Arizona State at USC After a few years of mediocrity, the Trojans are looking like USC again. Quarterback Carson Palmer is making a late Heisman run, as are half the QB’s in the Pac-10. Arizona State has cooled off after wins over Oregon State, Oregon and Washington. If USC wants to play in a BCS bowl they have to win, because they still have Notre Dame looming on their schedule. Prediction: USC 26, Arizona State 19.

Georgia at Auburn Auburn is the ultimate roller-coaster team, going through stretches in which they look both good and bad. Georgia hasn’t been the same team since its loss to Florida and this game will be a good test. David Greene has finally won the QB job outright, and with a nice game he keeps it. Prediction: Georgia 21, Auburn 14.

Alabama at LSU LSU beat Kentucky last weekend on a miracle play. Alabama has quietly had a nice season, with wins over Tennessee in Knoxville and at home over Ole Miss. Nick Saban will try to get LSU back atop the SEC West with a win but this is ‘Bama’s biggest win of the year. Prediction: Alabama 42, LSU 40 (OT).

Texas at Texas Tech Chris Simms will see a future NFL quarterback this Saturday, but not when he looks in the mirror. Tech senior QB Kliff Kingsbury is leading the Big 12 in passing yards and TD passes, and has led the young Red Raiders to a respectable 7-4 season. The bad thing for Tech is they play UT when the Longhorns are hot, so whatever Kingsbury does will not be enough. Prediction: Texas 33, Tech 27.

Top 15

1. Miami (9-0) OK, guys, we believe you’re #1 now. (2)

2. Ohio State (11-0) Sad but true, without a freshman, *cough*, OSU’s offense is horrendous. (3)

3. Iowa (10-1) 10-10, 197 yards, 3 TD’s. Brad Banks for Heisman. (5)

4. Washington State (9-1) Jason Gesser isn’t on the Unitas Award ballot (for nation’s best QB); here’s hoping he makes the other ballot. (6)

5. Georgia (9-1) Athens get ready: Auburn’s smelling upset. (4)

6. Oklahoma (8-1) Good thing they play Baylor this week; they need time to fix what went wrong. (1)

7. Texas (9-1) Most polls have the Longhorns ahead of OU. How? OU pounded them and would beat them again. (7)

8. USC (7-2) Marcus Allen and OJ Simpson have to be wondering why Running Back University is throwing the ball. Nah, OJ is thinking about more important things. (11)

9. Kansas State (8-2) In a normal season Saturday’s game against Nebraska would be huge. Upset alert. (12)

10. Notre Dame (9-1) The high school offense that Navy runs (full house backfield) gave Irish a run last week. (10)

11. Michigan (8-2) Peaking at the right time, tough game against Wisconsin this weekend. (14)

12. Alabama (8-2) Half game lead on LSU in SEC West, win at Tiger Stadium could spell BCS for Tide. (NR)

13. Virginia Tech (8-2) Didn’t Carolina beat Syracuse? So could the Heels beat Tech? (8)

14. Penn State (7-3) Showed UVA the ACC should stick to hoops, will pound hardwood power Indiana Saturday. (NR)

15. Northern Illinois (7-3) Hot team, winners of six straight games. Junior RB Michael Turner has 1500 yards. (NR)