College Football Teams on Upset Alert in Week 9

Week seven of college football was considered "Upset Saturday" but week eight deserves a similar title after the shakeup that occurred in the SEC. Auburn sacked Johnny Football and saw themselves leap in the BCS rankings. Georgia's injuries helped Vanderbilt take down the Bulldogs despite a few injuries of their own. Ole Miss also suffered from injuries, but it did not look like it after a late field goal lifted the Rebels over LSU. Will this week prove to be the third consecutive week the college football rankings are turned upside down?

#12 UCLA at #3 Oregon

Oregon did not have much to celebrate after the release of the BCS rankings on Sunday night. The Ducks are now ranked third in the country and will be looking to dominate a quality PAC 12 opponent in order to increase their chances of jumping Florida State. Oregon is fundamentally sound on both sides of the ball, but the Ducks will forever and always be known for their fast paced offense. Quarterback Marcus Mariota has helped the team dominate everyone of their opponents with ease. Oregon did, however, struggle to slow down the passing game of Washington State last week. Oregon will face one of the best passing teams in the PAC 12 this Saturday when the UCLA Bruins travel to Eugene. Can it slow down UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley?

Hundley has lead the Bruins to a 5-1 season with their only loss coming at the hands of Stanford last Saturday. UCLA has continued to be successful in the pistol offense averaging 301.7 passing yards per game and 198.5 rushing yards per game. Defensively, the Bruins are only allowing 19.2 points per game. Early in the season UCLA staged an impressive comeback over Nebraska, but the Cornhuskers' offense put up 21 points in the first half. UCLA faces its toughest challenge of the season this Saturday against one of the best offenses in the country.

Traveling to Autzen Stadium to take on Oregon is no easy task. Stanford found a way to beat the Ducks last year in overtime. UCLA will look to be the first team to slow down Marcus Mariota and the lightning fast offensive playmakers he has with him. Can the Bruins beat the Ducks in an upset that would headline another "Upset Saturday"?

Penn State at #4 Ohio State

Ohio State has made the upset alert list a couple of times this season. In both of those cases, the Buckeyes came very close to losing to Northwestern and Iowa. Head coach Urban Meyer, regarded as the second best coach in college football, has been able to keep national title hopes alive. Ohio State welcomes Penn State to the Horseshoe and looks to prevent the Nittany Lions from ruing those hopes. Ohio State will need to rely on their solid rushing attack and put pressure on Penn State's young quarterback in order to win this game comfortably.

Penn State stood victorious in Beaver Stadium after a 4OT victory over Michigan, but the Wolverines have played everyone of their games close following the victory over Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions hope to prove that their victory was not a fluke by taking down a much bigger opponent this Saturday. Freshman quarterback Christian Hackenburg can make a big name for himself if he can stay focused against a stingy Ohio State defense. Head coach Bill O'Brien wants to build a once great program back up and a victory of Ohio State could do just that.

Penn State does not seem like it can become the first team to beat Ohio State since 2011, but do you remember who was last to beat the Buckeyes in Ohio Stadium? Penn State. One may believe the chances of Urban Meyer letting a team lead by a freshman quarterback take them out are slim to none. Looking back on the last two weeks of college football, it's safe to say that the only thing we can be sure of is that anything can happen in this sport.

#21 South Carolina at #5 Missouri

Missouri is on one of the hottest streaks in college football. Who could have predicted the Tigers would be leading the SEC east. Granted, they beat Georgia and Florida with both teams being plagued with injury. Missouri has had a few injuries of their own including quarterback James Franklin who is not expected back until late in the season, but freshman quarterback Maty Mauk has continued the success of the offense. Missouri is still ranked in the top five of the SEC in every offensive category. The Tigers also have the third best rushing defense in the conference. Missouri is on a roll, but will all the hype from their success cause them to overlook South Carolina this weekend?

South Carolina is coming off a disappointing loss to Tennessee last Saturday. The Gamecocks had poor offensive production under quarterback Connor Shaw and had to rely on running back Mike Davis to carry the load. Defensively the Gamecocks had been consistent despite not having Jadeveon Clowney completely healthy. South Carolina is ranked in the top five in every major defensive category in the SEC. A loss to the Vols hurt the Gamecocks badly, but a win over Missouri would help keep them in the hunt for an SEC Championship appearance. Can the Gamecocks forget about their loss last week and upset the Missouri Tigers?

A win over South Carolina would almost guarantee Missouri a spot in the SEC championship. The Gamecocks may just be the toughest team the Tigers have seen in the last three weeks. South Carolina is on a mission to salvage their season with a win in Columbia. If Steve Spurrier can pull off the upset, the SEC east will be in complete chaos.

#6 Stanford at #25 Oregon State

Stanford has recovered nicely from the upset loss they suffered from Utah a couple of weeks ago. The Cardinal had an impressive win over a tough UCLA team last week. Stanford is once again on upset alert as they travel to Corvallis to take on Oregon State. Stanford is fundamentally solid on both sides of the ball will need to shut down Oregon State's stout offense. The Cardinal wants to keep their PAC 12 Championship hopes alive by avoiding another mid-season upset.

Oregon State has gone 6-0 since losing their first game to FCS opponent Eastern Washington. Quarterback Sean Mannion leads the nation is passing yards and the Beavers have the number one passing offense in the country. This high powered offense will be key to a victory over Stanford, but shutting down Kevin Hogan and Tyler Gaffney will be the biggest key. Head coach Mike Riley has gone from hot seat to BCS top 25 and is looking for a nice upset win at home to increase his job security.

A Stanford loss would ultimately destroy any chances they would have at a PAC 12 Championship. An Oregon State victory would put them one step closer to attempting to get into the PAC 12 Championship (they still have Oregon on the schedule). There is a lot more at stake in this conference game than one may realize and Stanford can not afford to underestimate another PAC 12 opponent. If Oregon State wins this game it will be a lot easier to forget about their embarrassing loss in the first game of the season.