Top college football teams take the show on the road

The nation's top-ranked teams have proven that they can win at home, in September, during non-conference play. Today is different: For the first time all season, the FBS' frontrunners will take the show on the road.

And they do it en masse. Five of the top six teams in this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll play conference games away from home; the lone exception among the top six is No. 2 Oregon, which has a bye.

No. 1 Alabama heads to Missouri. No. 3 South Carolina is at No. 8 LSU. No. 6 Florida looks to avoid a letdown at Vanderbilt in the early evening.

In the Big 12, No. 4 West Virginia plays Texas Tech in Lubbock. In the past, Lubbock has been a place where championship dreams go to die. No. 5 Kansas State plays No. 25 Iowa State in Ames – and every game is a potential trap game when the Cyclones are involved.

The only top 10 teams that play host on Saturday are LSU and No. 7 Notre Dame. The Irish welcome No. 17 Stanford to South Bend, looking to snap a three-game losing streak to the Cardinal.

Rounding out the top 10 is No. 9 USC, which plays at Washington, and No. 10 Oklahoma, which plays Texas in the Cotton Bowl in this year's renewal of the Red River Rivalry.

Another two undefeated teams are on the road: No. 16 Louisville is underway at Pittsburgh, trailing 21-14 near the end of the first half, and No. 14 Oregon State plays at BYU.

The Beavers will be without starting quarterback Sean Mannion, who suffered a torn meniscus in the third quarter of last Saturday's win over Washington State. With Mannion out at least two weeks, Oregon State will turn to junior Cody Vaz.

It's a good time for a prove-yourself-on-the-road weekend. The first BCS standings will be released on Sunday evening, giving an early look at how the championship race might shake out over the year's second half.