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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Seven teams still unbeaten as new-look BCS debuts

Associated Press

The best way to reach the Orange Bowl and play for a national title is to go undefeated.

The new scaled-down Bowl Championship Series standings are set to debut today with seven unbeaten teams remaining after a week that began with twice that many.

While last season proved that one loss doesn’t eliminate a team from the national title chase — co-champions Southern California and LSU lost one — at this point the teams with one loss need help and can’t complain if they’re stuck behind the unbeatens in the BCS standings.

“I don’t even know how they figure (the BCS standings) out. I couldn’t tell you the criteria,” Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said Sunday. “It really doesn’t make a lot of difference. If you don’t win games, you’re not going to be there anyway.”

The top four teams in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the coaches poll — USC, Oklahoma, Auburn and Miami — are undefeated. The other unbeatens are Wisconsin and those potential BCS busters Utah and Boise State.

With the BCS’ formula now relying predominantly on the polls, the top four teams should also hold down the top four spots in the BCS standings.

Last season’s BCS mess prompted a change in how the national title matchup is determined.

In case you have forgotten, USC finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in both polls, but third in the BCS standings. That put LSU and Oklahoma, which was thumped by Kansas State in the Big 12 title game, in the Sugar Bowl playing for the BCS title.

The AP media poll voters made USC their national champion after the Trojans won the Rose Bowl. Voters in the coaches poll were obligated to make LSU No. 1 after the Tigers beat Oklahoma.

So the BCS guys went back to work and came up with a formula in which the AP poll counts for one-third of a team’s BCS points, the coaches poll counts for a third and an average of six computer rankings makes up the other third. In the past, results from the AP and coaches polls were averaged, then factored in with the other components — a formula that lessened the polls’ significance.

USC ups lead over Oklahoma

On the eve of the season’s first Bowl Championship Series standings, No. 1 Southern California increased its lead on No. 2 Oklahoma in the Associated Press Top 25 on Sunday.

Auburn slipped ahead of Miami to No. 3 in the media poll for the first time this season.

Last week, the gap between the Trojans and Sooners had closed to 19 points — the smallest it has been all season — after USC edged California and Oklahoma shut out Texas. But on Saturday the Trojans played their best game, beating previously unbeaten Arizona State 45-7.

USC received 50 first-place votes and 1,610 points and now leads Oklahoma by 43 points.

Florida State is No. 5, and Wisconsin is sixth after winning a battle of unbeatens at Purdue.

California, Texas, unbeaten Utah (6-0) and Georgia round out the first 10.

Boise St. moved up to No. 19 and Notre Dame, ranked No. 24, makes its first appearance since Sept. 7, 2003.

Ducks suddenly have hope

It’s just a two-game winning streak. But for Oregon, it’s reason to be hopeful.

With victories over Washington State and Arizona, the Ducks have their first two-game winning streak going since last November. And they seemed to have righted a team that just three weeks ago seemed to be floundering with mistakes and missed opportunities.

The Ducks improved to a modest 3-3 overall and 2-1 in the Pacific-10 with a 28-14 victory over Arizona on Saturday.

Oregon heads to Stanford next week then returns home to host northwest rival Washington. Then the Ducks visit No. 7 California. USC is not on the schedule.