Chip Kelly is interested to see how his team responds after their first loss of the season. Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

Notre Dame, Alabama, and Georgia all control their destiny to reach college football’s title game on January 7th in Florida. The Irish nearly swept all the first-place votes in the human polls and receiving a number one ranking with the computers to receive a .997 average. As long as they defeat USC this coming Saturday, they will be in.

Alabama and Georgia come in at second and third, respectively. The Bulldogs are already in the SEC Championship but still has a rivalry game against Georgia Tech this Saturday. The Crimson Tide has their rivalry against a reeling Auburn team also this Saturday. Assuming they win, the SEC Championship turns into a playoff game to reach the national championship.

Realistically, there is no scenario where the SEC champion would be left out of the national championship at this point unless one of them drop a game this Saturday.

That makes Florida and Oregon huge USC fans on Saturday night. If the Trojans are able to upset Notre Dame, the Ducks and Gators have rivalry games on the road against Oregon State and Florida State, respectively. If both teams win that game, this is where controversy would arise.

Florida is in fourth place with just a 1.1 percent lead over Oregon. Considering the computers already think the Gators are the second-best team in the nation and Ducks seventh, it’s obvious to assume that Oregon will not win that side of the formula. It will all rely on the other part of the formula and the human voters.

That being said, it raises the debate on whether it’s better that Oregon doesn’t reach the conference championship game. The computers may actually see Oregon better if Stanford wins out and takes the Pac-12 championship since that would be the Ducks’ only loss of the season.

Back to the human voters, most of them probably do not want another all-SEC title game. As long as Oregon has a solid performance in Corvallis that could get them to second place in both human polls after an Irish loss and either Georgia or Alabama lose in the SEC title game.

This is what makes college football so interesting down the stretch. So many games could matter in the final two weeks or it may just come down to four games. For Oregon’s sake, they hope it’s more.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Autzen Zoo. See his banter with other FanSided writers and love for his favorite west coast professional teams by following him on Twitter.

Both of those elite SEC schools have always been regarded as two of the most likely landing spots for the Norcross standout, with Georgia being viewed as the likely program to secure a commitment from Kamara. However, he has become more interested in the Ducks and could even schedule an official visit to Eugene for the upcoming game against Stanford.

Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

What isn’t a rumor is Kamara’s talent, because he’s definitely one of the top 100 recruits in the 2013 class and arguably the top running back in the state of Georgia. Alabama has already received a commitment from the back who is usually ranked higher than him, in fellow four-star back Tyren Jones.

Kamara is an elusive back with great vision, and he is pretty strong too at 5’10″, 195 pounds. He runs a 4.55 forty and ran for 1,300 yards in 2013. And, of course, he is an excellent pass-catcher. This season, his statistics have been even better, and it will be interesting to see if/when he gets a visit set up to Eugene.

2014 quarterback Will Ulmer is a rising junior who is already regarded as one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country, and he told Rivals that he could be getting an offer from Oregon soon. That would be huge for the four-star quarterback, who is lighting up the DC area with his rushing ability for St. John’s. In fact, he might just be the best running QB on the east coast.

Maryland, Ohio State, and Oregon are three schools to watch for in Ulmer’s recruitment, and Maryland has already identified him as one of their top targets in the 2014 class with an offer. UNC, Boston College, and Syracuse have also offered. A handful of other elite programs have also shown interest, so Ulmer is already receiving suitors and could end up being one of the top 250 recruits in the class.

Will Ulmer has an unofficial visit to Ohio State later this month.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.

Jan 2, 2012; Pasadena, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Darron Thomas (5), left, and coach Chip Kelly react after the 2012 Rose Bowl game against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Rose Bowl. Oregon defeated Wisconsin 45-38. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Unfortunately, the Oregon Ducks isn’t one of those top three programs. But they remain on the heels of the elite as they came in fifth place with no first place votes. LSU took the top spot with 18 first-place votes in the poll; Alabama came in second with 20 votes and USC rounded it out with 19 votes. Together, the trio had 57 of the 59 coaches selecting them as the top program in the country.

Oklahoma had one first place vote and finished at fourth. Florida State was the final team that received a first-place vote and they are slotted at seventh. Georgia finished ahead of them at sixth.

The SEC dominated the top 10 (unsurprisingly) with five teams. The other two that haven’t been mentioned are South Carolina at ninth and Arkansas right after. Only the Pac-12 has at least one more team in the mix.

Stanford is the only other team in the top 25, checking in at 18th. Among the BCS qualifying conferences, the SEC had the most teams in the pack with seven, the Big 12 had six, the Big Ten had four, and the ACC tied the Pac-12 with three. Louisville was the highest Big East team to receive any votes.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Autzen Zoo, follow the site on Facebook and Twitter. Read his other work on the Iowa State blog, Clones Confidential, and Watson Talk Lacrosse.