Where are the upsets? No, I mean the really, the big upsets. At least one that cleans out bank accounts and shakes the sport to its foundations.

There hasn't been one yet this season.

Penn State over Ohio State? Not really huge and not much of one at all now with the Nittany Lions on a roll. South Carolina over Tennessee wasn't totally unexpected. South Alabama has beaten both Mississippi State and San Diego State. Did you notice?

The season's largest point-spread upset was SMU, a 22.5-point underdog, beating Houston. It was a shocker but not as much now that Cougars are eliminated from the CFP and headed out of contention in the AAC.

Houston, it turns out, just wasn't good enough this season. It lost twice as at least a 16-point favorite.

Our own SportsLine.com has tracked at least 11 games where underdogs of at least 14.5 points won this season. Only three of the victims were from Power Five conferences.

So perhaps we haven't noticed.

The gap between the haves and the have nots has never been larger. A lot of the drama has been sucked out of this season with the usual suspects at the top.

On this day one year ago, there were exactly five undefeated teams. Four of them were in the Power Five. That's same situation we face heading into Week 11.

We live for upsets, especially the really big ones. That's why we slow down on the highway to watch wrecks. Morbid curiosity doesn't stop at lane closures.

All of it is either a warning or a wish (or both) before diving into this week.

1. Great (Sean) White hope: If you've got Alabama against the field, well, smart bet. The best threat from that field just might be Auburn. On a roll and on the road at Georgia, the Tigers must clear this one final hurdle before getting to the Iron Bowl.

The Tigers' top-10 ranking as a two-loss team is well-deserved. No. 9 ranking as the CFP's best two-loss team is well deserved. Their only two losses are to No. 2 Clemson and No. 8 Texas A&M.

Gus Malzahn has gone old school in getting off the hot seat. He relied on his defense and kicking game. Carl Lawson returned healthy and impactful. Kicker Daniel Carlson has missed just two of 22 field goals.

Quarterback Sean White turned into a revelation. Kamryn Pettway developed into a punishing go-to running back for an offense that is averaging 300 yards on the ground.

Beat Georgia, and Auburn is at a place few thought it would be in September -- in the Iron Bowl taking the first step toward what could be a CFP berth.

2. Pac-12 close-up: This is where it all comes crashing down for the Pac-12. Possibly.

While Washington was celebrating entry into the CFP's Football Four this week, there was already talk circulating that a Pac-12 champion could be left out.

USC soars into U-Dub having won five in a row. Clay Helton is off the hot seat. While a win at Washington further validates USC, does it necessarily make the Pac-12 better? Even if Washington goes on to win the league, would it finish below a one-loss Louisville or Michigan that loses the Big Ten title game?

All of it distracts from the greatest collection of talent in one place all season in the Pac-12. USC has righted itself with the help of budding star QB Sam Darnold. He and Washington's Jake Browning are 1-2 in Pac-12 pass efficiency.

USC safety Adoree Jackson is having an All-American season. After a slow start, JuJu Smith-Schuster is third in Pac-12 receiving yards. There is a battle shaping up between him and the great John Ross of Washington (second in Pac-12 receiving yards).

For the Pac-12, the best result for the Huskies is to win -- big.

3. Charlie stays: It's looking more and more like Charlie Strong is going to hang on at Texas. Though the Horns are a modest 5-4 heading into the West Virginia game, there is identity there. Texas has the ability to outscore its remaining opponents now that tailback D'Onta Foreman has emerged.

That's more than ironic Strong overseeing a defense that is struggling. That's his area of expertise. But it's going to be hard to fire Strong if he builds an offense around the nation's leading rusher and a possible Heisman Trophy finalist/Doak Award winner. Only Ricky Williams has rushed for more yards than Foreman (1,446) to this point in a Texas season.

The administration has to consider whether it wants to get on the coaching carousel of changing coaches every few years. Strong has the strong support of Texas president Greg Fenves. Of course, political winds in Austin can shift direction at any given moment.

4. SEC Least: Jon Solomon did a fine job of telling you just how bad the SEC East is right now. Consider that, as soon as Saturday night, every team in the division could have at least three losses. That's an easy one since six of the seven teams already have four.

