Another Saturday, another day of big name, highly ranked teams getting knocked off in games they shoulda, coulda won and other teams asserting themselves and answering questions about whether or not they are pretenders or contenders.

Three teams cleared the air about that yesterday, Kansas, Oregon and Arizona State. 

• The Jayhawks went into Kyle Field in College Station and manhandled Texas A&M in the second half, winning easily over the Aggies 19-11 and going 8-0 for the first time since 1911.  This is Kansas were talking about people, not your normal Big 12 football power.
• Oregon smothered USC defensively and tricked them up[ offensively in their win yesterday.  You can't hear "Heisman hopeful" without hearing Dennis Dixon, the plucky QB who reminds so many of Vince Young.
• And Arizona State, down early, rallied to fight off a Cal team that many thought would supplant USC as the cream of the Pac ten crop.  Dennis Erickson's group is now 8-0 and probably headed for a top three BCS slot when the new numbers come out.

In some quarters, things went exactly according to plan. 

• On a night were LSU was off, Ohio State showed off on national TV,pounding Penn State on the road. 

• West Virginia easily handled Rutgers in a game that gave the Mountaineers some control over the fate of the Big East. 
  
• Auburn continued the Ed Ogeron farewell tour with a late victory over the Rebs.
  
• Michigan, despite a rash of injuries, beat up Minnesota to continue on their winning track.

Other teams that should of and needed to win, didn't. 

• South Carolina roared back from a twenty-one point second half deficit, only to lose to Tennessee in overtime, 24-21, in the day's best game. 
  
• Kentucky, with a chance to assert itself in the SEC East, got Croomed by a much more energetic Mississippi State team. 
  
• Florida, with a chance to get back in the national title hunt, was dismantled by Georgia, in a game which featured the entire Georgia team coming on to the field to celebrate the first Bulldog touchdown.  With three losses, the best the Gators can hope for is the Outback, Citrus or Gator Bowls.
  
• I n an upset predicted by our own Butkus D. Dogg, UConn showed they are a serious team by downing former media darling USF.

Round and round and round it goes and where it stops no one knows.  Some key games next week include:

• Ohio State at Wisconsin
• Boston College at Florida State
• Kansas at Nebraska
• Texas at Oklahoma State
• Oklahoma at Texas A&M
• LSU at Alabama
  
• Rutgers at UConn

And the big game of the day: Arizona State at Oregon.

Next week, send the wife to the mall, send the kids to a neighbor, grab your remote and go crazy!