Survival.  That is the name of the game in college football.  Find a way to survive and you keep your hopes and dreams alive.  That’s exactly what we saw this past week with the Autumn Spectacle.

At the top of the list of those who escaped with wins is top-ranked Florida.  The Gators trailed in the fourth quarter but found a way to survive.  That was partly thanks to back-to-back controversial calls by the officials and a missed field goal by Arkansas.  With this being a down year for the SEC and the fact that they miss Alabama in the regular season, UF has yet to play a top-notch opponent and won’t until the conference title game on Dec. 5.  But, they clawed their way to a win over the Hogs and, thus, survived.

Third-ranked Texas took advantage of five Oklahoma turnovers and salvaged a victory against a Sooner team that has been decimated by injury.  The Longhorns – like Florida – has yet to put together a dominant performance.  Compared to the ’08 Horn squad, this year’s team looks human, at best.  However, they made plays when they had to in the Red River Rivalry and, thus, survived.

No. 4 USC isn’t undefeated but that doesn’t mean they are out of the Crystal Ball hunt by any means.  The Trojans have no room for error the rest of the way, which makes their last-second win over Notre Dame all the more important.  USC’s defense finally made the plays at the end of the game to stave off the late Irish charge.  And thus, the Men of Troy survived.

Highly-overrated Boise State played at Tulsa on Wednesday night and looked average against a team that Oklahoma beat by 45 points earlier in the season.  The Smurf Turfers controlled most of the second half, giving them enough space to secure a victory with 40 seconds to play.  A 7-point win over Tulsa is not the kind of destiny-riddled hurdle that championship teams are known for.  However, they played well enough to survive.

These are not the only teams in the thick of the hunt for a date in Pasadena.  Unbeatens Cincinnati and Iowa both went on the road and put together solid wins on sound performances over South Florida and Wisconsin, respectively.  TCU pounded Colorado State with a trip to BYU next week.

The flip side to survival is…not surviving.  The consensus was that Virginia Tech was the best one-loss team around, simply waiting for someone to fall.  But, they went to Georgia Tech and were force fed a healthy dose of triple option football, which led to the Ramblin' Wreck fans tearing down the goalposts in Bobby Dodd Stadium.  As the Hokies’ grip on the ACC Coastal division race was pried out of their hands, so too were their dreams of making a run at the Crystal Ball.

Ohio State was in a similar boat to Va. Tech.  Their lone loss was a close one to USC.  The theory was that if they win out and get the right help, the Buckeyes would be heading to the Rose Bowl for the BCS Championship Game instead of the Granddaddy of ‘Em All.  But, The OSU looked mediocre in an 8-point defeat to Purdue, who previously had a 1-5 record.  Now, the Bucks focus is squarely on winning the Big 10.

Kansas and South Florida were the only undefeated teams that went down this week.  KU’s loss to Colorado – who everyone seems to beat badly – throws the door to the Big 12 North totally wide open.  And, any hopes of a glorious autumn in Lawrence came to an end.

While the eyes of the mainstream media will be focused on the BCS standings, we encourage you to keep an eye on the developing conference races.  The ACC Coastal will be a lot of fun.

Miami beat Georgia Tech.  Virginia Tech beat Miami.  And, Georgia Tech beat Virginia Tech.  Add in an unexpected Virginia team who is 2-0 in conference play and we have an exciting final six weeks of the season.

In the Big 10, Iowa still has trips to Michigan State and Ohio State.  The Buckeyes still go to Penn State and Michigan.  Michigan State has only one loss and they do not play Ohio State.  They also go to Minnesota and Purdue finished off by hosting Penn State.  In addition to playing Ohio State and Michigan State, the Nittany Lions also travels to Michigan this week.  The possibilities are endless here but only one team controls their destiny: Iowa.

The WAC has three teams that are still undefeated in conference (Idaho, Nevada, Boise State).  The Sun Belt is the same (UL-Monroe, Troy, UL-Lafayette).  And, the Mountain West is in the same situation (BYU, TCU, Utah).

While the weekly BCS drama is the highlight of the college football season for AS.com, the conference races are exceedingly entertaining.  With each week, the showdowns beget new storylines and new possibilities.

Drink it all in because, someday soon, the season will be over.  So, pay attention from week to week.  As Trip Captain says, “there are a limited number of autumn Saturdays in a lifetime.”

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