Play it forward: Alabama is the team to beat, again, in Southeastern Conference

Five things to watch in Week 4 of college football

1: Alabama has clearly established itself as the class of the Southeastern Conference and next week’s trip to South Carolina might be the last chance for an upset until the Crimson Tide faces Auburn in the Iron Bowl. South Carolina, 3-1, has the advantage of coming off a bye week.

2: Weekend losses kept USC and Stanford from being next week’s marquee matchup in Palo Alto. The Trojans can’t win the Pacific 10 this year, but they can play the spoiler’s role and very much want to prevent a third loss to the Cardinal in the last four years.

3: It took a little luck and some last-second heroics, but Michigan State at Michigan will feature two 5-0 teams ranked in the top 25. These fierce rivals share little in common except harrowing victories over Notre Dame this year.

4: Louisiana State Coach Les Miles has a national title to his name despite game-management skills that are, at times, almost comical. He survived another late-game blunder in Saturday’s win over Tennessee but can’t count on Florida having 13 defenders on the field next weekend in Gainesville.

5: Florida State at Miami used to be the game of the year, but now it’s just a good game. There’s no national title at stake, and Bobby Bowden’s no longer around to be tortured by missed field goals. Miami has also toned down its bad-boy image. What fun is that?