• Collin Klein and Kenjon Barner would like a word. We can think of a few folks who might take issue with USC’s assertion that Marqise Lee is the best player in college football, but he certainly has a compelling case (and his own hashtag). And will fruitless Heisman arguments stop us from posting kickass highlight reels? They most certainly will not.

• We see what you’re saying, but all we hear is “start looking for parking in New Orleans, like, tomorrow.” Brett “Sources” McMurphy was first to report yesterday that the Sugar Bowl has won the Champions Bowl bidding war and will host an annual SEC-Big 12 champions clash, when it’s not serving as a playoff semifinal site. The first game will take place on Jan. 1, 2015, and the agreement runs through January 2026. So, Arlington for the title game, then?

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Oregon in the top five means we get to post pictures of the Ducks’ mascot all the time. We like it when Oregon is in the top five. (AP)

• Brace yourselves for a largish shock. Alabama tops the AP Poll for the 10th consecutive week, with Oregon holding steady at No. 2. Your BCS top five, in descending order: ‘Bama, Kansas State, Oregon, Notre Dame and Georgia. The Toledo Rockets make what we call an overdue appearance in the BCS standings this week, along with UCLA and Northwestern. Dropping out: Boise State (breaking a 40-week streak), West Virginia, Arizona and Oklahoma State. Stewart Mandel updates SI’s bowl predictions and … is that hope for Louisiana Tech we’re seeing on the horizon?

• Coach firin’ season! No updates to the carousel as of noon Monday, but ominous rumblings are sounding out of Colorado, and we are really enjoying imagining Rex Ryan at Kentucky.

• Injury report story hour. What to make of Collin Klein’s Oklahoma State game injury? … leading Georgia receiver Marlon Brown is finished as a Bulldog after tearing his ACL against Ole Miss, although the program’s director of sports medicine indicated Sunday that “a full recovery is anticipated that will enable him to continue his career in the future” … perpetual South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels is through with the Bulls after sustaining a broken ankle against UConn … Arizona’s Hank Hobson is out of the hospital …  and Maryland announced Monday the loss of starting MLB and leading tackler Demetrius Hartsfield to a torn ACL, which Patrick Stevens calculates makes five torn ACLs for the Terps this season and the fourth lost team captain in two years.

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Kansas State’s Collin Klein is no stranger to reaching the end zone against Oklahoma State. (AP)

Assorted Week 10 football contests that you get to watch and we, for the most part, do not. Enjoy?

• Games we will miss the most while participating in a wedding ceremony taking place in a state that is very far away from any of these games: In descending order: Oregon-USC (7:00 p.m. ET), Alabama-LSU (8:00) and Oklahoma State-Kansas State (8:00). Let our plight serve as a dire warning: Friends don’t let friends go to art school and go out into the world thinking it’s socially acceptable to plan November weddings.

• Team of the week that Maryland will either beat or embarrass or both with its 19th-string quarterback: Is it terribly foolish of us to like the Terps’ chances against Georgia Tech? We’ll find out at 12:30 in College Park. Maryland’s defense has been its strength this season, and Tech’s doesn’t seem particularly inclined to stop teams that do have quarterbacks, so …

• Most Americanest football contest of Week 10: Air Force and Army run the next leg of the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy race at noon.

• Saddest event we still technically have to call a football contest: Auburn and New Mexico State, with a combined record of 2-14, meet on the Plains at 12:30.

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Jamison Crowder (right) tumbled into the end zone with :13 left to lift Duke. (Chuck Liddy/ZUMAPRESS.com)

On a night characterized largely by lopsided blowouts, most of our joy at watching competitive football was drawn from the ACC. Here, we give thanks. For more, check out our early Snaps, midday Snaps, our coverage of Kansas State-West Virginia, South Carolina-Florida, Oregon-Arizona State and our complete Top 25 review.

• Duke 33, North Carolina 30. Let us sing of the Blue Devils and postseason football! Your eyes do not deceive you. That was David Cutcliffe waving a can of spray paint in the postgame celebration crush. Those are the Blue Devils you see atop the ACC Coastal standings. The Victory Bell is awarded to Duke in the earliest game between Duke and North Carolina since 1943. It’s a new blue world.

For a little while there it looked as though the Blue Devils were set to repeat last week’s unfortunate pattern of events, when they jumped out ahead of Virginia Tech early only to see hopes of victory dashed. Duke held a 20-6 lead at halftime and a 23-9 lead at the end of the third quarter before surrendering three touchdowns to the Tar Heels while managing only a field goal on offense. That last UNC score was the real killer: A Bryn Renner pass to Erik Highsmith was fumbled after Highsmith took a hit from a Duke defender, only to see Duke whiff on the fumble recovery and Giovani Bernard scoop it up and run it in for the score. Sean Renfree saved the day late with a five-yard touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder on fourth down that was caught so quickly it was hard to make out even on replay.

