(Image source: SportsNOLA.com)

BY JIM FLINK

1-2-3.  Want to know where to find the best college football teams in America?  They’re all from the same division -- of the same conference -- at least for this week.  The SEC West.
Number 1? LSU.  Number 2? ‘bama.  Number 3? Pig Souee.  Go Hogs.  Uh, that’s Arkansas to you and me.
ESPN notes, this is historic.

“The only other time in the 75-year history of The Associated Press rankings that the top three teams all came from the same conference was the final regular-season poll of 1971, when Nebraska, Oklahoma and Colorado from the Big Eight were 1-2-3.”

ESPN’s Mark May explains how we got here.

“Friday night was the first one, when Oklahoma State going down to Iowa State.  And then how bout Saturday?  Oklahoma and Baylor.  Oklahoma loses that game. And then Oregon losing to USC.  So where are we now?  It’s all a jumble.”

Three of the top five went down this past weekend.  USA Today says, for those who love the drama, at last -- chaos has consumed college football.  Thing is -- this weekend wasn’t supposed to go like this.

“On what looked like a run-of-the-mill weekend, four top-10 teams went down to defeat at the hands of unranked opponents, causing plenty of shuffling in the new USA TODAY coaches poll.”

And while the south is whistling Dixie, some sports writers aren’t exactly thrilled with this turn of events.
Like CBS Sports’ Big 12 blogger.

“Were you one of the people who were dreading the idea of a rematch between LSU and Alabama for the BCS title? Well, blame the Big 12 because I don't think you've got any other choice right now. Thanks to Iowa State and Baylor knocking off Oklahoma State and Oklahoma this weekend, two of the biggest threats to SEC dominance have been knocked out of the running.”

Fox Sports says, don’t get too comfortable just yet.
Because Arkansas plays LSU -- in six short days and all hell could break loose... again.

“....let’s say Arkansas beats LSU and moves up to No. 1, Alabama stays at No. 2 and LSU drops to No. 3. Then Alabama would STILL win the tiebreaker and play for the SEC championship with a chance to go to the BCS championship to play the Hogs in a rematch of the Tide's 38-14 thumping on September 24.”