This week in college football as explained by *NSYNC

Sure, we all knew Colorado was good. But this good? Good enough to beat the surging Washington State Cougars in a shootout that featured five lead changes? Good enough to lead a second-half comeback on the arm of a quarterback who has been wildly inconsistent throughout his college career?

Well, we have our answer. And now, staring down a final game against Utah, the Buffaloes find themselves in control of their own destiny – an odd dark horse that was never really an underdog in talent, just in expectation. A win will ensure a trip to the Pac-12 championship game (and possibly a rematch with the Cougars!), but for now, this one game, its wild lead changes, and the 600+ yards of total offense that the Buffaloes put up have college football fans across the country falling in love with Colorado. There's room on the bandwagon for everyone, don't worry.

"Giddy Up": Christian McCaffrey runs all over Cal

Hey, remember Christian McCaffrey? He's still around, even though Stanford has been severely underperforming this year. And in a rivalry game against the Cal Golden Bears, McCaffrey saddled up and rode, netting himself three touchdowns and 284 yards.

And while it's too late for McCaffrey to turn this love around and salvage Stanford's season, the fact that he realized that he had to giddy up (giddy up, giddy up) to lead his team to a win really does beef up his own personal resume when the draft comes up. It's nice to see that McCaffrey still has it – even if it is too little too late (and against a pretty bad defensive line).

"Thinking Of You (I Drive Myself Crazy)": Ohio State barely escapes from the Spartans

Okay, maybe it was a small exaggeration when I said that Michigan State might have been the second-or-third-worst team in the Big Ten this year.

But even still, for Ohio State, a one-point win against a weak Spartan team won't look good on their resume. Add to that the fact that at this point, if Penn State beats Michigan State, as they seem likely to do, Ohio State will be locked out of the Big Ten conference championship game, and it becomes clear that if the Buckeyes wanted to ensure a playoff spot, they needed to look a little bit better against the Spartans.

Urban Meyer must be lying awake, driving himself crazy thinking about his close wins against inferior opponents – his four point win against Northwestern also comes to mind – as the season ends. The committee will be paying attention to them. They had the chance (ohhh la la la la) to make a stronger case, but now their fates in both the conference championship hunt and in the race for a playoff spot are out of their control.

"Bye Bye Bye": Louisville, Ed Orgeron, Charlie Strong, et cetera            

Oh man, where to begin.

Should we start with Louisville, who was still on the fringes of playoff contention before being blown out by Houston? With Ed Orgeron, who seemed to have a real shot at the head coaching job at LSU before losing to Florida after an impressive goal line stand? With Charlie Strong, who seemed to finally be turning his luck around before his Longhorns lost this week? With the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who are extremely unlikely to become bowl eligible after blowing a 17-point lead to Virginia Tech?

There are too many teams (and people) to bid goodbye this week. Louisville has learned that they are just another player in a game for four. The Gators and the Jayhawks both hit Orgeron and Strong with the truth. And honestly, I've wanted to see Notre Dame out that door for a while now. So while some of these goodbyes are bittersweet (especially Charlie Strong's, which is already heartbreaking even before the season has ended), perhaps it's worth it for just one final drop of Notre Dame schadenfreude.

"It's Gonna Be Me": Lamar Jackson is still the Heisman favorite

Every little thing he does, baby, never seems enough for us – we keep wanting to consider Jabrill Peppers as a Heisman candidate over Jackson, but it's just not going to happen.

Sure, I just trashed Louisville for getting upset by a Houston team most of us had written off earlier in the season. But even with a subpar performance by his (or any) standards, the Heisman trophy is still his to lose. There are no quarterbacks in the nation that come close to putting up the kinds of numbers that Jackson has so far this year, and unless the committee breaks tradition, a quarterback will win the Heisman trophy.

The simple fact is that Jackson is the best quarterback in the NCAA right now, even on a two-loss Louisville team that has played itself out of playoff contention. He'd have to do some serious imploding for his grasp on the Heisman trophy to loosen. For now, it's gonna be him.