Renfree finished with 23 completions on 36 attempts for 275 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Gio recorded his third consecutive triple-digit rushing effort for the Tar Heels with 143 yards on 24 carries. Blue Devils triumvirate Josh Snead, Jela Duncan and Juwan Thompson combined for 237 rushing yards. Tonight marked Duke’s first win over UNC since 2003, its first home win versus the Tar Heels since 1998 and first bowl eligibility status achieved since 1994. [BOX | RECAP]

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• And now, an hour-long Oregon Trail video dedicated to the Red River Shootout. Would we lie to you, dearest readers?

• Every Game Counts, for some very curious values of “every.” The first cooing batch of freshly-hatched BCS standings was waiting on our doorstep yesterday evening, along with a note from Bill Hancock: ”The release of the first BCS weekly standings always creates great excitement for college football fans. Even though there are still almost two months to go in the regular season, everyone loves to talk about the standings and make projections for the postseason. Whether your favorite team is trying to qualify for a bowl game or trying to make it all the way to the National Championship Game, every game is going to count.” In related news, Texas will never not be ranked in the initial BCS standings, as long as we all shall live.

Ah, first BCS standings, a testament to nonsense math, Arrow’s paradox and secretary voters, brought to you by free golf for commissioners

— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) October 15, 2012

We would like to declare our allegiance at this time to the idea of Kansas State winning a national title, because Bill Snyder hoisting a crystal football would bring joy to even the most pitted of hearts, from sea to shining sea.

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Matt McGloin threw for two touchdowns and rushed for the go-ahead score in PSU’s 39-28 win. (Getty Images)

Snap Judgments from the Week 6 early slate. For more, check out our midday Snaps, late Snaps coverage of LSU-Florida, Georgia-South Carolina, West Virginia-Texas and complete Top 25 review.

• Penn State 39, No. 24 Northwestern 28. Pat Fitzgerald’s herd of cats was 5-0 and well on its way to a 6-0 start, a feat unequaled by any Northwestern squad since 1962. The Wildcats had one conference win and three victories over AQ nonconference opponents to their credit. So, naturally, Week 6 was when they ran into a fourth-quarter buzzsaw in the form of … Penn State?

Pointed momentum swings characterized Saturday’s contest. The Nittany Lions jumped out to a 10-0 lead, only to see the Wildcats retake the scoreboard and then some, carrying a 28-17 lead after three quarters. Then, for lack of a better description for what happened next, the fourth quarter commenced and Penn State proceeded to outgain Northwestern 186-23. Matt McGloin displayed some serious poise in this period, passing for a touchdown, running for a two-point conversion and scoring again on a five-yard run with less than three minutes to play. Penn State scored three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the last coming on a Michael Zordich three-yard run precisely one minute after McGloin’s dash for the end zone.

Wildcat fans might be wondering about now why Venric Mark took a knee on a kick return with 2:37 remaining after he’d already returned a punt 75 yards for a score at the end of the third quarter. They might also be flexing their claws (because they’re cats!) at the sight of Mark and Kain Colter, averaging a combined 180-plus rushing yards heading into today’s contest, finishing with a mere 96 combined. But Penn State has now won four straight, including two in league play. A fitting beginning, maybe, to a curious day of football. [BOX | RECAP]

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Like preseason awards, but for games, and weekly, and just as meaningful. For additional Week 6 content, peruse Andy Staples’ Walkthrough.

• Most internetty homecoming. After UAB callously ignored an online movement to model the Blazers’ 2012 Homecoming theme on Trogdor the Burninator, one enterprising agent took matters into her own hands. Did we attend UAB? We did not. Are we wearing a homemade “BURNINATE THE LIONS” shirt tomorrow? Do you know us at all?

• Best East Coast brunch game. A pre-noon kickoff in Eastern Time! Navy will start this year’s Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy series at 11:30 a.m. ET at Air Force.

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Georgia’s defense stifled Vandy; the ‘Dores went 2-of-14 on third-down conversions. (Getty Images)

Snap Judgments from the Week 4 late slate. For more coverage, check out our early Snaps, midday Snaps and complete Top 25 review. Also check out our coverage of Florida State-Clemson, Kansas State-Oklahoma and Notre Dame-Michigan.

• No. 5 Georgia 48, Vanderbilt 3: “I don’t have any complaints at all,” said Mark Richt following his Bulldogs’ casual mauling of the Commodores. Nor should he: Georgia finished with 567 yards of offense in its second conference win, held the ‘Dores to a single field goal and made its opponent look not terribly unlike the Vandy of old. “The numbers show that we’re executing well,” said Richt. So, too, did the scoreboard.

