re: Let's clear something up...Texas 8&4's 1939 "title" is not a legit title...

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In 2003, the top two teams after the regular season were LSU and Oklahoma.

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In the penultimate BCS standings, USC had a comfortable lead on LSU (6.90 vs. 8.43). The Trojans were ranked higher in the human polls and computer rankings and also had better strength-of-schedule ratings. The expectation was that USC would play Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl with LSU left to howl.

But then Boise State beat Hawaii in the final regular-season game of the season in the middle of the Pacific.

Say what?

Exactly right, that's what happened. Combined with Syracuse's 38-12 pasting of Notre Dame, the Tigers got enough of a boost to nudge out USC by .16 of a percentage point, getting Oklahoma as their date, while the Trojans were left with a Rose Bowl berth against No. 4 Michigan.

A confluence of events made this happen, and all of it came from BCS's meddling with its standings:

1. Eliminating margin of victory from all computer formulas: This completely unnecessary step was taken gradually, out of an irrational fear of teams running up the scores to impress computers. By 2003, all BCS computers had agreed to abide by this restriction, in some cases reluctantly.

Because of this, Oklahoma's four-touchdown debacle was weighed the same as a road loss in triple overtime. Since the BCS neglected to remove the voters' eyeballs, the polls appropriately knocked the Sooners down to No. 3. But the computers overwhelmingly still went for Oklahoma.

2. Keeping strength of schedule (SOS) as a component: Strangely, with all the tweaking in the first five years, the BCS never touched this.

First of all, it's hardly an objective tool, almost as arbitrary as the human polls. The formula being used was a poor imitation of the RPI (used by the NCAA basketball selection committee) and called for an absurd division of 25 to produce the SOS number. Besides, all computer rankings have formulas for strength of schedule of their own, so at the very least, it's redundant.

3. If you can't beat them...tank them: Notre Dame was routed by the Trojans, 45-14, in South Bend, so the Irish returned the favor...by getting blown out at Syracuse on the final Saturday of the season. Notre Dame's loss dealt USC's SOS rating a fatal blow. That, combined with Boise State's win over Hawaii, another team beaten by USC earlier in the year, catapulted LSU over USC.

The Tigers, by beating Georgia for the second time in the season, saw their SOS rating jump from 54th to 29th, while USC's held at 37th. LSU edged USC by .30 of a percentage point in the SOS ratings, the difference it needed to seal its hold on the No. 2 spot.

For the record, USC played at Auburn and Notre Dame and played home games against Hawaii and BYU while LSU faced Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech and I-AA Western Illinois at home and Arizona on the road. Just how LSU's schedule could be considered to be among the top 30 in the country showed the flaw in the SOS ratings.

At the end, USC impressively defeated Michigan, 28-14, in the Rose Bowl and held on to the No. 1 AP ranking and a share of the national championship. In a rather sloppy and uninspired game, LSU defeated Oklahoma, 21-14, for the BCS title—though not without one last bit of drama.

Despite a mandate to vote for the BCS title game-winner No. 1 in the final poll, three coaches (Oregon's Mike Bellotti, Illinois' Ron Turner and South Carolina's Lou Holtz) broke the contractual agreement and cast their No. 1 ballots for USC.

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