Looking ahead to week 13, a final chance for some

After the upheaval of the last 2 weeks at the top, things should be clarified a bit more this week. I say should because if Notre Dame lose then all sorts of arguments begin. A few thoughts on what I'll be looking out for this week.

• Notre Dame at USC - simply a win for the Irish and their in the BCS title game. But, USC isn't a walkover. They are very capable of winning this game, even though they've shown no signs of winning the big games this year. That said, I fully expect Notre Dame to win especially as Matt Barkley is out.
• Florida at Florida State - this is the most interesting game of the weekend, so why are ESPN America showing the Iron Bowl instead? If Florida win, then they will probably finish the season ranked number 1 by the computers and could be a Notre Dame loss away from the BCS title game. A Florida State win would put them back in the conversation and also give a much needed boost to the ACC.
• Michigan at Ohio State - can Ohio State remain undefeated? If so, and other results go their way, could they end up ranked 1 in the AP poll and we have a split national title?
• Oregon at Oregon State - will Oregon bounce back from their loss to Stanford? They need some help (mainly from Pac-12 south teams) but aren't out of it yet.
• Stanford at UCLA - This game is big for 2 teams, Stanford and Oregon. UCLA are already in the Pac-12 championship game, so who do they want to play next week?
• South Carolina at Clemson - This could tell us a lot about the respective strengths of the ACC and SEC. Two teams of similar records and rankings but if the computers are right and the ACC is weak, this will be a win for South Carolina. If Clemson win, some reassessment may be needed which could help Florida State if they beat Florida and other results go their way.
• Auburn at Alabama - the only way Auburn can rescue anything from this season is by wrecking Alabama's. An unlikely win for Auburn could prevent Alabama from reaching both the SEC championship game and the BCS title game. But that's not why I'll be watching. I'll be watching because ESPN America think this is a better game than Florida at Florida State.
• There are also some other games I'll be looking for the result of such as Georgia Tech at Georgia, Missouri at Texas A&M and Oklahoma State at Oklahoma.

The most likely result of the weekend is that we will have a Notre Dame - SEC Champion title game in January. But a loss to Notre Dame changes all that. A Florida win and an all-SEC title game is then likely. But another twist is also possible. If either Alabama or Georgia lose this week, we could end up with a 2-loss SEC champion. Would a 1-loss Florida then get in, or another 1-loss team? After the last couple of weeks I'm expecting at least one of the top teams to lose, but I've no idea which one.