The Dawgs’ latest plug-and-play tailback, freshman Todd Gurley, led all rushers with 130 yards on 16 carries, and he recorded Georgia’s first and final scores. Aaron Murray enjoyed a bit of moderate exercise, completing 18-of-24 pass attempts for 250 yards and two touchdowns. Jarvis Jones sacked Jordan Rodgers on fourth-and-eight for an 11-yard loss in the third quarter that brought the house down.

Vanderbilt had 15 first downs tonight to Georgia’s 29. It converted 2-of-12 third downs. It was very nearly tripled up in rushing yards, 103 to 301. (Did we mention Georgia had more than 300 rushing yards? Georgia had more than 300 rushing yards. We’re not the only ones eyeing that Oct. 6 Bulldogs-Gamecocks matchup with increasingly rabid anticipation.)

“We talked about how this is the first [conference] game of seven in a row,” said Richt, “and how important it is to win every single one of them to get where we want to go. But you have to take them one at a time. We have a lot of respect for Vanderbilt.” We almost believe him. [BOX | RECAP]

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Auburn’s Kiehl Frazier struggled mightily at Mississippi State, throwing three interceptions and no touchdowns. (AP)

Snap Judgments from the early Week 2 slate. For more coverage, check out our midday Snaps, late Snaps, coverage of Florida-Texas A&M , LSU-Washington, Georgia-Missouri and the complete Top 25 review.

• Mississippi State 28, Auburn 10. We question the Bulldogs’ commitment to tradition and history, friends and neighbors. We really, really do. It’s almost like Dan Mullen doesn’t read our blog, and went through Week 2 entirely unaware of our heart’s dearest desire to see a repeat of the 2008 3-2 Tigers-Bulldogs tilt. What gives, Coach Mullen? We thought we were buds.

That first half was a thing of terrible beauty on both sides, to be passed down through the generations and cherished as one might preserve a lock of a baby’s hair — and then both teams just threw all our feelings away. Or ran away with them. Literally. Probably.

This Auburn team certainly did its part to honor that day, as quarterback Kiehl Frazier managed negative two passing yards and two interceptions in the first half. He finished with three picks and 125 yards on 13-of-22 passing as the Tigers fell to 0-2 on the season. Auburn did, however, display a complete disregard for this blog’s express wishes with a 100-yard Onterio McCalebb kickoff return at the start of the second half.

Bright spots, if you are for some reason “into” good football and actual scoring: Mississippi State quarterback Tyler Russell’s 20-for-29, 224-yard, three-touchdown performance for the Bulldogs offense, and defensive back Johnthan Banks’ two interceptions for State’s defense. The most valuable player, clearly, was Bully on a water treadmill.

Auburn gets a tune-up game next week against Louisiana-Monroe before facing division hopefuls LSU and Arkansas. Mississippi State, meanwhile, could pad its record in its next three games against Troy, South Alabama and Kentucky. [BOX | RECAP]

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Matt Barkley threw for 374 yards in USC’s rout of Hawaii. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Snap Judgments from Saturday’s evening games. For more from SI.com check out our early and midday Snaps, plus our game coverage of Alabama-Michigan, Auburn-Clemson, Ohio-Penn State, South Carolina-Vanderbilt, Washington State-BYU, NC State-Tennessee and Boise State-Michigan State and our full Top 25 review.

• No. 1 USC 49, Hawaii 10. The first line of the play-by-play report from tonight’s Trojans-Warriors game reads thusly: “15:00 USC Matt Barkley pass to Marqise Lee for 75-yard gain (TD).” Do not adjust your monitors. USC whipped out a 75-yard touchdown on tonight’s first play from scrimmage. Not a bad argument in favor of keeping that top spot in the AP Poll, even if it was just against Hawaii, who helpfully boosted the Trojans’ numbers with three turnovers and six sacks allowed.

Don’t forget our “one data point is worse than no data points” argument from the other night. USC is very good at football; Hawaii not so much. But both courses will correct in one direction or the other before the season winds down. We still know nothin’ bout nothin’. What we do know is that tonight’s fireworks were very entertaining, particularly if you like video games.

Before being retired a few minutes into the fourth quarter, Barkley put up a nice, shiny 50-minute performance: 23-of-38 passing, 372 yards, four touchdowns and no picks. Barkley’s star turn was matched by that of tonight’s favored target, Lee, who wrapped up his home opener with 187 yards on just 10 catches. Robert Woods added two additional touchdown receptions. And did we mention Lee ran back a kick the entire length of the field for a touchdown? That’s an afterthought tonight. That’s how good Lee was.

As for the much worried-about position of USC running back: Curtis McNeal got the starting nod, but Silas Redd led the backs with 55 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. (And a fumble.) Linebacker Hayes Pullard recorded the Trojans’ third touchdown of the first quarter with a 27-yard interception return. [BOX | RECAP]

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