By Tom Luicci/The Star-Ledger
FIVE QUESTIONS
1. Now that Stanford and Boise State have lost, what happens to the BCS title game matchup if Arkansas beats LSU and Oklahoma defeats Oklahoma State in two weeks?

It's hard to imagine at least one SEC team not being part of the equation — unless, of course, the West Division winner loses in the league title game. Even then, a different one-loss West Division team could make the BCS title game. Put it this way: Arkansas and Oklahoma are worth rooting for now, just to see what happens.

2. Was Boise State's loss to TCU the best thing that could have happened for the Big East?

Remember 13 days ago in Philadelphia when Big East commissioner John Marinatto said he was "hopeful that over the course of the next week we can wrap some of this up" when asked about the league's expansion plans? Guess what? By procrastinating and doing what he does best — nothing — Marinatto saw Boise State reminded of exactly why it needs to be in a conference with an automatic BCS bid.

The Broncos probably won't make the BCS bowl lineup now because of a single loss. They would by winning the weak, woeful Big East that way.

3. Is the Big East really that bad?

It's not just the worst of the six BCS conference by a large margin, it's inferior to both Conference USA and the Mountain West, at least top to bottom. Look at all eight Big East teams and try to find a quality win. There are maybe two. Maybe. South Florida beat Notre Dame. The Irish represent the only Top 25 non-conference victory the Big East owns.

Go ahead and count Syracuse's victory over 5-5 Wake Forest as a quality win, too. But that's it. The good news? Bad football means parity, and if UConn can win one of its remaining three games the Big East will become the first league since the Big Ten in 1904 to have every team win at least five games.

4. When did the Big Ten turn into the SEC — at least off the field?

For a league that prides itself on its integrity, the Big Ten can no longer look down its nose at the SEC. In the past two years, the Big Ten's three marquee football programs — Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State — have all been involved in varying scandals. Michigan is in the midst of three years of NCAA probation.

Ohio State vacated its 2010 victories and is on probation for the memorabilia-for-cash-and-tattoos scandal involving key players. Penn State is still reeling from the child sex abuse charges against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. Any wonder that commissioner Jim Delany is keeping a low profile these days?

5. Can a 28-year-old quarterback really win the Heisman Trophy?

Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden is sure making a strong, late push for the award — and it didn't hurt his cause that Stanford and Boise State lost while Weeden was throwing for 423 yards and five TDs in a 66-6 rout of Texas Tech.

Weeden wouldn't be the first 28-year-old to earn college football's most prestigious individual honor, either. Florida State's Chris Weinke was 28 in 2000 when he was voted the oldest-ever Heisman winner.

WHO'S HOT?
Collin Klein
Kansas State quarterback
Throws for 281, rushes for 103 and accounts for six TDs in four-OT win

Collin Klein
Washington State quarterback
In his first real action, frosh throws for 494 yards and four TDs in a win vs. Arizona State

Chandler Cantanzaro
Clemson placekicker
Atones for 30-yard miss at 1:18 with 43-yard winner at :00

WHO'S NOT?
Marcus Coker
Iowa running back
Big Ten's leading rusher is held to 57 yards on 21 carries in a loss to Michigan State

Dan Goodale
Boise State placekicker
Missed 39-yarder as time expires dashes the Broncos' BCS bowl hopes

Nick Foles
Arizona quarterback
Accounts for four turnovers, helping Colorado notch its first Pac-12 win

THE UP DOWN
Four teams on the move
On the Rise
New Mexico (1-9)
Lobos won't win again — they're at Wyoming and Boise to finish — but their 21-14 victory over UNLV leaves FAU as the nation's only winless team.

Arkansas State (8-2)
Seven straight wins — with the losses to Illinois and Virginia Tech — have the Red Wolves on the brink of the Sun Belt title with two 2-7 teams to play.

On the Decline
Fresno State (3-7)
What happened to the genius of Pat Hill? Bulldogs have lost five of six with their only victories this season over North Dakota, Idaho and Utah State.

Illinois (6-4)
Remember the talk about how Ron Zook had the Illini back during a 6-0 start? Four straight losses later this is looking like a 7-5 football team.

ON THE SIDELINES

Boise State QB Kellen Moore would kick himself over his latest loss — but he'd probably miss.

