Chris Dufresne

Yeah, it's the same old teams at the top. This season has been as sleepy as Texas quarterback Colt McCoy's tiny hometown of Tuscola, Texas, where it's always Friday night lights (out at 9) and the joke is the hunting gets better the closer you get to city center. Maybe this is the weekend some dust gets kicked up. Auburn, Florida State, Nevada, Texas A&M -- any of you guys have it in you to make this a November to remember for you and a November to forget for your Thanksgiving weekend opponents?

It's an age-old question in basketball, from the pickup courts to the NBA: Who's got next? That's certainly the question over at UCLA, where there has been no shortage of speculation about who will replace Ben Howland as basketball coach. Some Bruins fans can't seem to understand why the likes of Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Florida's Billy Donovan aren't lining up for the job. Or maybe that Coach K guy. Others are championing champions from the mid-major ranks such as Gonzaga's Mark Few, Butler's Brad Stevens or Virginia Commonwealth's Shaka Smart.

Five things to watch for this week: 1The status of senior quarterback Tim Tebow will be the question when top-ranked Florida plays at No. 4 Louisiana State in the biggest SEC game so far this season. Tebow had a bye week to recover from the concussion suffered Sept. 26 against Kentucky, but you have to worry about risking a player whose style is so headstrong. 2USC and Notre Dame, both 4-1, have the week off to rest up for the Oct. 17 game in South Bend. Since the classic "Bush Push" game of 2005, USC has won three games by a total margin of 120-27.

Let's review this year's "gets" and "goofs. " Two of Rankman's top three preseason picks, Alabama and Oregon, finished No. 1 and No. 2 in all the major polls. "Not too shabby," Adam Sandler said. We also touted probationary unheralded Ohio State as a preseason top 10 team and the Buckeyes finished 12-0. "That's pretty, pretty, pretty good," Larry David responded. Football expert Phil Steele didn't have Kansas State in his top 30, but Rankman said, "No, no, they're at least No. 22. " We were clearly too enthusiastic about Oklahoma (No. 5)

No. 3 Texas (5-0) vs. No. 20 Oklahoma (3-2) Saturday, 9 a.m., ABC Texas has been fuming since last year, when it lost the Big 12 South tiebreaker against an Oklahoma team it defeated. Early losses to Brigham Young and Miami have likely doomed the Sooners' national title hopes, so ruining Texas' hopes becomes the next best thing. The pick: Texas No.8 Cincinnati (5-0) at No. 21 S. Florida (5-0) Thursday, 4:30 p.m., ESPN Led by star coach Brian Kelly and quarterback Tony Pike, Cincinnati is lingering on the fringes of a serious national title push and can make a statement on the eve on the weekend of the first BCS standings.

ESPN's "Octomom" family of networks hopes you enjoy this year's cavalcade of commercials and center snaps as it furiously tries to secure the two games it doesn't broadcast. Conspicuously missing from the lineup is Ohio State (12-0) vs. Louisiana Tech (9-3) in our mythical Outcast Bowl. Ohio State has been banned from this season's bowls by the NCAA and Louisiana Tech was snuffed out like a sidewalk cigarette so that a dozen schools with 6-6 records and one at 6-7 could raise a participation trophy.

Unbuckling the mailbag: Question: Imagine how USC fans are going to feel after a 6-7 Georgia Tech team wins the game. Larry Diaz Answer: How could USC fans feel any worse? The Trojans were picked to win the national title, lost five times and have been "rewarded" with a Sun Bowl matchup against an insect-nicknamed team with a losing record. The good news for USC fans is El Paso is only an 11-plus-hour drive from Newport Beach. In fact, Newport is closer to El Paso (796 miles)

Unbuckling the mailbag: Question: The temptation to cheat grows in proportion to Lane Kiffin's failures. Why does Pat Haden plan on keeping him? Matt McKillop Answer: Kiffin doesn't need to cheat to win. Players are not USC's problem. The Trojans had top-five talent this year but the coaching didn't crack the top 25. In fact, it wasn't even listed as "others receiving votes. " Haden is in a tough spot. He loves Kiffin's work ethic and there is no doubt he can recruit.

FRIDAY :: AFTERNOON No. 19 Northern Illinois (11-1) vs. No. 18 Kent State (11-1) 4 p.m. at Detroit, ESPN2 Can a team that lost to yucky Kentucky make it all the way to the Orange Bowl? The answer, incredibly, is yes. The biggest game in Mid-American Conference history threatens to upstage the Pac-12 Conference championship game three time zones to the west. Kent State, which has already clinched its first postseason bid since the 1972 Tangerine Bowl, can probably secure an automatic major bowl bid thanks to complicated Bowl Championship Series bylaws that offer smaller-conference champions certain access entries.

Question: Where do you put USC's chances of knocking Notre Dame off? Chris Larsen Answer: I put the chances smack dab between my bobbleheads of Tommy Trojan and Lou Holtz. Seriously, I think USC has a decent chance. My colleague Gary Klein made an interesting point this week about USC's defense. Coordinator Monte Kiffin has had nightmarish results trying to defend spread offenses in the Pac-12 Conference, but Notre Dame takes a more traditional, straight-forward approach.

MORNING Georgia Tech (6-5) at No. 3 Georgia (10-1) 9 a.m., ESPN Kids spilled into the streets of Athens, Ga., after Stanford's win over Oregon put Georgia on a controls-its-own-destiny track to this year's national title game. But the Bulldogs shouldn't look past rival Georgia Tech (from Atlanta) to next week's SEC title game (in Atlanta). Georgia got a good preview of Georgia Tech's triple-option attack last week by playing triple-option Georgia Southern. No. 20 Michigan (8-3)

Unbuckling the mailbag: Question: If UCLA beats USC, will The Times let them be in the Sunday sports page headline? Phillip Para Answer: That's a tough call but we can probably make a one-time exception to get UCLA out on the cover, especially if the Bruins beat the Trojans, 50-0. I'm constantly amused that some UCLA fans can't make the logical connection between program success and how that relates to newspaper coverage. The reason USC has received more "attention" in the last decade might have to do with the Trojans' winning 12 of the last 13 games in the rivalry.