Week 4 Preview

Let's take a look around the conferences:
ACC - Boston College and NC State are the lone remaining undefeated teams. BC has only beaten Weber State and Kent State, but NC State has two of the conference's best non-conference wins against UCF and Cincinnati. The win over Cincinnati is the ACC's only win over an AQ team.
Big 12 - There are still seven remaining unbeaten teams, and only four teams have lost an non-conference game. The conference did have a lot of close calls last week. Oklahoma and Missouri beat Air Force and San Diego St respectively by field goals. FIU was leading Texas A&M 20-6 at the start of the fourth quarter before the Aggies rallied. On the other hand, Nebraska and Oklahoma State handled potentially dangerous opponents with ease.
Big East - After three weeks, the Big East has only beaten four FBS teams. West Virginia has two of them, and the other two were against Akron (0-3) and FIU (0-2). With four big games this week, the conference has a chance to make some noise or to keep piling up losses.
Big Ten - Who has allowed the fewest points in the Big Ten? Surprisingly, it's Northwestern. Michigan State could be a surprising contender in the Big Ten, especially since they miss Ohio State. Wisconsin had struggled at home, Michigan has defensive issues, and Penn State has offensive issues.
C-USA - Any chance that C-USA had to have a team make a BCS bowl is already gone as everyone has a loss. Everyone except Marshall has a win too. Houston lost both their starting and backup quarterback in a loss to UCLA last week. They shouldn't have any problems with Tulane at home Saturday, but the West is wide open unless they can recover quickly.
MAC - Temple scored a big win over Connecticut last week and is still unbeaten. Toledo has already won two conference road games against decent comparable competition.
Mountain West - The top of the MWC is really strong, but the bottom needs a lot of work. New Mexico is giving up exactly one point for every minute they've played. Colorado State has only scored 19 points in three games. UNLV only has slightly better numbers, but still no wins.
PAC-10 - Oregon leads the country in scoring offense (63 points per game) and scoring defense (4.33 points allowed per game.) Stanford's stats are similarly strong (51.67 for / 13.67 against), so their matchup in two weeks looms large.
SEC - Strange fact: Every team in the conference is either 3-0 or 1-2. The conference has only lost three non-conference games all season, although one of them was to Jacksonville State.
Sun Belt - No team in the conference has a winning record, and four haven't won a game yet. The conference as a whole has only beaten two FBS teams.
WAC - Nevada and Fresno State are receiving votes in both polls, raising the profile of the entire conference. If they keep winning, it will help Boise's quest to play for a national title.



Onto the upcoming week's games:
Miami at Pitt (Thursday) - Both teams are coming off a bye week looking for their first big win of the season.
South Carolina at Auburn - South Carolina goes on the road for the first time this season. They need to be able to win on the road if they are going to win the East.
Alabama at Arkansas - Alabama's first road game, Arkansas's best chance to pull a major upset, and Ryan Mallet's Heisman profile converge in this game.
Kentucky at Florida - Kentucky hasn't turned the ball over all season and Florida is forcing four per game. If Kentucky can hold onto the ball, an upset isn't out of the question.
Oregon St at Boise St - Hey, Gameday is leaving the southeast. Boise State tends to turn nationally televised games into statements.
FIU at Maryland - FIU has pushed Rutgers and Texas A&M already, so Maryland is definitely on upset alert.
Fresno St at Mississippi - Can the Rebels find a way to turn their season around? Another home loss will have people calling for Houston Nutt's head?
Temple at Penn St - Temple is coming off a big win over Connecticut, and this Penn State team has had trouble on offense. Another potential upset is brewing here.
Oklahoma at Cincinnati - This is one of those games that looks better on paper, like Oregon-Tennessee. Sooners win big.
Stanford at Notre Dame - This game should give Stanford the national recognition they deserve.
West Virginia at LSU - Despite beating Vanderbilt and Mississippi State by 20+ points, LSU still looks like a flawed team. Unless the offense picks up, they are liable to get upset.