Ohio St. jumps to No. 2 over Southern Cal in BCS

The Buckeyes must beat Michigan to have a chance to defend their title.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ohio State moved past USC into second place in the BCS standings Monday. Even so, the Buckeyes might need more than a win at Michigan to defend their championship.
The Buckeyes edged ahead of Southern California by 0.19 points following their 16-13 overtime win over Purdue. The Trojans lost ground in the computers and strength of schedule after winning 45-0 at Arizona (2-9).
"That's great, I guess, but it doesn't really mean anything until we go up and play Michigan," Ohio State defensive end Will Smith said. "After we play Michigan and hopefully come out with a win, then we can see where we're ranked then."
Sooners runaway leader
Oklahoma (10-0) remained the runaway leader in the standings that will determine which two teams will play for the national championship in the Sugar Bowl.
The Sooners have a 1.0 for poll average, 1.0 for computer-rank average, 0.40 for strength of schedule, zero for losses and 0.6 bonus points for beating fifth-place Texas for a 1.8.
Ohio State was second with 7.52 points, followed by USC at 7.71 and LSU at 12.21.
"I wasn't concerned about it last week and I am not concerned about it this week," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "We have a big game coming up against UCLA. We're just trying to take care of business this week."
Unbeaten TCU falls to 8th
TCU, the only undefeated team in Division I-A along with Oklahoma, fell from sixth to eighth. The Horned Frogs, who finish the season against Southern Mississippi and SMU, need to be in the top six to guarantee an at-large berth in a BCS bowl.
"The only thing we can control is how we play in the last two games of the season," coach Gary Patterson said. "We understand with the system that's currently in place, we need to win our last two games to have a chance for a BCS bowl."
The biggest development this week was Ohio State's move to second, although it might just be temporary.
Even with a win against a quality opponent like Michigan, the Buckeyes can't improve their computer ranking unless Oklahoma loses. They are second in six of the computers and third in the other, but the lowest ranking is dropped.
Also, Ohio State's strength of schedule will only improve marginally after this week's game.
USC, which ends the season against UCLA (6-5) and Oregon State (7-3), could edge up a bit in the strength of schedule and the computers. The Trojans also could benefit with a bigger quality-win bonus if Washington State moves up from 10th in the BCS.
Poll misconception
"You can't look at the numbers without looking ahead," BCS expert Jerry Palm said. "The big misconception about the BCS is people think it works like the polls do where if you win you won't drop. It doesn't."
Palm did say that the Buckeyes will be almost impossible to catch if LSU loses, which would allow Ohio State to move from fourth place to third in the polls.
"What is most important at this time is the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry and the Big Ten championship," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "Right now, the BCS rankings are secondary."