A VIEWER’S GUIDE TO THE DAY IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Saban’s homecoming

1. Since Nick Saban became Alabama’s coach in January 2007, both schools and their fans have had today circled on their calendars.

Saban’s first trip back to LSU, where he won the 2003 BCS championship, was going to be big under any circumstances.

But, as if the football gods decided to write their own script, Saban goes to Baton Rouge today as the coach of the No. 1 team in the nation.

The fact is that Saban built the foundation that resulted in LSU’s incredible three-year run (34-6, one national championship) under Les Miles. But don’t expect the LSU fans, who turned out en masse for last year’s Alabama-LSU game in Tuscaloosa, to be in a grateful mood when Saban runs onto the playing field at Tiger Stadium.

“We have great memories and great friends,” Saban said of his years (2000-04) at LSU. “But my heart is with this team.”

LSU (6-2) will not repeat as national champion. But denying Alabama and Saban a shot at the national title would be sweet.

SEC

2. Gamecock revival

After starting the season 0-2 in the SEC, South Carolina (6-3) has won three of its past four conference games and is bowl-eligible with three games to play. Visiting Arkansas (4-5) has been playing much better since a 2-3 start. It held Tulsa, the nation’s top-scoring team, to 23 points last week.

3. Pressure at Auburn

With Tommy Bowden out at Clemson and Phillip Fulmer stepping down at Tennessee at the end of the season, a lot of eyes are now turning to Auburn, where Tommy Tuberville is fighting for his professional life with a 4-5 record. Auburn will win today when it hosts Tennessee-Martin (7-2), the No. 20 team in Division I-AA. The issue is whether the Tigers will be able to win one of their last two against Georgia (Nov. 15) or No. 1 Alabama (Nov. 29 in Tuscaloosa) to avoid their first losing record since 1999, Tuberville’s first season as coach.

4. Vandy’s struggles

Vanderbilt started 5-0 this season and appeared to be a lock to qualify for its first bowl game since 1982. But the Commodores have lost three straight. Vanderbilt has had a week off, but it is not expected to pick up that elusive sixth victory today when Florida (7-1), which may be the hottest team in college football, visits Nashville. The Gators, who have scored 201 points in their past four games, are ranked No. 5 in the BCS and have to keep winning impressively to stay in the national championship race. That should be motivation enough.

5. Vols’ last roundup

It will be a surreal sight when head coach Phillip Fulmer takes his team on the “Vol Walk” before today’s game. Fulmer announced Monday that, at Tennessee’s request, he will be stepping down as head coach after 16 seasons. He will coach the Vols’ final three games. If Tennessee (3-6) wins its last three and qualifies for a bowl, Fulmer will be given the opportunity to coach in that game. It will be interesting to see how the Tennessee players respond today, hosting a bad Wyoming (3-6) team.

ACC

6. Look who’s 79

What kind of odds could you have gotten back in the summer that, when “Bowden Bowl X” rolled around, the only Bowden left in college football would be Bobby? The ageless Florida State coach turns 79 today. A win today against visiting Clemson and a Wake Forest loss to Virginia means FSU (6-2, 3-2) would control its destiny in the Atlantic and could win the division by beating Boston College on Nov. 15 in Tallahassee and Maryland on Nov. 22 in College Park.

7. The Vatican Bowl

Today’s meeting of Notre Dame (5-3) and Boston College (5-3) will be the 18th between the nation’s top football-playing Catholic institutions. Boston College has won four straight meetings and five of the past six against the Fighting Irish. This is the first time the two teams have met in Chestnut Hill, Mass., since 2003. Boston College, which started 5-1, has dropped two straight as quarterback Chris Crane has seven turnovers in his past two outings.

8. Do or die at Duke

Some losses are tougher to bounce back from than others. Duke (4-4) will have its hands full today when it hosts N.C. State (2-6) as the Blue Devils try to get over last week’s 33-30 overtime loss to Wake Forest. With N.C. State, Clemson, Virginia Tech and North Carolina left on the schedule, the Blue Devils have to beat the struggling Wolfpack today if they hope to become bowl-eligible.

9. Wake changes gears

After six games in a spread offense that relied on the throwing of Riley Skinner, Wake Forest was 4-2. Pretty good for Wake Forest. But coach Jim Grobe wasn’t happy and put in the I-formation. Wake Forest ran the ball 52 times in a 16-10 loss to Miami on Oct. 25. The Deacons stuck with the power game against Duke and scored 33 points, their second-highest total this season. The Deacons (5-3, 3-2) are still alive in the ACC Atlantic because they have the tiebreaker over Florida State. Another loss today against visiting Virginia (5-4, 3-2) and Wake Forest is done in the conference race.

