Ohio State moved into the No. 2 spot in yesterday’s Bowl Championship Series standings.
If the Buckeyes hold the No. 1 or the No. 2 ranking in the final standings, released in the second week of December, they will go to the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., to play for the national championship.
“We are proud of what our young men have done to date,” said OSU football coach Jim Tressel to The Associated Press yesterday. “But we know if we don’t play our best road game of the year at Purdue, we won’t be No. 2 next week.”
Of the three major unbeaten teams, the Oklahoma Sooners hold the No. 1 position with a score of 2.04, the Buckeyes bring up the second spot with a 5.57 score and returning champion Miami (Fla.) came in at No. 3 with 6.01.
“I can’t become overly concerned about what the pollsters do,” said Miami football coach Larry Coker to the AP.
Coker said it would be easy to rate Miami low if the team does not play better. “The thing we have to do is make sure we get it corrected and win the games. If we do that, the polls will take care of themselves.”
OSU finished ahead of Miami in each category of the BCS except for the poll average. The Buckeyes have a poll average of 3.00, while the Hurricanes have a 1.50 average.
In the computer average – the average score of six different computer rankings – OSU had a 2.33 score compared to Miami’s 2.67.
“Nobody wants us in the national championship game,” said Miami tailback Willis McGahee. “The minute we lose, we’ll probably fall down to No. 10. I don’t know why there are so many haters.”
The Buckeyes’ strength of schedule helped them the most in overcoming the Hurricanes for the No. 2 ranking. OSU had the 21st hardest schedule in the nation – which garnered them a 0.84 score – while Miami had the 46th hardest schedule, giving them a 1.84 score in that category.
“It does not matter. All that is going to take care of itself, and we are just making sure we get a ‘W’ every week,” said OSU defensive tackle Kenny Peterson.
Since neither team had any losses on the season, neither the Buckeyes nor the Hurricanes were penalized one point for a loss.
OSU received a -0.60 award in the quality win category for beating Washington State earlier this year, while Miami did not get any reward. Quality win points are given if one team beats another team ranked in the BCS top 10.
The amount of the quality win reward varies on the ranking of the defeated team. For example, if OSU had beaten the No. 3 team in the BCS rankings, the Buckeyes would have gotten -0.80 points – while they would have gotten only -0.10 points for beating the No. 10 team.
This category proved to be the difference-maker for the Buckeyes, as they would have had 6.17 points compared to Miami’s 6.01 if the quality win award had not been given.
“I am not too concerned about it all. There is a lot of college football left to be played, and just winning is our main focus,” said OSU cornerback Dustin Fox.
Ironically enough, the quality win category was added last year as a direct result of Miami. The Hurricanes had beaten No. 2 BCS-ranked Florida State in 2000 season but finished behind the Seminoles in the final standings. Had the quality win award been in the formula in 2000, Miami would have played Oklahoma for the national championship instead of Florida State.
Each of the scores that comprise this year’s BCS standings will be subject to change. Even if the Buckeyes win the rest of their games, Miami might be ahead of them in the final standings.
If the Hurricanes move back into the No. 1 spot in both polls, they would gain 0.50 points and overtake OSU. Depending on how each team plays, the computer rankings might go up or down for each team. Miami also appears to have a tougher schedule for the rest of the season.
The Buckeyes have games against Purdue, Illinois and No. 11 BCS-ranked Michigan, while Miami plays Tennessee, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and No. 10 BCS-ranked Virginia Tech.
“All I know is that to even be considered for the national championship you have to win all your games, so that’s what we are concentrating on,” Tressel said.
