll still be worth a watch, but a 'Zona punt return stole all the chutzpah out of Westwood.
• The SEC title game is a must-watch even for non-believers. Great, passionate fans and solid gameplay, whoever takes the field from the nation's best conference.