Polls and perception guide the process in college football, an unavoidable occurrence when coaches and computers help decide who competes for a national championship.

Given those truths, it is easy to see why Colorado might be upset that it could be shut out of playing for the national championship when a team the Buffaloes defeated by 26 points is still in contention.

But what about the teams that lost fewer games than Colorado? Don't they have a beef, too?

You bet.

	Oregon's Joey Harrington has said if CU goes to the Rose Bowl, the BCS system doesn't work.

Oregon (10-1), Illinois (10-1) and Maryland (10-1) all won their respective conference championships, just as Colorado did. All will play in a Bowl Championship Series Bowl, just like the Buffs. Yet they have no shot at competing for the national championship in the Rose Bowl.

Why?

If Colorado with two losses has a gripe, why can't the Ducks, Illini and Terrapins do some hollering. And for that matter, why can't BYU, which can run its record to 13-0 with a victory at Hawaii on Saturday but can't even get a sniff from the BCS.

All of this controversy arose on Monday when it was learned that if Tennessee loses to LSU on Saturday in the SEC Championship game, the Cornhuskers will move up to the second BCS slot and face Miami in the Rose Bowl.

That's the same Nebraska team that allowed 62 points to Colorado, which then went on to defeat Texas for the Big 12 title. Colorado believes it should be ahead of Nebraska in the pecking order.

But Oregon, Illinois and Maryland can air similar complaints. They lost just one game, while Colorado has two losses.

And of those teams, Oregon could holler the loudest.

The Ducks are ranked ahead of Nebraska and Colorado in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. They were the outright champions of the Pac-10. But they have no shot of passing Nebraska and Colorado in the BCS standings, due to the computer components and strength of schedule.

"I don't know why Colorado is above us," said Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington. "They have two losses. All the things that seem important in years past, I guess, are thrown out with the computers.

"I don't know what the perfect system is, but obviously when you have teams with two losses involved in the mix, it's not a perfect system. Colorado may be the best team in football at this point, but they weren't all year long. I think there are a lot of people who agree with me."

Harrington acknowledged that there would be no controversy if Oregon had defeated Stanford on Oct. 20. The same could be said for Illinois and Maryland. The Illini suffered their only defeat to Michigan, while Maryland's lone loss was at Florida State. Win all your games, and you're likely squaring off against Miami.

But why are their losses more significant than the one loss suffered by Nebraska? And who is to say that those one-loss teams are less deserving than the Cornhuskers?

When Oregon defeated rival Oregon State 17-14 last Saturday, it apparently wasn't impressive enough. Even though Nebraska didn't play, the Cornhuskers extended their lead over the Ducks in the BCS standings. And Colorado used the strength of its win over Texas to also jump Oregon.

So even though they won, the Ducks ended up losers.

"I was at the game and I knew they needed to make a better showing, even though the weather was horrible," said Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen. "They did play a very good game under the conditions, but there again, you wonder if people really observed that."

Oregon is hurt because it plays in a conference that beats up on each other. Although this year it was regarded as one of the best in the country, the Ducks finished with just one victory over a top-15 opponent, Washington State. No team has made it through the Pac-10 undefeated since Arizona State in 1996.

Then there is Illinois and Maryland. Both teams are hurt be perception. Neither was very highly regarded when the regular season began, meaning they had to come from well back in the rankings. Their biggest sin is the fact that they are not "name" schools. Therefore, a one-loss Nebraska or Florida or Texas managed to stay in front of them in the polls, even after losses.

"That's something we've been fighting all year," said Illinois coach Ron Turner, whose team is headed to the Sugar Bowl. "There's only one way to get respect and that's on the field. If we want respect as one of the top teams in the country we have to do something about it."

The Illini appear thrilled to have a shot, any shot, at a big bowl. So does Maryland, which will play in the Orange Bowl, its first bowl of any kind since 1990 and its first major bowl since 1977.

Neither team wants to be so bold as to say it should get to play for the national championship.

And under the current system, somebody has to fall outside of the top two. That's why the computers and strength of schedule formulas were introduced.

But that never quite eliminates the visions of teams who believe they could have success, given the chance.

"If we're going to let computers rule the game, let's quit playing and quit risking injuries to athletes," said BYU athletic director Val Hale, whose school has threatened a lawsuit against the BCS for being excluded from the four elite bowl games. "To have a subjective way to choose the participants is wrong. You have to play on the field."

That would be a playoff. And in that scenario, at least all of these left-out teams would have an opportunity.

Bob Harig covers college football for the St. Petersburg Times. He can be reached at harig@sptimes.com.