Season will shake itself out

When the college football season began, the University of Southern California was No. 1 - almost by acclamation.

Sure, the Trojans had stumbled a bit last season with unexpected losses to Oregon State and UCLA. But the Trojans had reloaded and restocked their recruiting shelves so well that first-year Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh suggested during the Pacific 10 media day that USC might be one of the great teams of all time.

Fast-forward a month into the season and Stanford, a 40-point road underdog, proved to the college football world that the Trojans weren't even the best team in the stadium with a stunning upset.

Bye-bye, BCS?

Well, not exactly. Not this season.

Move across the country to Columbus, Ohio, and check out the status of Ohio State, last year's Big Ten champion, which lost in the BCS title game to Florida.

This season, coach Jim Tressel lost Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and a host of other NFL-quality players. Best in the country? Forgetaboutit. Best in the Big Ten? Sorry, that was supposed to be decided between preseason No. 5 Michigan and No. 7 Wisconsin. The Buckeyes were grudgingly given a No. 11 spot.

The only problem with preseason predictions is that sometimes the regular season gets in the way. Going into tomorrow's Big Ten meeting with No. 24 Penn State, Ohio State is No. 1 - in the country.

USC is No. 9, as it continues to recover from its loss to Stanford, but the Trojans face No. 5 Oregon tomorrow in Eugene and a victory would put them right back in the title chase.

The problem this season is that everyone seems suspect - at least in terms of credentials in the top 10. Ohio State moved up in the rankings because of attrition as much as talent.

Critics of Ohio State say the Buckeyes haven't played anyone of note yet and have to prove themselves. Although this is not a vintage Penn State team, the Nittany Lions will be playing at home - where they have beaten Ohio State the past three times.

In fact, the last team to beat Ohio State during the regular season was . . . Penn State - and that was 26 games ago.

"I had not realized the last time they lost a regular-season game was against us," said Penn State coach Joe Paterno. "I was not aware of that. I don't particularly look back a lot of times. I can tell you right now they're playing really well."

Well, well enough, which also includes a closer-than-expected 24-17 win over Michigan State last week.

Still, if Ohio State wins tomorrow, the Buckeyes will seem more legitimate in the eyes of the BCS computers and pollsters. And if USC wins at Oregon, the Trojans will be right back on course to continue what is the closest thing to a dynasty.

Ohio State-USC would be a very marketable title game.

Unless, of course, we continue to have upsets and movement among the top-5 teams, which now includes Boston College, No. 2 going into last night's meeting with Virginia Tech.

We have already had South Florida, California, Oregon, LSU, Florida, Oregon, and West Virginia all checking out the top spots to see if they would be a good fit.

There is even a possibility the BCS title game will have its first two-loss participant. And there will be more upsets among the elite in the coming weeks.

In this season, at least, anything is possible.

Globe's Top 10
1. Ohio State
2. Boston College
3. Oregon
4. Oklahoma
5. LSU
6. USC
7. West Virginia
8. Arizona State
9. Virginia Tech
10. Florida

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.