The winningest quarterback in NCAA history saw his career record fall to 46-3 as a starter when Broncos placekicker Dan Goodale was wide right with a 39-yard field-goal attempt as time expired. That allowed TCU to escape with a 36-35 win and probably left Moore thinking about why he never took kicking lessons.

Of Moore's three career losses, two were by one point to TCU and one was in overtime against Nevada. Boise combined to miss four field-goal attempts in those games, including Kyle Brotzman's 26-yarder with two seconds left in regulation last year that would have beaten Nevada. So Moore is five points and three missed field-goal attempts from being 49-0.

Rutgers is going bowl again — but where?

Big East parity means bowl confusion, and no team better exemplifies that than Rutgers right now. The Scarlet Knights will be playing for a share of first place when Cincinnati visits Saturday, meaning they are in line for the league's BCS bid, depending on tiebreakers. Failing that, a 9-3 Rutgers team could go to the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., on Dec. 27. One other possibility open for the Knights, if they are 9-3 or 8-4: The Liberty Bowl on Dec. 31 in Memphis.

That game has to take a Big East team at least once every four years, and this could be the year under what bowl director Steve Ehrhart acknowledges is "a very tricky, very complex formula." The worst-case bowl scenario for Rutgers: the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium.

THIS WEEK'S MARQUEE MATCHUP

USC vs. Oregon
USC and Matt Barkley are having a pretty good season. But it ends Nov. 26 against UCLA because of NCAA sanctions no matter what. So that makes the visit to Oregon — back in the national title chase after beating Stanford — the Trojans' bowl game for this year.

Here's the problem: Does any team want to tangle with the healthy-again (and streaking) Ducks, winners of nine straight? LaMichael James looks like a Heisman candidate again.

TOM LUICCI'S TOP 25
Rnk TEAM (W-L) LAST WEEKEND THIS WEEK

1. LSU (10-0) Beat Western Kentucky, 42-9 Saturday at Mississippi
2. Alabama (9-1) Beat Mississippi State, 24-7 Saturday vs. Ga. Southern
3. Oklahoma State (10-0) Beat Texas Tech, 66-6 Friday at Iowa State
4. Arkansas (9-1) Beat Tennessee, 49-7 Saturday vs. Mississippi State
5. Oregon (9-1) Beat Stanford, 53-30 Saturday vs. USC
6. Clemson (9-1) Beat Wake Forest, 31-28 Saturday at North Carolina State
7. Oklahoma (8-1) Did not play Saturday at Baylor
8. Stanford (9-1) Lost to Oregon, 53-30 Saturday vs. California
9. Boise State (8-1) Lost to TCU, 36-35 Saturday at San Diego State
10. Virginia Tech (9-1) Beat Georgia Tech, 37-26 Thursday vs. UNC
11. South Carolina (8-2) Beat Florida, 17-12 Saturday vs. The Citadel
12. Michigan State (8-2) Beat Iowa, 37-21 Saturday vs. Indiana
13. Georgia (8-2) Beat Auburn, 45-7 Saturday vs. Kentucky
14. Houston (10-0) Beat Tulane, 73-17 Saturday vs. SMU
15. Kansas State (8-2) Beat Texas A&M, 53-50 (4 OTs) Saturday at Texas
16. Wisconsin (8-2) Beat Minnesota, 42-13 Saturday at Illinois
17. TCU (8-2) Beat Boise State, 36-35 Saturday vs. Colorado State
18. Michigan (8-2) Beat Illinois, 31-14 Saturday vs. Nebraska
19. Southern Miss (9-1) Beat Central Florida, 30-29 Thursday at UAB
20. Nebraska (8-2) Beat Penn State, 17-14 Saturday at Michigan
21. Penn State (8-2) Lost to Nebraska, 17-14 Saturday at Ohio State
22. Florida State (7-3) Beat Miami, 23-19 Saturday vs. Virginia
23. Notre Dame (7-3) Beat Maryland, 45-21 Saturday vs. Boston College
24. Tulsa (7-3) Beat Marshall, 59-17 Saturday at UTEP
25. Cincinnati (7-2) Lost to West Virginia, 24-21 Saturday at Rutgers

Note: USC is on probation and ineligible for the Harris Poll and BCS rankings.

Tom Luicci is a voter on the Harris Poll that is part of the BCS rankings.