Five burning questions: Week 6

Mitch Light: None of them lost a shot at the title. I would say USC hurt itself the most because it lost to a team in Oregon State that previously had struggled. Also, the Trojans will have fewer opportunities to pick up big wins playing in the Pac-10. Both Florida and Georgia will have several chances to pick up huge wins to impress voters and improve its standing with the computers. Still, I wouldn’t count out USC. There is still a ton of football left.

Jake Veyhl: USC, but Georgia is close. The Trojans will have a hard time convincing pollsters that they’re deserving with the Pac-10 in its current state. The Trojans play only one more team (Oregon) currently ranked in the AP top 25 so it will be hard to build their resume. That said, if Ohio State goes on to finish with only one loss, USC’s case gets stronger. Georgia may have lost its chance for the way it was thoroughly dismantled by Alabama. There’s a difference between losing to a good team at home, but getting blown out isn’t good for BCS title hopes.

2) Which first-year coach has done the best job with his new team so far?

Steven: Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson is 3-1 and is only three points away from being undefeated and the leader in the ACC Coastal race. Sure, the Yellow Jackets aren't flashy and the option is still a work in progress, but Johnson has shown his offense will win in the ACC. Once Johnson gets his players into this scheme, Georgia Tech will be even more dangerous.

Mitch: Tough call between two coaches in the ACC — Duke’s David Cutcliffe and Georgia Tech’s Paul Johnson. I will go with Cutcliffe because he has seemingly changed the culture in the program in a short amount of time. He has his team playing with a ton of confidence, something that is hard to do for a team that had lost so many games in recent years. Johnson is doing well at Tech, but he inherited a much better situation.

Jake: With respect to David Cutcliffe (Duke) and Art Briles (Baylor) at two places that are very difficult to win at, I’m going with Huston Nutt, who has Ole Miss believing it can be a factor again in the SEC. The Rebels were one play away from upsetting Wake Forest on the road and one yard away from knocking off Vandy at home. While it’s easy to play the “what-if” game, Nutt and the Rebels have ended their conference losing streak and are clearly headed in the right direction.

3) Which coach has the best chance of being fired at the end of the year: Phillip Fulmer, Tommy Bowden, Dave Wannstedt, Kirk Ferentz or Mike Stoops?

Steven: I'm going to go with Tommy Bowden. Bowden has done a great job of bringing in talent to Clemson, but the Tigers haven't been able to win an ACC title. Not to mention, they are annual underachievers and consistently up and down. Although they could rebound and win it this season, they are already behind a solid Maryland team and have to travel to Wake Forest next Thursday night.

Mitch: If I had to rank the coaches most likely to be fired at the end of the year, this would be it: Bowden, Stoops, Wannstedt, Fulmer, Ferentz. I wouldn’t be shocked, however, if all of these coaches are back. Mike Stoops should be retained if he can lead the Wildcats to a bowl game, and they are currently 3–1 and still have Washington and Washington State on the schedule.

Jake: Fulmer won’t get ‘fired’. He’s done too much for that program to leave on those terms. Bowden signed an extension before the year started to it’d be hard for the Tigers to eat that contract. Before the season I would have said Stoops, but it appears he’s got that team headed toward at least seven wins and a bowl game, so I’m going with Ferentz at Iowa, who has been chronically underachieving after becoming a mainstay in the national polls earlier this decade. I wouldn’t place money on any of these coaches losing their jobs however.

4) If the season ended today, who would be your first team All-Big 12 quarterback?

Steven: The Big 12 has no shortage of options in the quarterback department, but I'll give Missouri's Chase Daniel a thin edge over Oklahoma's Sam Bradford. Through four games, Daniel has thrown only one interception and is averaging 353 passing yards per game. Also, you could make the argument Daniel means a little more to his team. This is no knock on Bradford, but the talent around him is better than what Daniel has at Mizzou.

Mitch: Sam Bradford. Obviously, you can make a strong case for Chase Daniel or Colt McCoy.

Jake: Sam Bradford. It’s very hard to separate McCoy, Bradford and Daniel right now. All of them have incredible stats with excellent TD-INT ratios but Bradford has thrown for at least 300 yards and four touchdowns against FBS teams. Hard to make a case against any of the three though.

5) Maryland struggled against Delaware and lost to MTSU before beating Cal and Clemson. Which Terps team is for real? And are they a legit contender for the ACC Atlantic division?

Steven: Maryland is a legit contender for the ACC title. Quarterback Chris Turner has settled into the starting job and the defense has been solid all year. I think we are seeing the true Maryland team, but just like the rest of the inconsistent ACC, we never really know which Terrapin team is going to show up.

Mitch: At this point, you have to say the ‘good’ Terps team is for real. They have two really good wins, Cal at home and winning at Clemson. The Tigers are struggling, but anytime you can go into Clemson and win, you have accomplished something. And yes, they are legit contenders. No team has asserted itself yet — it’s there for the taking.

Jake: I think the team we’re seeing now is for real. Chalk the MTSU loss up to indifference or whatever you’d like but their dismantling of Cal and the comeback against Clemson showed real guts after the Terms could have mailed it in. Yes they’re a contender in the Atlantic if for no other reason than they beat previous favorite Clemson. I still think I’d pick Wake to win that division though.