NATION

10. Exciting Eagles

Georgia Southern’s penchant for close games is starting to get very entertaining. For the fourth time this season, the Eagles went to overtime —- three overtimes, in fact —- and found a way to beat The Citadel 44-41 in Charleston. It was the third overtime win for Georgia Southern this season. “The first thing we wanted to do when we got here was change some attitudes,” Georgia Southern coach Chris Hatcher said. “Then we wanted to learn how to win close games. And we’re doing that. We think this gives us something to build on for the future.” Today Samford comes to town.

11. W.Va. QB shines

West Virginia (6-2, 3-0) is atop the Big East and controls its destiny for the conference championship and a spot in the BCS when it hosts Cincinnati today. The bottom line: As long as quarterback Pat White is healthy, the Mountaineers will be hard to beat. White led them to a 35-13 win at Connecticut last week. He had 109 yards rushing to go over 4,000 for his career. With 248 more, White will break the record for most career rushing yards by a quarterback (4,289 by Brad Smith of Missouri).

12. Tough road for Pitt

Pittsburgh (6-2, 2-1) bounced back from its inexplicable loss to Rutgers two weeks ago to beat Notre Dame in overtime, 36-33. The Panthers have to win out against visiting Louisville today, then Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Connecticut to win the Big East championship. The good news for Pitt today is that quarterback Bill Stull, who sat out the Notre Dame game with a concussion, will return as a starter.

13. Ditto for Minnesota

Minnesota’s hopes of winning or tying for the Big Ten championship and going to the Rose Bowl took a blow last week when the Gophers (7-2, 3-2) lost to Northwestern 20-17. Now the Gophers want to win their last three games against Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa to finish 10-2, which should be good enough for a New Year’s Day bowl assignment. Visiting Michigan (2-7) will not be going to a bowl for the first time in 34 years. In fact, the Wolverines could be headed to their worst season since going 2-7 in 1962.

14. Buckeye danger

Ohio State (7-2) is No. 11 in the BCS standings, and if the Buckeyes win out they will likely get an at-large BCS bid. But all of that could be lost today if they fall at Northwestern (7-2, 3-2), which is quietly putting together a very good season. Mike Kafka, Northwestern’s backup quarterback, had 360 yards of offense in last week’s upset of Minnesota.

15. Iowa lies in wait

If you’re a Penn State fan with dreams of seeing Joe Paterno get another shot at the brass ring, today’s visit to Iowa (5-4) should scare you to death. Iowa lost consecutive games to Pittsburgh (21-20), Northwestern (22-17) and Michigan State (16-13) by a total of nine points. But now the Hawkeyes have won three straight over Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois. Remember this stat: Iowa has forced 16 turnovers this season, more than any team in the Big Ten.

16. Goal for Spartans

Michigan State (8-2, 5-1) cannot lose focus today when Purdue (3-6, 1-4) pays a visit to East Lansing, Mich. The Spartans can still win the Big Ten championship and go to the Rose Bowl if they win their final two games against Purdue and Penn State and Ohio State loses one of its final three games. “The reality is, if we win the last two games, we are at the very least, co-Big Ten champs,” coach Mark Dantonio said. “Not many people can say that right now in terms of their conference.”

17. Big game hangover?

Texas Tech (9-0) used the biggest win its history (39-33 over No. 1 Texas) to jump from No. 7 to No. 2 in the BCS standings. But how big of a hangover will there be for the Red Raiders when No. 9 Oklahoma State (8-1) visits Lubbock tonight? The Cowboys know the best way to control the Texas Tech offense is to keep it on the sidelines. Oklahoma State is fifth in the nation in rushing.

18. Sooner QB booms

Sam Bradford of Oklahoma (8-1, 4-1) continues to have one of the best seasons ever for a Sooner quarterback. He threw for 311 yards and five touchdowns in last week’s win against Nebraska, giving him 3,086 yards in five games. He has thrown 34 touchdown passes and only six interceptions. Look for Bradford to have another big day at Texas A&M (4-5), whose defense is ranked 104th in yards (427.11 ypg) and 102nd in scoring (32.6 ppg).

19. USC wins, slides

The schedule, or the lack of it, has finally caught up to USC (7-1, 5-1), which dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 in the BCS standings despite a 56-0 win over winless Washington. The Trojans are No. 6 and No. 7 in the human polls but have an average of 10 in the six computer-generated polls that make up the BCS standings. “The more we win the worse we get,” coach Pete Carroll told the Los Angeles Times. USC should pick up some computer points today at home if it can beat No. 21 California (6-2, 4-1).

20. Rosy scenario

Oregon State (5-3, 4-1) is one of two teams (along with California) that controls its destiny in the Pac-10. Win out and the Beavers would go to the Rose Bowl instead of USC, which lost to Oregon State 27-21 on Sept. 25. Oregon State travels to UCLA (3-5) today, where the Bruins must win to have much of any chance of reaching a bowl game.