Oregon State

It has become the norm for Oregon to wear different uniforms, usually with wacky color schemes. So powder blue and gold against Oregon State this week? The loudest "plop" onto the UCLA bandwagon Saturday night was the Ducks. They have become true Sons of Westwood. Oregon needs UCLA to beat Stanford in order to play the Bruins in the Pac-12 championship game. A Cardinal victory sets up a rematch with UCLA in the title game Nov. 30. And if 15th-ranked UCLA wins and Oregon State beats Oregon, then the Bruins host Stanford in the title game.

The Southeastern Conference, taken out of the national title hunt for as long as three non-SEC teams keep winning, mostly takes the week off as it openly cheers for upsets of Oregon, Kansas State and Notre Dame. SEC schools bully up to play seven 1-AA schools this week, which is seven more than Notre Dame, USC and UCLA have ever scheduled. The SEC is believed to be the first league to stage an exhibition season inside a regular season, but the scary part is Alabama A&M might beat Auburn.

California Coach Jeff Tedford said he expects to meet next week with Athletic Director Sandy Barbour to discuss his future after the Golden Bears finish their worst season during Tedford's tenure. Tedford said Tuesday he will begin a thorough evaluation of what went wrong for the program as soon as the season ends Saturday night at No. 15 Oregon State. "The first place I will look is in the mirror," Tedford said. "We'll do a deep dive and figure out where we can improve. " Tedford said he will meet with assistants and each player to get their input on how to improve the situation at Cal. The Bears (3-8, 2-6 Pac-12)

Oregon can bask all Sunday morning and afternoon in the latest college football rankings that have the Ducks at No. 1. Alabama's home loss to Texas A&M on Saturday vaulted Oregon to the top of the  Associated Press  and USA Today polls. Oregon, however, is likely to sit at No. 2 behind Kansas State when the BCS standings are released Sunday evening. Oregon's computer index still lags in the BCS formula that uses two polls and a computer component. The Ducks would probably close the gap if they win out with a closing schedule of Stanford, Oregon State and the Pac 12 title game against either UCLA or USC. All four schools are ranked this week.

Top-ranked Alabama's loss Saturday left three undefeated schools vying for two spots in this year's Bowl Championship Series national title race. Kansas State, riding its computer advantage, is the new No. 1 in the latest BCS standings released Sunday with an average of .9674. Oregon, despite supplanting Alabama as No. 1 in all the major polls, is second at .9479, followed by Notre Dame at .9396. Alabama, the top team in the first four BCS standings, dropped to No. 4 with Georgia at No. 5. The top two teams in the final BCS standings on Dec. 2 will play for the BCS national title.

We combed the hills and scoured the wires for this batch of weekend tidbits: • Boston College has knocked undefeated Notre Dame out of the national title race in each of the last two decades: 1993 and 2002. Notre Dame (9-0) plays at Boston College on Saturday night. • USC, which hosts Arizona State at the Coliseum, has not lost three straight games since Pete Carroll's first season in 2001. The Sun Devils have lost their last three games. • Minnesota, playing at Illinois, has allowed 13 points in each of its four Big Ten defeats.

Rankman's steadfast "Never play on Election Tuesday" rule came back to bite Toledo when the Rockets forfeited their poll position by joining Mitt Romney in the loss column. Toledo, located in swing-state Ohio, lost to Ball State. Otherwise, it was "throw the bums out" week, as several schools lost their rankings seats. It took a lot of sock-drawer sifting to find worthy replacements. We elected to recast Texas in a more favorable light after the Longhorns' defense held somebody to fewer than 55 points.

Five things to watch this week in college football: 1: Texas A&M at Alabama could be a dress rehearsal for a possible BCS title game between Oregon and Alabama. The high-scoring team from College Station will take its up-tempo offense into Tuscaloosa with a run-and-gun quarterback, Johnny Manziel, who originally committed to Oregon. 2: How long can Notre Dame keep living on the edge? The Irish have escaped two overtime games this season to become 9-0 for the first time since 1993.

USC began the season ranked No. 1 in several preseason polls with expectations of playing for a Bowl Championship Series title. Not even the most hardened skeptics anticipated the Trojans would be 6-3 heading into their final three regular-season games. But that's exactly where the Trojans stand after giving up the most yards and points in their history in a 62-51 loss to second-ranked Oregon. USC fans aren't the only ones disappointed. So is Coach Lane Kiffin. "With the players that we have, we should not be 6-3," Kiffin said Sunday during a teleconference with reporters.

Unbuckling the mailbag: Question: I completely understand that you are the biggest USC honk in the land, but . . . the whole rest of the country is jumping on the ND bandwagon and you are being dragged behind in the dust. When are you going to give the Irish their props and at least admit they are real? William Trainor Answer: You should see my bumper-sticker collection: "I don't brake for Leprechauns. " "Honk if you hate the NCAA (but love personal foul penalties). " "Baby and vacated BCS title on board!"