The real one-loss wonder

The BCS formula is already overloaded with variables and statistics in its effort to definitively select the two strongest teams in the nation. Whether you like the BCS or not (and I don't), you have to admit it is a pretty thorough exercise.

So maybe it doesn't need another thing to consider.

But then again, if college football wanted to reward the programs that do the most to generate excitement in the sport, then it ought to give a bonus to the schools that excel in one highly telling statistic – biggest set of stones (in a scheduling sense, of course).

Strength of schedule is nice, but it doesn't serve as a barometer for what truly matters in the game of college football.

The gut check bonus should go to the teams who, by their own volition, put together the most fearsome non-conference schedules, who chose competition over cash and are willing to risk defeat, injury and exhaustion just for the challenge and excitement of the big game.

And that is why it would be justice if Southern California – should it finish the season with one loss – secures a spot in the BCS championship game against Saturday's Michigan-Ohio State victor.

The agreed upon BCS formula is the agreed upon BCS formula, so whatever it spews out should be the accepted matchup with no complaints. But in hindsight, and for its foresight concerning the health of the sport, USC deserves some extra credit for doing what no one else was willing to do this season – duck no one.

Ohio State and Michigan can't make that claim. Florida, as it preps for its big clash with not just a I-AA team but also a bad I-AA team, can't. Neither can Arkansas or Rutgers or West Virginia or whoever.

Strength of schedule rewards teams from the best conference and that is fine. But some years a team is hamstrung by its conference slate, which makes up the majority of its schedule. The conference you are in is the conference you are in (USC can't just jump to the SEC). Some years it is stronger, some years weaker.

It isn't Ohio State's fault that the Big Ten broke bad this year, and to compound things the uneven schedule meant no game against Wisconsin (the only other good Big Ten team outside of the Buckeyes and Wolverines).

But the non-conference schedule is Ohio State's fault. And Michigan's. And everyone else. Especially Florida, which wants to be considered a serious Division I-A contender but is playing I-AA Western Carolina (2-8) Saturday. Western Carolina? What, Electoral College was booked?

USC coach Pete Carroll was asked this week if he'd rather be playing Western Carolina.

"No," he smiled, "I like this."

Who doesn't?

USC's schedule includes nine Pac-10 games and three non-conference ones. The Trojans could have brought in a couple sisters of the poor and could have even played a I-AA school, which is the new trend since greedy athletic administrators added a 12th game.

Instead, here is who the Trojans scheduled:

• No. 5 Arkansas in Fayetteville, laying a 50-14 pounding on a team that is currently 9-1, unbeaten in the SEC and will likely play for its conference title.

• No. 24 Nebraska, winning 28-10 over a team that will play in the Big 12 title game and still might make a BCS game.

• No. 6 Notre Dame in a game scheduled for Thanksgiving weekend that will continue the nearly extinct tradition of intersectional rivalry.

Now that's a non-conference schedule. No breaks. No excuses. The kind of bring-it-on mentality that every college football fan should applaud.

The Trojans still have to beat Cal, Notre Dame and UCLA to wind up 11-1. That's not easy. But if they do, then it would be nice to see them held up as an example for future schedulers, not a cautionary tale.

Whether you like or loathe the Trojans isn't the point. You have to respect a program that doesn't back down, that is willing to take its show on the road to the SEC rather than just cash in some easy money off a powder-puff game.

Ohio State played Texas and that's it. Michigan played Notre Dame and that's it. There is a lot of talk about a rematch in the BCS bowl, but the fact that both programs rounded out their schedule with two Mid-American Conference patsies is weak. Arkansas took on SC but then went with Louisiana-Monroe, Utah State and Southeast Missouri State. Notre Dame played every service academy this side of the Salvation Army.

Florida chose to play Western Carolina, Central Florida and Southern Miss – a directional Southern slate that only Rand McNally could love. West Virginia loved the compass schools, too, beating Eastern Washington and East Carolina, even though who knew those states even had "Easts"?

We'll forgive Rutgers for playing some dogs because, well, for the last 130 or so years, the Scarlet Knights have been a dog. No one, including Greg Schiano, thought they'd run the table.

But no one else has an excuse. Everyone else chose virtual bye weeks and a big home gate over competition. Everyone else rested up for conference play. Everyone else gave their fans and players lousy games. Everyone else ducked out on what college football is supposed to be about.

Not USC. Not one bit.

The Trojans won't be rewarded for that attitude. But they should.