you must have missed Alabama's where they played Penn State, Arkansas, Florida, and South Carolina.

you must have missed Alabama's where they played Penn State, Arkansas, Florida, and South Carolina.

Boises beginning schedule is the hardest in the nation.

I believe that distinction actually goes to Oregon State.

It'd be bullshit if Ohio State was ranked 5 like projected. They deserve #1. Only Oregon has a case for #1.

The BCS is the worst thing in the history of sports. Right ahead of college football pre-season polls.

Ohio State deserves nothing. Have they played a single team worth a damn yet?

According to jim, Boise is terrible.

So...

Boise State (11) is No. 3 in the USA Today coaches' poll and the Harris Interactive Poll. TCU (12) is No. 5 with USA Today and No. 4 with Harris.

Yet by BCS computer average, where laundry is not taken into account, these two schools rule. The Broncos are No. 1 with two computers (Sagarin, Massey), No. 2 with Billingsley, No. 5 with Colley and No. 6 with Anderson. (The sixth, Wolfe, has not yet released its rankings.) TCU is No. 2 with Sagarin and Massey, No. 3 with Colley, No. 4 with Billingsley and No. 7 with Anderson.

All five computers have both Boise and TCU ranked higher than the consensus 1-2 in the polls, Ohio State (which is anywhere from sixth to 15th) and Oregon (fourth to 10th).

The Dash understands that those computer numbers may well change, as strength of schedule ebbs for both the Broncos and Horned Frogs. But as of right now, they're both being dissed by voters in favor of Establishment teams.

Boise continued to lose ground to Ohio State and Oregon in the USA Today poll. The Broncos slipped from 101 points behind the Buckeyes to 120 behind, and from 24 points behind the Ducks to 53 behind.

TCU suffered the same indignity. It slipped from 190 points behind Ohio State to 242 behind, and from 113 points behind the Ducks to 175 points behind.

Based on what, you ask? Here's what:
Oregon beat Washington State by 20.
Ohio State beat Indiana by 28.
Boise beat Toledo by 43.
TCU beat Wyoming by 45.

The laundry loyalists either decided that there simply was no way the sudden Alabama power vacuum at the top was going to be filled by outsiders, or they decided that beating Washington State and Indiana was more impressive than beating Toledo and Wyoming.

The latter possibility overlooks the fact that neither Indiana nor Washington State has accomplished anything this year. Average computer rankings for those four, as of this week: Toledo 57.2, Wyoming 68, Indiana 83.2, Washington State 94.8.

Bottom line: Boise and TCU had more impressive victories than Oregon and Ohio State, but were penalized anyway. You cannot objectively dismiss the Broncos and Frogs for the schedules they've played so far, but objectivity isn't getting much run in the notoriously nonsensical coaches' poll.

(That can also be seen in the treatment accorded to Oregon State (13). The Beavers have played an incredible schedule to date -- at Boise, at TCU, at Arizona. They lost the first two in respectable fashion, by a combined 22 points. They beat then-No. 9 Arizona on Saturday. Their reward? No ranking, and fewer votes than a Texas team that has been a flaming disappointment so far.)

Since the adaptation of the current formula, in 2004 after the hue and cry over the 2003 split championship debacle, every single team that ranked either first or second in the two human polls (AP in 2004, Harris since 2005, and the Coaches poll) played in the BCS national title game.

Let's take a look: (Coaches-AP/Harris)

2004: USC (1-1) vs. Oklahoma (2-2)
2005: USC (1-1) vs. Texas (2-2)
2006: Ohio State (1-1) vs. Florida (2-2)
2007: Ohio State (1-1) vs. LSU (2-2)
2008: Oklahoma (1-2) vs. Florida (2-1)
2009: Alabama (1-1) vs. Texas (2-2)

It's a perfect 12-for-12. If the BCS formula never existed, these teams would've still met for the title anyway.