Remember the good old days when people would want to know who's number one?
Today the big question in college football is who's number two?
We owe all of this to an inept Bowl Championship Series.
While Oklahoma remains No. 2 in the BCS, it's a very shaky lead over the Auburn Tigers.
Auburn tied OU for second in the Associated Press poll and the Sooners have a slim lead over the Tigers in the USA Today/Coaches poll and are no. 1 in the computer polls.
The annual debate on how the BCS has messed things up again could hit a fever pitch in the upcoming weeks.
The chances of three major conference teams going unbeaten is a distinct possibility. There's no doubt USC will play for the national title in the Orange Bowl, if it wins its remaining games against Notre Dame and UCLA.
If OU and Auburn both win out, one will be on its way to Miami while the other is left to ponder why a 12-0 BCS conference team is not good enough.
The Sooners main problem is that they have not been winning in convincing fashion. They defeated OSU by three points and Texas A&M by seven points with some poor play in the defensive backfield.
Auburn average victory is 25 points, while OU average margin is 16..8 points.
But despite the projected problems, OU's resume does stack up will with Auburn's. The Sooners opponents actually have a better record and Auburn's. Both teams are 10-0 and OU has four wins over ranked opponents to Auburn's three.
But make no mistake about it, a 12-0 Auburn who swept through the Southeastern Conference deserves a chance to play in the Orange Bowl. A 12-0 OU teams does also as does an unbeaten USC team.
"Everybody is talking about catching Oklahoma," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said. "I don't understand how USC's gotten so far ahead of everybody else."
Good question. USC has been reaping the benefits of the happenings of last year. Many thought the Trojans should have in the national title game because of the Sooners loss to Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game last year. Thus, the Trojans came out ranked one in the preseason polls.
USC has had its struggles with a three-point win over a mediocre Stanford team and they also had problems with Oregon State.
"Strength of schedule is important, but it's also how you are playing," Tuberville said. "It's not like we've been winning by two or three points. We been pretty much naming our score."
Knowing style points count, Tuberville left his first unit defenders in the whole game against Georgia, hoping for a shutout.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops did the same thing only to lose a shutout on a field goal on the last play game.
"It is funny how we find ourselves in these circumstances at the end of games," said Stoops. "It really puts you in an odd position. I don't like being in that position. Unfortunately, the way things are these days, that's the way it is."
One thing that worked in the Sooners benefit is the computers. OU is the best team in the country according to those computers.
There is no telling how this will play out. Some of the so-called BCS experts say if OU defeats Baylor and wins the Big 12 Championship game, they will go to MIami. Others say if Auburn wins out they will get the nod.
OU fans will route hard for Alabama to upset Auburn on Saturday. Fans of a playoff system should hope all three of those teams go unbeaten creating more controversy for the BCS, and a better argument for a playoff.
I don't know how this will all play out. I really don't think any one knows.
What I do know is that if OU, USC and Auburn finish unbeaten, some deserving team will not get to play for the national title. Also some deserving fans will not get to watch their team play for a national championship.
LSU coach Nick Saban said it best. ''They can change it however they want,'' Saban said. ''But until they create a system that includes more than two teams, they won't be able to handle three teams at the top.''
I couldn't agree more. Until a playoff comes, college football is at the mercy of the BCS and all of its ineptness.
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