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Ohio State passes USC in the lineup for a bowl position

The Ohio State Buckeyes have been nicknamed the "Luckeyes" this season because they have won 10 of their 11 games with little production from their offense in some of them and by close scores in many of them. Two victories came in overtime and five were by seven or fewer points.

The luck of the Buckeyes continued Monday when the new standing in the Bowl Championship Series showed them ranked second, up from third place. Ohio State (10-1) remained behind Oklahoma (11-0). The teams that finish in the top two spots will play for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.

The Buckeyes are ahead of Southern California (9-1), which dropped from second to third in the BCS. So Ohio State, the reigning national champion, might clinch a berth in the title game by beating host Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday in a game that will decide the winner of the Big Ten Conference.

Oklahoma and Southern California have two more games, and the pairings for the BCS bowl games (Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar) will not be known until after the games of Dec. 6.

Although the BCS standing takes in several components, including the polls of the news media and the coaches, the most important factor in the change of this week's BCS ranking was Southern California's lowered status in the average of six out of the seven computer rankings.

The computer ranking of the New York Times had Southern California No. 5, but because it was the lowest of the seven computer rankings, it was not included in the average, according to the format's procedures.

In the Times' ranking, the Trojans fell from third place to fifth place despite a 45-0 victory over Arizona while Ohio State beat Purdue in overtime by 16-13. Ohio State remained second in The Times' computer ranking.

But Ohio State's overall margin over USC is slim. In a BCS formula in which the lower score is best, Oklahoma score is 1.80, Ohio State's is 7.52 and USC's is 7.71.

Marjorie Connelly, who supervises the computer ranking for the New York Times, said strength of schedule was the major factor in the fall of Southern California.

"Ohio State is playing better teams," Connelly said. "Ohio State beat Purdue, which was No. 12. Southern California beat Arizona, which was No. 75. Because we don't take into account margin of victory anymore, it doesn't matter if Southern California beat Arizona by one point or 45. USC has a particularly bad opponents' record. Its opponents' records are 49-48."

The Trojans play UCLA on Saturday and Oregon State on Dec. 6. Pete Carroll, the USC coach, issued a brief statement through the school's sports information office.

"I wasn't concerned about it last week and I'm not concerned about it this week," Carroll said of the ranking.

Victories in the final two games could help USC's strength-of-schedule factor because the Bruins are 6-5 and Oregon State is 7-3. Ohio State's opponent, Michigan, is 9-2. Jim Tressel, the coach of Ohio State, told The Associated Press: "What is most important at this time is the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry and the Big Ten championship. Right now, the BCS rankings are secondary."

The BCS could also affect the Rose Bowl, which used to be guaranteed a match between the champions of the Big Ten and the Pac-10. Should Ohio State play, instead, in the Sugar Bowl, and USC not qualify for the Sugar Bowl, the Rose Bowl would get USC and one other team.
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