Your Home of the Oregon ILLINI. Oskee Wa Wa!

And let me be the first to say on this Separation / Revenge Saturday, that SPITE never wins in the long run. It's an inside point.

What a weekend of close games and memorable performances. A day where two top-10's went down to unranked opponents. This was an EPIC weekend of see-saw games, comebacks, and down to the wire finishes. If you missed the span of football around 4pm Pacific time today, you missed some of the best finishes of the year. As good as it gets. OK, perhaps this is better - laughter yoga everyone!

Briefly on USC, no big surprise there. They've been losing one unexplainable conference game for years now. Or maybe, just maybe, they're not that good. Maybe, Washington is back or darn close? And to think they just ended a 15-game losing streak last weekend! You don't just show-up and win at Husky Stadium anymore. Statement game in Seattle. And a power shift in the conference for the first time in what seems like a decade; the road to the PAC-10 Title goes through Berkley and Strawberry Canyon. Will USC get to the BCS this year? Hmmm...... 7 years of dominating the PAC-10 may be over; proving once again how important QB play really is.

And speaking of impressive performances, how about Miami and what they did Thursday night against Georgia Tech? Wow, it looks like the CANES are back and poised to make life difficult in the ACC and the national picture. Jacory Harris might just be the best QB in the nation. How long will they keep Whipple as offensive coordinator? CANES are scary good right now half-way through a gauntlet of a schedule. Good weekend for the ACC with key wins over BYU and Nebraska. You just never know anymore. It's a different game every week. Survive, and move on. Or shut up!

Another obsersvation this Saturday has to do with the SPEED of the PAC-10, or lack thereof today. The conference only went 1 for 3 today against the 'slow' schools from BACK EAST (BIG-10 / BIG EAST). Iowa beat a young Arizona squad with speed and execution in all facets of the game, but especially on defense. The CATS just couldn't move the ball today against the Hawkeyes. And Cincy downed Oregon State with the same combination and a splash of some serious athletes. Tony Pike might have entered the Heisman race tonight with that performance in Corvallis. But the Bearcats just looked faster and more physical tonight against OSU who gave it a good run, but came up a bit short.

As for Illinois, we didn't lose tonight; we didn't play either. But the performance and injury news of late hasn't been good. This week we lost one of the best linebackers in the country to a season-ending neck injury. As if we needed that. The defense was already suspect before this. Ugh! Looking at the schedule, I'm not sure we get another win this year. We can't stop anybody and offense is hit or miss at best. Just getting bowl eligible would be a monumental accomplishment at this point.

Stock Up - new section of the blog which will feature programs on the rise.

• Georgia, after a bad showing in Stillwater the Dawgs are 2-1 with life on offense.
• Washington, easy one sure. But Sark has the put the woof back in the Huskies.
• Miami, prolific offense and tenacious defense. Sounds like a good combo to me.
• Oregon, well looky there. Ducks are 2-1 after a good win at home over UTAH today.
• CAL, I mean Javed Best. 5TD's will get you some notice.
• Ohio State, good bounce-back win against a good Toldedo squad. Up next, Illinois.
• Michigan, it looks like BIG BLUE is back too. Ugh!
• Washington State, they beat the mighty mustangs from SMU tonight in OT. Yes!

Stock Down - just the opposite of above. You don't want your team featured here.

• USC, end of an era? Perhaps, but the PAC-10 doesn't seem so 1 dimensional this year.
• BYU, what was that? FSU put the smack down in Provo 54-28, ouch. Shocking!
• UTAH and MWC. 16-game winning streak is over for the Utes (thanks to Oregon).

My TOP 10:

1. Florida - now with the nation's longest winning streak at 13.
2. Texas - but I think the gap to #1 is closing. Horns are looking better and better.
3. Bama - Tide keeps rollin'.
4. Penn State - Temple? Just how good is this team? Ugh!
5. Ole Miss - Again, can't wait for some conference games here.
6. CAL - I meand Javed Best! 5TDs in a Heisman-worthy showing.
7. LSU - But they did beat Husky in Seattle which is more than USC could do.
8. Boise State - Impressive win on the road in Fresno Friday night. BCS?
9. Cincinnati - Perhaps the best win of the weekend. BIG EAST speed and execution.
10. Miami - The CANES look back to me, with the swagger.