Number two Oklahoma and number three Auburn have kept their national championship hopes alive by scoring wins in U.S. college football action.
Oklahoma defeated Baylor, 35-0 behind 240 yards rushing from Adrian Peterson and quarterback Jason White's 19 completions for 194 yards. The Sooners are undefeated this season but still needed to run up the score to stay ahead of Auburn in the Bowl Championship Series Standings.
Sooners' Coach Bob Stoops says he felt bad about the situation, but he has to keep his team in contention. "None of us want to do that. We are in a bad position. And anyone who does not express that or put both arguments out there is not being totally fair. So we are in a bad position as coaches the way that this is set up," he says.
Meanwhile, Auburn beat archrival Alabama 21-13, thanks to quarterback Jason Campbell's 216 yards passing. The Tigers are third in the Bowl Championship Series standings behind Southern California and Oklahoma. Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville says that remaining undefeated was doubly sweet because it came at Alabama's expense. "You know the big thing about this game is that you know it is always going to be hard fought. We knew we were going to be in for a battle today. Alabama played well. We came out and played in the second half the way we should have the first half," he says.
Also Saturday, number-four California kept its Rose Bowl hopes in play by beating Stanford 41-6. California is 9-1 this season and in second place in the Pac-10 Conference behind Southern California. If USC ends up playing in the Orange Bowl for the national championship, California would go to the Rose Bowl.
In other games, Ohio State beat archrival and seventh-ranked Michigan, 37-21. Michigan still gets to go to the Rose Bowl because Iowa defeated Wisconsin, 30-7.