The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., From The Press Box Column

The Orlando Sentinel

Sep. 9--Here we are, four days removed from BYU's upset over Oklahoma, and the Cougars are still the talk of the college football world.

As in: if BYU can run the table the way Utah has in the past, will this be the year an "outsider team" is deemed worthy enough to play for a national championship?

BYU jumped 11 spots to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 released Tuesday. The coaches had BYU at No. 12, up 12 spots from preseason No. 24. The Gators stayed at No. 1 in both polls.

Though only one game has been played, it's never too early to discuss BCS possibilities, especially with another Mountain West Conference school poised for an undefeated run.

After Utah went undefeated last season and was shut out of the BCS championship game, the league did its share of rattling cages to get the powers-that-be to see the inequities of having the six power conferences get automatic bids. Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch held Congressional hearings about whether the BCS is in violation of anti-trust laws because of its qualification system. Will BYU follow the same path as Utah this season? Let's take a look at the eight teams ranked ahead of the Cougars right now:

Presume No. 1 UF and No. 4 Alabama play in the SEC championship game. That means one of those teams loses, and it means No. 6 Ole Miss has at least one loss, too. USC has to deal with No. 8 Ohio State and No. 10 California. No. 2 Texas and No. 5 Oklahoma State play each other and in the brutal Big 12. No. 7 Penn State and No. 8 Ohio State play each other, too. Teams around the Cougars are going to lose. The bigger question is this: Will an undefeated BYU team be able to finish ahead of either an undefeated team from a power conference or a one-loss team from a power conference?

In the final regular-season coaches poll of 2008, Utah was ranked No. 7. BYU has a head start over Utah at this stage (the Utes were ranked No. 23 in the coaches poll at this time last year), and has a much stronger non-conference schedule in its favor.

Though there has been more of a spotlight on MWC teams, would the coaches, computers and Harris poll voters rank undefeated BYU over, say, a one-loss Texas team that wins the Big 12 title game? Or a one-loss USC team that drops a close one in Week 2 to Ohio State? Or even a one-loss Gators team that wins the SEC?

My gut feeling is no, even though there is going to be a whole lot of pressure to do it. The potential rationalizations? BYU only beat Oklahoma because Sam Bradford got hurt. FSU -- a BYU opponent -- is not that good. Utah is rebuilding. BYU is already better than TCU.

If BYU goes undefeated, it would only be fair to give the Cougars a spot in the BCS title game. But since when has college football been fair?

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