Southern Cal vs. Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl appears to be three victories away, two by the Trojans and one by the Sooners.
USC and Oklahoma held the top spots in the Bowl Championship Series standings Monday, leaving little doubt they are in control of the national title race.
Unbeaten Auburn is stuck in third and looks as if it'll be left out of the Orange Bowl no matter how it does in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game Dec.4 against Tennessee.
Not only did Oklahoma, with a BCS grade of .9642, slightly increase its lead over Auburn (.9356) from last week to .0286, it made a big gain on USC.
The Trojans' .9789 grade is their lowest of the season. Their lead on Oklahoma is .0147.
"It's good. You feel like you fought hard to be in that position," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "Like I said before, in the end I don't know how you separate (the contenders). When you look at strength of schedule and those things, those are making a difference. But we'll see how it all plays out."
USC finishes the season against Notre Dame on Saturday and UCLA on Dec.4. The Sooners play the Big 12 title game against Iowa State or Colorado.
Only an unexpected loss or a dramatic shift in the polls, where USC is a solid No.1 and Oklahoma holds a slight advantage over Auburn for second, could derail a Trojans-Sooners matchup.
"I think it will all work itself out," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. "Hopefully, everyone is fair about it."
ILLINOIS CANS COACH: Illinois fired Ron Turner after three straight losing seasons, a sharp turnaround from early success that included the team's first Big Ten title in a decade.
Illinois went 3-8 this season and has one conference victory the past two. Half of the Illini's four wins overall the past two seasons were against I-AA opponents.
Turner had two seasons left on his contract, which pays him $1.1-million per year in salary and deferred compensation.
"I realize it's a bottom-line business and the last couple of years we didn't win enough football games," Turner said at a news conference. "I can leave this university knowing that I ran a program with great integrity."
AD LEAVES: Colorado athletic director Dick Tharp resigned, ending a nine-year tenure sullied by accusations of recruiting violations and fiscal mismanagement.
The resignation came months after the program was rocked by allegations that sex and alcohol were used to entice recruits and lawsuits accused players or recruits of sexual assault.
New allegations about fundraising problems surfaced this month. The school told the NCAA last week that a small booster club that had not been audited under university auspices bought equipment for the athletic department, an NCAA violation.
Tharp said his resignation was not an admission of wrongdoing.
KENTUCKY: Offensive coordinator Ron Hudson resigned, citing poor performance. Among 117 I-A teams, the Wildcats rank No.114 in total offense and No.115 in scoring offense.
NAVY: The Midshipmen accepted an invitation to the Emerald Bowl on Dec.30 in San Francisco and will play New Mexico or Wyoming.
PITT: Quarterback Tyler Palko made an impassioned plea on behalf of coach Walt Harris, whose status has not been clarified despite the team's recent improvement. "I know he's taken a lot of heat for stuff, but I think the city needs to know this team is 100 percent behind him," Palko said.
SAN JOSE ST.: Coach Fitz Hill resigned with one game left in his fourth straight losing season with the Spartans and will become an instructor at Central Florida. Hill was one of five black head coaches in I-A.
WEST VIRGINIA: Receiver Chris Henry has been suspended for Thursday night's game at Pittsburgh for an unspecified violation of team rules, coach Rich Rodriguez announced.
BROADCASTING: The Dec.4 game between Southern Miss and No.4 California will be broadcast at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN. ... Fox will replace ABC as the primary broadcaster of Bowl Championship Series games starting with the 2006 season.
