LSU finally homes in

If LSU makes it as far as the Southeastern Conference championship game in December, much less the BCS title game in the Rose Bowl in January, the Tigers will have earned every accolade.

Forget about winning. How about just playing?

For the third time in a month, LSU has had to deal with hurricane-related issues.

The most recent came this weekend as the looming presence of Hurricane Rita forced the postponement of today's key SEC game against Tennessee until Monday night.

How good is LSU? It's hard to say.

The team's opener with North Texas was postponed until November. It had to put together a wild fourth-quarter comeback to win its ''home" opener against Arizona State two weeks ago, and now it must deal with a Tennessee team that is coming off a tough road loss to Florida.

To make matters worse for coach Phil Fulmer's team, Tennessee is traveling on the day of the game, rather than the day before, as an accommodation to the crowded housing situation in Baton Rouge, which is handling evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Day of game travel happens in high school and at some lower division college levels, but is unheard of in Division 1-A, where coaches love their routine of meetings, meals, and rest at a hotel.

Now that will be all changed. Edge LSU.

Add that the Tigers are finally playing before their home crowd at Tiger Stadium. Edge LSU.

LSU 21, Tennessee 17

USC at Oregon: The Trojans are the best team in college football. Are they one of the best teams of all time? Perhaps. With Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, and Co., the Trojans could probably score on the Patriots. But the Trojans are going into new territory, a rigorous Pac-10 road schedule that begins with today's encounter.

The guess is that Leinart and friends will have enough firepower to outlast the Ducks, who are a much tougher team at Autzen Stadium than on the road.

USC 45, Oregon 28

Boston College at Clemson: On the surface, it doesn't look good for BC in its first trip to Death Valley. Quarterback Quinton Porter is hobbling on a gimpy ankle and relegated to watching Matt Ryan try to make the Eagles fly again. But, the Eagles can take control of the game early if the offensive line does its job and Ryan doesn't make a key mistake. BC has dealt with hostile crowds before and seems to feed off it.

And Clemson isn't that good.

The key here is the Eagles' Mathias Kiwanuka. He is that good.

BC 16, Clemson 13

Notre Dame at Washington: This is the Ty Bowl, where former Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham gets an up-close and personal look at his old team as the Irish, with new coach Charlie Weis, comes to the West Coast for a visit.

It's nice for pregame hoopla, but will it make a difference once the game starts? Probably not. Notre Dame is better. Much better. The Irish have to regroup after losing last week to Michigan State, but they can do that with Weis running the show.

Willingham does a lot of things well as a coach, but making inspirational speeches? That hasn't been his MO in the past.

Notre Dame 34, Washington 14

Iowa at Ohio State: The Buckeyes stumbled against Texas two weeks ago. Iowa stumbled even worse in losing to Iowa State last week. That was bad news for the Hawkeyes, who some thought were No. 1 in the country.

Neither team can afford another loss if it has BCS aspirations. And Iowa gave the Buckeyes one of their worst beatings ever a year ago in Iowa City. It all adds up to a nice revenge game, doesn't it?

Nah.

Iowa 23, Ohio State 21