Conference standings on the line this week in college football

PLAY IT FORWARD

Five things to watch this week in college football.

1. Pittsburgh and Syracuse were accepted Sunday as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. That sets the stage for further conference expansion. Regents from Texas and Oklahoma meet separately Monday to discuss possible moves to the Pacific 12 Conference. Stay tuned.

2. Big 12/Pac-12/Southeastern Conference game of the week? Oklahoma State plays at Texas A&M in a Big 12 game that actually might involve three conferences. Oklahoma State might be headed to the Pac-12 with Oklahoma while Texas A&M is SEC-bound as soon as it clears legal hurdles.

3. USC’s upcoming showdown at Arizona State lost a little luster when the Sun Devils dropped a tough weekend game at Illinois. The winner in Tempe, however, becomes the team to beat in the Pac-12 South, though USC is postseason ineligible because of NCAA sanctions.

4. Meet Vanderbilt: The incorrigible Commodores are 3-0 after Saturday’s 30-7 rout over Mississippi and now face a critical road test at South Carolina (3-0), the team picked to win the SEC East. The Gamecocks have narrowly escaped the last two weeks with three-point wins against Georgia and Navy.

5. The SEC West, the best division in college football, must surrender one of its three undefeated teams when Arkansas plays at Alabama. Arkansas moved to 3-0 with a 10-point win over Troy while Alabama stayed unbeaten with a 41-0 win against North Texas.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com