BCS Unbeaten USC halfway to title game in Miami

The No. 1 Trojans have wins over six teams with a total record of 23-8.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Unbeaten Southern California is halfway to Miami, having accomplished what appears to be the hard part toward reaching this season's BCS title game in the Orange Bowl.
The top-ranked Trojans have beaten six teams with an aggregate record of 23-8. Three -- No. 7 California, No. 21 Arizona State and No. 23 Virginia Tech -- are among the Top 25 in this week's Associated Press poll.
The remaining six opponents are 16-21, with No. 24 Notre Dame (5-2) and UCLA (4-2) the only ones with winning records. And the Trojans don't have to leave the Los Angeles area for either game.
In great position
Those facts, along with USC's history of strong finishes under coach Pete Carroll, seem to put the Trojans in a great position to finish the regular season unscathed.
"I love that aspect of our program," Carroll said Tuesday. "We hope that characteristic will be realized again."
The Trojans won five of their last six regular-season games before losing to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl in 2001 -- their first year under Carroll.
The 2002 team won its last eight, including the Orange Bowl over Iowa, and last season's team won its final nine, including the Rose Bowl over Michigan.
BCS standings
"People keep asking about it. We will figure it out at the end," Carroll said of the BCS standings. "I know this is fun for everybody and it's topical. We will go along with whatever it says at the end. The control factor for us is to go out, play the game to win."
Carroll said he believes that in a way, the Trojans began their late-season push last Saturday with a 45-7 rout of previously unbeaten ASU.
"Our guys came down the tunnel cranked up and ready to go," he said. "They didn't let up until it was over."
USC (6-0, 3-0 Pac-10) begins the second half of its schedule Saturday against woeful Washington (1-5, 0-3) at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
USC is huge favorite
The Huskies, generally one of the Pac-10's stronger teams, have lost five of their first six for the first time in 31 years, and are one loss away from their first losing season since 1976. The Trojans, winners of their last 15 games, are listed as 34-point favorites.
"I know they've had some problems getting to this point," Carroll said. "They have had a great program, they were the most winning program in the '90s. That's a pretty significant statement to make. They have the potential to be a great program."
The Huskies were 93-36-1 between 1990 and 2000, but are 22-21 since that time.
The BCS standings have been tweaked this season, with the major polls accounting for two-thirds of the weight.
Missed the title game
The Trojans were ranked No. 1 in both polls at the conclusion of the regular season last year, but third in the BCS standings -- knocking them out of the BCS title game.
Oklahoma finished first in the BCS standings despite losing the Big 12 championship game and dropping to third in the major polls. The Sooners were beaten in the Sugar Bowl by LSU, which was voted No. 1 by the coaches. Southern Cal finished No. 1 in the AP poll.
Under the new system, LSU and Southern Cal would have met in the Sugar Bowl.
That was then. This is now.
"It's cool to be on top," USC quarterback Matt Leinart said. "Nothing's in stone yet. Our focus is on Washington."