Florida State Will Move Up

College football will take another step toward controversy today when the bowl championship series rankings reveal that Florida State has leapfrogged Miami for the coveted No. 2 spot.

Oklahoma will remain No. 1 in the BCS, followed by Florida State, Miami, Washington and Oregon State.

The official BCS rankings will not be released until today but Jerry Palm, a Chicago-based math expert who has deciphered the formula, posted the latest news Sunday night on his Web site.

What it means is this: Miami has to overcome about a half-point BCS deficit this weekend against Boston College or else cede to Florida State a national championship game matchup against Oklahoma in the Jan. 3 Orange Bowl.

This is controversial because Miami defeated Florida State, 27-24, on Oct. 7 in Miami.

Florida State has completed its regular-season schedule.

If Miami can’t make up the necessary points against Boston College, the integrity of the BCS system can only be saved by an Oklahoma loss either this week against Oklahoma State or to Kansas State on Dec. 2 in the Big 12 title game.

If Oklahoma loses either game, Florida State and Miami would then be paired in a rematch for the national title.

Miami entered the weekend with a .48 lead on Florida State in the BCS, but Miami’s convincing 26-0 victory over unranked Syracuse was not enough to off-set the rankings boost Florida State received from a 30-7 win over No. 4 Florida in Tallahassee.

The BCS rankings system uses four components--polls, computers, losses and strength of schedule--to determine the national title game participants.