The Bowl Championship Series computers have judged Ohio State to be better than Southern California. Oh, the unfairness of it all.

Let the whining begin. The Trojans win by 45, the Buckeyes win in overtime and, somehow, the Bucks move past USC in the BCS rankings. USC has won every game by at least 17. The Luckeyes have won three times without scoring a touchdown on offense. The only thing worse than leaving the college football rankings to nerdy media people is leaving them to nerdy computer people.

It's an outrage.

Call your congressman.

Ask him if he favors a playoff. If he says yes, ask him how it would work. Probably, he'd answer the way Pete Carroll did:

"I have no idea," the USC coach said this week. "That's not my job to figure it out."

Everyone wants a playoff. Nobody can figure it out. Four teams? Not enough. Sixteen? Would you like them to be playing on Valentine's Day? Eight is the most logical. But that's three more games for the two finalists.

Assuming all games involve travel - are you really going to give a No. 4 seed a home game against a No. 5? - who, exactly, will have the money to attend them?

Not that it matters. A playoff isn't happening any time soon.

There is a good chance Michigan will end all the moaning Saturday. There is a better chance that Oklahoma will stomp it even flatter in the Sugar Bowl. For now, could we please get a moratorium on the annual anti-BCS hand-wringing?

This is what it looks like to some of us: Ohio State and USC have one loss. Ohio State plays in a league top-heavy with ranked teams. USC plays in a league lighter than air. Giving as much weight to margin of victory as to schedule strength - and that really is the only debate here - is like giving Miss America as much credit for brains as for looks.

If you want style points, figure skating is available.

You want it clear-cut? Don't play four nonconference games against teams with a combined record of 20-22. We're supposed to feel sorry for USC because the Trojans beat BYU, Notre Dame and Hawaii?

You want no questions asked? Play more than two schools ranked in the Top 25. Other than Washington State, the only ranked team the Trojans have beaten was Auburn in Week 1. The fraudulent Tigers are 6-5.

Oh, and don't lose to Cal, a mediocre team in your bad league.

Including Michigan, Ohio State will have played seven Top 25 teams this year, including three top-10s. (By comparison, last season's national champions played only three ranked teams before winning the Fiesta Bowl.)

While the Trojans are smoking teams, the Buckeyes are white-knuckling every week. But it was the coaches who eliminated victory margin from consideration. And let's not get too worked up over USC's 45-0 win last week over 2-9 Arizona. The Wildcats are losing by an average of 30 a game.

Shouldn't a close win over a good team count more than a blowout of a bad one? Of course it should. Otherwise, every bowl-hunting team in America would chow down on nonconference Twinkies. Would you rather see Miami play Florida State? Or Florida A&M?

None of it is settled yet, anyway. The Buckeyes are in if they win Saturday. Either that or they're not. BCS guru Jerry Palm told the Washington Post this week's ranking "is kind of temporary."

Beat Michigan, pack your beads and mothball your inhibitions, you're going to New Orleans. Beat Michigan, become instant fans of whoever's playing Southern Cal and every team you beat earlier this year. Then hold your breath.

The BCS poll was created to bring a measure of certainty to determining the two best teams in college football. What it has become, instead, is a barrel of monkeys. Isn't it great?

E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com