FOTB Prediction: Black helmet, black jersey, black pants, black shoes. Is there any other choice? You can simulate this combination here.

We’ve been here before. Just two years ago, Oregon stood before the gates of the ruling empire and burned Troy to the ground. It was the end of a dynasty. A new champion had entered the fray. The mighty had fallen.

Except, one game turned out to be just one game and in the end, USC remained as the Pac-10′s dominant team.

It was more bad luck than anything when Oregon couldn’t finish what looked like an inevitable run to the roses – and perhaps more – in 2007. But it serves as a good reminder that Saturday is still just one game.

The moment is huge. The eyes of a college football nation are watching and the judgments will come quick for both victor and the defeated. One will be hailed as a sure Pac-10 champion, the other cast aside as an afterthought for the rest of the season.

But still, it’s just one game. I think.

Oregon fans and players alike will pour every ounce of available emotion into winning this game. And USC will try to match the intensity in an “us-against-the-world” environment on a stage in which they so often thrive. Juggernaut vs. Challenger will feature haymakers countered by uppercuts as two teams who would be champions fight for 60 minutes to lay their claim as commander of the Pac-10 standings.

Bank on it.

But still, it’s just one game. I’m pretty sure.

Only one team can be the best. Only one team can make it’s rise in the national polls and lay claim to whatever fruits of victory may await. Pac-10 crown? National title contender? One team will be a shoe-in for the the former, a contender for the latter.

But still, it’s just one game. Well, maybe a bit more than that.

USC has seven years of unmatched glory. No one has been able to slay the proverbial dragon. Wound it, scratch it, ding it, perhaps, but never anything more. A win for the Ducks would be a win for the conference and a rallying cry for Oregon’s Pac-10 brothers. It would be a call to arms for a league beaten and downtrodden from the years of unforgiving oppression.

No, it’s more than just one game. It’s everything.

BCS Conference Most Likely to Lose its Automatic Qualifier Status
The Big East is bad and the BCS has provisions to review conference eligibility as an automatic qualifier. Compare the Big East to teams in the Mountain West. Perhaps there are traditional teams with good east coast ties, but in terms of performance, I would bet on the Mountain West over the next few years.

Officiating Most Likely To Suck
The Pac-10. God, the officiating is awful. Awful, awful, awful. I’m so tired of it. The pass interference call in the end zone against Jairus Byrd that took away his interception and essentially gave UCLA a touchdown was one of the worst calls ever seen. Yeah, Oregon has benefited as well, but that’s not the point here. Anyone who is a fan of this conference should want more from the officials and the ones overseeing them.

Pac-10 Team With the Easiest Road to the Rose Bowl
Stop right there. Think before you answer. It’s Oregon State. Of the teams that control their own destiny, they are the only one that has a win over USC. Cal, Stanford and Arizona all still have to play the Trojans with only Oregon having that game out of the way.

Most likely BCS National Title Game
Penn State vs. USC as the Rose Bowl suffers a heart attack watching its affiliated members play for a national title in the Orange Bowl. Texas, Missouri, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Oklahoma are going to eat each other alive in the nation’s best conference.

Most Overrated Conference
Hello SEC. I can acknowledge that my favorite conference is in a down year. I wish the SEC could see it for its true self. Here’s what happens every year. SEC teams get a nice, plush preseason ranking. They then play a bunch of garbage teams to pad records and get five teams in the top ten. They start to beat other throughout the season in constant top ten matchups that make the media swoon. Losing these games carries little penalty so dropping out of the top 25 rarely happens. Everyone ignores the obvious faults or takes half a season to see them (uh, Auburn) and eventually the surviving team makes the title game and gets to beat up on Ohio State. They are like every other major conference – a few good to great teams at the top and a bunch of other mediocre to awful teams.

Where are all the Pac-10 Quarterbacks?
They went east to Big 12 country. The conference of champions has a serious lack of quality quarterback play while the Big 12 is experiencing a boon unseen in conference history. The Oklahoma-Texas matchup was a classic Pac-10 game played under the guise of a Big 12 tilt. Missouri has the feel of a UCLA or Oregon with Nick Allioti running the defense. Oklahoma State, Kansas and Texas Tech all have quarterbacks that would compete for all-conference honors in other regions. It’s pretty obvious why the Big 12 is hands down the best conference in college football.

Best Guess at BCS Matchups
National Title Game
USC vs. Penn State
Note: SEC and Big 12 teams will falter against each other creating a default national title game

Orange Bowl
Pittsburgh (?) vs. Wake Forest (?)
Note: Yuck

Sugar Bowl
Alabama vs. BYU
Note: BYU is going to be an interesting opponent for whoever it faces

Fiesta Bowl
Notre Dame vs. Texas
Note: The Irish just have to finish above .500, right?  I actually think Boise State has a legitimate shot at this game. The likely scenario would have a team like Florida here with a Pac-10 or Big 12 runner-up in the Rose Bowl.

Rose Bowl
Should be: Oklahoma vs. Florida
Might be: Cal vs. Ohio State
Note: The Rose Bowl really wants the Pac-10 to play the Big Ten. It’s not right, but it might happen.