Chris Dufresne’s Play It Forward

Five things to watch this week in college football:

1: Boise State (10-0) plays its third straight Friday night game when it travels to Nevada (10-1) in a top-20 matchup that could have huge Rose Bowl and national title implications if Auburn loses earlier in the day at Alabama.

2: Top-ranked Oregon can clinch the last Pac-10 title in history with a home win against Arizona. Next year, the conference becomes the Pac-12 with the additions of Colorado and Utah.

3. Notre Dame and USC, playing Saturday at the Coliseum, have become the epitome of mediocre since meeting last year in October as one-loss opponents at South Bend. The Trojans are 10-7 since that game, and the Irish are 8-9.

4. Auburn at Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Friday should be loaded with drama against the backdrop of a national title chase and pay-for-play allegations swirling around Tigers’ quarterback Cam Newton. The Iron Bowl rivalry, as they say, is “365 days.”

5. The Big Ten’s slot in the Rose Bowl comes down to a three-team, final-weekend sweepstakes involving Wisconsin, Michigan State and Ohio State. If the teams end up tied, the bid goes to the highest team in the final BCS standings. Advantage there: Wisconsin.

— Chris Dufresne