USC #1 in BCS computers -- if it were 2001

USC is ranked #1, it just doesn't count.

All the human polls and the BCS rankings have the Trojans at #5, but the computers have the Trojans at #8.

As discussed earlier, the computers tend to take a more balanced look at the season than the humans. So what are we missing?

Some might suspect that the drop is due to strength of schedule, but that's not the case. The Sagarin Ratings, for example, say USC has the 33rd toughest schedule. Not good, but not bad -- half of the top 10 teams are ranked lower.

The difference turns out to be margin of victory. That's one of the tweaks that was made to the BCS formula in an effort to reduce incentive for teams to run up the score. Factoring in margin of victory under Sagarin's system, USC jumps from eighth to ... first.

Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and Penn State round out the top 5 according to Sagarin's old-school methodology.

-- Adam Rose
Photo by Mark J. Terrill/AP