Five burning questions: Week 4

1) Which team has the best chance of derailing USC’s march to the BCS National Championship game?

Steven Lassan: USC's toughest remaining games are at home with Oregon, Arizona State and California. However, keep an eye on the October 25th road date against Arizona or the December 6th showdown against crosstown rival UCLA. If neither of those teams are unable to pull the upset, the only team that could beat USC is itself.

Mitch Light: I would say Oregon at this point. A week ago, I might have said Cal, but the Bears struggled against Maryland. I realize it was a tough cross-country road trip against an angry team, but you’ve got to beat Maryland if you are going to be a threat in the Pac-10. Oregon has had major injuries at quarterback, but Chip Kelly still has his offense running well. The Ducks have plenty of athletes, and they beat USC last year. In no way am I predicting that Oregon will win the Pac-10 — I’m simply answering the question!

Jake Veyhl: I know Oregon and Cal are probably the popular picks, but I’m going with Arizona for the simple reason that the Wildcats are the best team the Trojans play on the road. USC simply does not lose at home. Stanford was a fluke and if you think it’s anything more, you’re kidding yourself. Arizona has a potent offense that can score with USC’s, and when that game comes around in late October, Mike Stoops might need a big win to save his job.

2) After three weeks, which BCS conference team has been the biggest surprise and disappointment thus far?

Steven: The biggest surprise for me has been Alabama. I expected the Crimson Tide to be a solid team this year, but coach Nick Saban seemed to hint all offseason he thought his team was one year away from contending. Don't look now but the Crimson Tide are knocking on the door for the top spot in the SEC West. On the disappointment side, I'm going with Rutgers. I thought the Scarlet Knights would at least be 1-1 at this point and I'm a little surprised how they were controlled by Fresno State and North Carolina. Greg Schiano will have this team in a bowl this season, but their start has been surprising.

Mitch: It’s still very early, but I’d have to say that Penn State has been a surprise. I’m not surprised that the Lions are 3–0, but I didn’t expect the offense to be so potent. The schedule hasn’t been overly taxing, but Penn State has defeated two BCS conference teams and done so in convincing fashion. Rutgers has been very disappointing. There is no shame in losing to Fresno State. There is no shame in losing to UNC. But to lose to both teams at home by such large margins is disappointing. The Fresno State game was closer than the final score (24-7) might indicate, but UNC rolled all over Rutgers in alarming fashion.

Jake: Frankly, I think South Carolina has been the biggest disappointment this season. You’d think that Steve Spurrier would have found a quarterback that could function in his system by Year 4, but apparently that’s not the case. As a result, the Gamecocks’ offense has been slightly better than terrible this season. Arkansas is a close second in the disappointment category. I think the biggest surprise has been Baylor. Yes, I know the Bears’ two wins haven’t come against stellar competition, but they came by a combined score of 96-23. That doesn’t happen at Baylor. I’m not saying the Bears are ready to get into the mix in the Big 12 South, but they have been a pleasant surprise thus far.

3) If you could only watch either Florida at Tennessee or LSU at Auburn this week, which would you choose?

Steven: Difficult choice, but I'd go with LSU-Auburn. Both teams are in the top 10 of the Athlon 119 and should provide for a hard-hitting, defensive match-up. I'm also interested in seeing if the Auburn offense can finally get going in the right direction or if LSU can rely on Andrew Hatch to make a big play in the passing game if needed.

Mitch: Both great games (obviously), but I’d pick Tennessee-Florida. I’m eager to see how Tennessee plays; the Vols were hugely disappointed in the collapse vs. UCLA. Beating UAB didn’t really prove much. Can they hang with the mighty Gators? We’ll find out.

Jake: I think LSU at Auburn will be the closer game, but I’m pretty sure the winner won’t score more than one touchdown. Therefore I’m going with Tennessee at Florida, where the rivalry is bigger and Florida gets its first big test of the season. They both should be great games though.

4) With the backdrop of the Mountain West going 4-0 against the Pac-10 last week and the ongoing conference supremacy debate, which statement do you believe is more accurate? Teams in non-BCS conferences are getting better. Teams in BCS conferences are getting worse?

Steven: I think non-BCS teams are getting better. Having the same amount of scholarships helps to level the playing field and non-BCS teams benefit from playing games during the middle of the week. By having a televised game in the middle of the week where no other football game is on allows any program to get a lot of exposure and definitely has an impact on their recruiting. With Boise State, Hawaii and Utah all making a BCS game, it has shown recruits you can go to a smaller school and still have a shot to play in a major bowl game.

Mitch: This is tough, but I would tend to go with the statement that non-BCS teams are getting better. I think so many more games on television nowadays, smaller programs are getting more exposure. You can go to a MWC school or a Conference USA school and still play on national TV several times per season. That can help sway a few recruits away from a BCS school to a MWC school.

Jake: I believe both are true, but I’m going with BCS conference teams getting worse. Look at all six BCS conferences. Right now, only the ACC, Big 12 and SEC have doubt about who their champion will be. The ACC has doubt because no one is good enough to rise above the mediocrity. The word “parity” gets thrown around a lot in college football but what that means to me is there aren’t many BCS conference teams that can go in and impose their will on weaker opponents.

5) Georgia at Arizona State looked like one of the best non-conference games in the preseason. Will it live up to the billing or end up like USC-Ohio State last week?

Steven: Even though Arizona State lost last Saturday, I think this will be a competitive game. However, the Sun Devils have to show up angry over last week's loss. If they have the same effort they did against UNLV, they won't have a chance to win this game. Arizona State has a good defensive line, which could cause some problems for Georgia on offense. The key to this game rests with the Sun Devils' ability to protect quarterback Rudy Carpenter. Sun Devils keep it close, but the Bulldogs eventually have too much in the fourth quarter.

Mitch: Neither team played great last week. Arizona State lost to UNLV and Georgia struggled to beat South Carolina. I think it will be an entertaining game, but I think Georgia will win by at least a touchdown. I think the Dawgs’ defense will be the difference.

Jake: I think it will. I think Arizona State is a much better team than it showed last week in a trap game against UNLV. I hope so anyway, because UNLV is not a strong team by any means. Besides, we saw what happened when an SEC team (Tennessee) had to make that cross-country journey to face a Pac-10 team on opening weekend. There’s a lot more that goes into road games than simply who has the better football team.

Throughout the season in the weekly five burning questions article, Steven, Mitch and Jake will participate in the Campus Challenge. The rules are simple. Each person picks a quarterback, running back and wide receiver to make up their "team" for the week in an effort to amass as many passing yards, rushing yards, receiving yards and total touchdowns as possible. Whoever has the best stats as the end of the year wins. All players selected must be from a BCS conference team and each editor can only use a player once during the season.