No lack-of-attention deficit for Trojans

Hard-to-find regional telecasts and time-zone differences have, for years, left Pacific 10 Conference schools feeling Left Coast isolated and ignored.

Boy, did that pay off Sunday for USC.

No. 5 Texas played four quarters of sensational football in defeating the No. 1 team in the nation, Oklahoma, and was rewarded by bounding to the top of all three major polls.

It marked the Longhorns' first regular-season trip to No. 1 in the Associated Press and coaches' polls since 1984.

Bravo, Bevo.

"Being ranked No. 1 shows respect for what we've accomplished through the early part of the season," Texas Coach Mack Brown said Sunday. "But nobody really knows who is No. 1 at this point."

USC played four quarters of ragged football, committing 10 penalties and turning the ball over on four straight third-quarter possessions in a 28-0 win over Arizona State.

Yet, the Trojans were rewarded Sunday too.

USC moved up five spots, to No. 4, in the USA Today coaches' poll; three spots, to No. 5, in the Harris Interactive Poll, and two spots, to No. 6, in the Associated Press media index.

Texas plays Missouri this week in Austin, No. 8 Oklahoma State a week later and at No. 7 Texas Tech on Nov. 1

USC heads to Pullman this week to face hapless Washington State.

So what school, Texas or USC, is better positioned for a national title run?

Maybe USC should move the rest of its games to PBS.

Thank you, voters, mostly you coaches, for not paying attention.

Less than a month after a defeat at Oregon State that some thought might cripple the Trojans' national-title hopes, USC was back on track on Oct. 12.

The poll with the least impact on USC's title chase, the AP, was the poll that rewarded the Trojans the least.

Remember, only the coaches' and Harris polls are components of the Bowl Championship Series standings, the first of which will be released next Sunday. The AP pulled out of the BCS formula after the 2004 season, although it still crowns an independent champion.

What were the coaches thinking in moving USC up more poll positions than Texas?

Obviously, it is impossible to evaluate the details of every game played, so sometimes all a pollster has to go on is a final score.

But the coaches and Harris voters really blew it by not putting Florida ahead of USC.