Look out Florida (vs. South Carolina). A Gators loss guarantees the East will have (at least) a three-loss champion for the first time since 2010.

5. Big Ten is for real: In case you missed it, the Big Ten's performance this season is one of the biggest stories of 2016. It enters Saturday with five ranked teams. Yes, same as the SEC and ACC, but the average rank of those five teams is in the top 10! (9.6)

There are three teams in the top seven. Alabama-Michigan being 1-2 in the country foreshadow the ultimate national championship game (Nick Saban vs. Jim Harbaugh).

Aside from Alabama, name an SEC team Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State and even Nebraska can't beat.

A quick primer for those five ranked teams on Saturday ...

  • No. 12 Penn State at Indiana: Don't know if I consider the Nits at top-10 team, but what do I know? The CFP sure does (No. 10). If you don't bathe in maize and blue lotion, James Franklin is your Big Ten coach of the year.
  • Illinois at No. 7 Wisconsin: There's a path -- a very plausible one -- for the Badgers to get to the CFP. It simply involves winning out and beating either Ohio State or Michigan in the Big Ten title game. You think it can't happen? A win against either team avenges a regular-season loss. In that scenario, the CFP isn't going to keep out an 11-2 Wisconsin.
  • No. 6 Ohio State at Maryland: The Buckeyes feel better about themselves after the Nebraska destruction. The Terps have to look up to see the bottom of their cleats after a beatdown by Michigan.
  • No. 2 Michigan at Iowa: Jim Harbaugh is ahead of schedule if you consider he has positioned the Wolverines for a CFP run in his second season. I expected multiple Big Ten titles. I expected periodic runs at a national championship. I didn't expect this much, this fast. When Iowa as good last season, it was still (generally) a step slow against elite teams. Now it's 5-4 having won four of the last five in the series. Coach Khaki Pants will be motivated to cover the 21.5. He's winning games by more than 37 on average to this point.
  • Minnesota at No. 21 Nebraska: This game is being billed as the first to be produced in virtual reality. This is good news for the Huskers, who need a break from actual reality after the second-worst loss in school history at Ohio State. Incredibly, this game still means a lot to Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska. The three are tied in the Big Ten West at 4-2.

6. Radioactive Baylor: We'd love to lead off this space with Oklahoma speeding to another Big 12 title with the nation's No. 2 passer (Baker Mayfield). But it seems wherever the Bears go lately, bad juju seems to follow. This week, acting head coach Jim Grobe flipped his stance on career leading rusher Shock Linwood within the space of two hours.

Linwood, Baylor's career rushing leading rusher, "got into [it] a little bit" with a graduate assistant during a 40-point loss to TCU, Grobe reported on Monday. But, Grobe said, that had nothing to do with Linwood's reduced playing time. Shortly after making that statement on the Big 12 coaches' conference call, Grobe announced Linwood would not play against Oklahoma due to "some attitude issues."

The obfuscating at Baylor continues. Grobe said he didn't know about a tweet assistants had sent out reacting to a Wall Street Journal story. Things have gotten so bad, one columnist this week called for Baylor to be kicked out of the conference. Now.

One thing is for sure: It's hard to make completely about football when Baylor plays.

7. Weekly Coach O update: Yes, Ed Orgeron (3-1 since Les Miles was fired) has to win at Arkansas to keep any hope alive of him keeping the LSU job. I think. Please check in next week.

8. Mulling Mullen: Is there any more bipolar team this season than Mississippi State (at Alabama on Saturday)? The Bulldogs had lost three games on the final play before upsetting then-No. 4 Texas A&M last week. This is why we love coach Dan Mullen so much after he bared his soul recently on Siriux/XM radio.

"Finally, after the Kentucky game where their kid hits a 50-yard career [long field goal] to finish the game, I looked at our guys and said, 'I don't have anything else for you. I really don't. I feel awful.'"

9. My weekly CFP reaction: One Twitter follower called Ohio State's loss to Penn State on Oct. 22 "horrific." Now I see outrage on various platforms that the No. 5 Bucks aren't in the top four of the CFP. You can't have it both ways now that Penn State has won a few games.

A loss is a loss is a loss, Bucknuts, especially when there are four Power Five undefeateds left. The CFP Selection Committee got it right this week, and it was easy -- Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Washington.