Here are five things I learned in college football this season:

1. Will Steve Spurrier be back for an 11th season at South Carolina? Spurrier, the Gamecocks’ all-time winningest coach with an 81-44 record, seemed to leave some doubt about his future at the school during an interview earlier this week with Josh Kendall of The State newspaper of Columbia, South Carolina.

“The plan is to definitely be back here and so forth,” Spurrier told The State on Tuesday. “Just say that’s the plan.”

The Gamecocks, who were ranked No. 9 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, have been one of the country’s biggest disappointments with a 4-5 record, 2-5 in the SEC.

They have lost four of their past five games, blowing big leads late in losses to Missouri (up 20-7 with 7:25 to go), Kentucky (38-24 with 11:45 left) and Tennessee (42-28 with 4:52 remaining).

“Gosh almighty, I didn’t see all this coming,” Spurrier told The State. “I don’t think anybody did. The sad part is the games have been winnable but something has happened to us at the end. It is what it is. We have to regroup and keep fighting, try to get these guys positive and see if we can get a ball to bounce our way maybe late in a game or so forth.”

After starting the season with such high expectations, the Gamecocks, who have a bye this week, will have to win two of their last three games to become bowl eligible. South Carolina plays at Florida on Nov. 15, hosts South Alabama on Nov. 22 and closes the regular season at rival Clemson on Nov. 29.

I don’t think Spurrier will hang it up before getting the Gamecocks back in the right direction. He won 122 games, six SEC championships and the 1996 national title during his 12 seasons at Florida, and he really wants to lead the Gamecocks to their first SEC championship.

Spurrier, who turns 70 in April, might make some staff changes during the offseason, and defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward’s job certainly seems to be in danger, as the Gamecocks rank last in the SEC in total defense.

2. Oregon Ducks fans should be happy the old BCS computer ratings aren’t being used to help select the four teams for the inaugural College Football Playoff.

According to BCS proxy ratings compiled by Wes Colley, the Ducks would be No. 5 in the BCS ratings, behind No. 1 Mississippi State, No. 2 Florida State, No. 3 Auburn and No. 4 Alabama.

The CFP selection committee and BCS proxy ratings agreed on the top three teams this week, but the 12-person selection committee had Oregon ranked No. 4, one spot ahead of the Crimson Tide.

The computer ratings that used to make up one-third of the BCS formula (the coaches’ poll and Harris Interactive poll made up the other two-thirds) aren’t currently big fans of Oregon. In fact, four of the six computer polls have the Ducks rated outside the top five. Colley’s ratings ranked them sixth, and Kenneth Massey, Jeff Sagarin and Peter Wolfe each had them seventh.

Sagarin’s ratings, which are published in USA Today, continue to be perplexing. They’re different from his ratings used by the BCS (they now factor in margin of victory), but they’re strange nonetheless. Sagarin has Auburn ranked No. 1, followed by Alabama, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Mississippi State. Sagarin also has undefeated Florida State ranked No. 13.

3. How difficult is it for opponents to prepare for Navy’s triple-option spread offense? So much so that there seems to be a hangover for teams that had to face it.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, six of the seven teams that faced Navy lost the next week. No. 10 Notre Dame is coming off a 49-39 victory over the Midshipmen and plays at No. 9 Arizona State on Saturday.

In the past seven seasons, the Fighting Irish are only 2-5 in games played the week after facing Navy, including a 2010 loss against Tulsa, which was coached by current Arizona State coach Todd Graham.

4. Is UAB football on the potential chopping block again? A group of UAB boosters are afraid that might be the case.

The UAB Football Foundation, which was created last week by a Birmingham, Alabama, businessman, wrote a letter to the University of Alabama Board of Trustees alleging that the trustees are taking steps to shut down the program after the 2016 season.

The alumni group points out that new UAB coach Bill Clark, who has guided the Blazers to a 5-4 record, was given a three-year contract, which will end after the 2016 season. The boosters also contend that UAB hasn’t scheduled games against nonconference opponents beyond the 2016 season.

UAB president Ray L. Watts told Al.com on Thursday that the school is studying the financial viability of the football program, along with other programs throughout the university.

"Within that framework, the athletic department is conducting a full strategic review of its programs,” Watts said in a statement. “The athletic department has engaged outside experts and is exploring a full range of options -- not all of which will be implemented -- to reach its desired results of sustained excellence.

"Not surprisingly given the size of the program, one area of focus involves evaluating the investments in football and the resources necessary to achieve and sustain excellence now and into the future. We've been working for many months on this data driven process, and it would be counterproductive and inappropriate to speculate on outcomes based on an incomplete process -- not just related to athletics, but across the campus.”

The strategic-planning report is expected to be finished in the next couple of months.

5. And finally, the stat of the week from ESPN Stats & Info: LSU's Tiger Stadium is one of the sport's best home-field advantages, but don’t tell that to Alabama. Since 1970, the Crimson Tide, who visit LSU on Saturday night, are 17-4-1 when playing at Death Valley.