The first official release of the Bowl Championship Series Rankings won't be until next week, but we now have enough information to determine what the top six looks like as of today. The top four mirrors the AP poll, while Florida State is fifth and Clemson is sixth.

	Where they rank
	Team	Poll Avg.	Computer Avg.
	Nebraska	1.0	2.0
	Va.Tech	2.0	2.29
	Oklahoma	3.5	1.86
	Miami	4.5	4.71
	Florida St.	6.0	4.86
	Clemson	4.0	9.14

For now, let's not worry about the Schedule Strength and Team Loss elements of the formula; the current order is a result of the impact of the polls and computers. Oklahoma vaulted in both after the win at Kansas State, and the Sooners now hold the best computer average thanks to a No. 1 ranking in three of the eight ratings systems.

Clemson's computer average is almost double that of once-beaten Miami and Florida State because of the extremely weak schedule the Tigers have faced to this point. Computers place more emphasis on quality of opposition than most voters do, thus there is a huge differential between Clemson's poll and computer numbers. Discounting wins over I-AA competition and losses to Clemson, the Tigers' opponents have a record of 11-22.

Looking ahead
In the previous two years of the BCS, most discussion following the initial release of the rankings centered around the possibility of three major-conference teams going undefeated. This year, that is a far less likely scenario. Head-to-head matchups of Nebraska and Oklahoma on Oct. 28, followed by Va. Tech-Miami and Clemson-FSU on Nov. 4, guarantee to end one perfect season and likely squelch at least one other. And don't forget, the Huskers-Sooners winner would still need to win a Big 12 Championship game if they can even get that far without a loss.

It's only mid-October, but the possibility of a national championship game between a pair of once-beaten teams isn't too far-fetched.

Other observations
In the first two seasons of the BCS, the championship matchup has consisted of a team ranked No. 1 or 2 in the preseason polls versus a team ranked 10th or lower in those same polls. There's a good chance it could happen again. Of the current top six, only Miami doesn't fall into one of those two categories.

	From out of nowhere
	Team	Preseason rank
	Nebraska	1
	Virginia Tech	10
	Oklahoma	20
	Miami (Fla.)	6
	Florida State	2
	Clemson	19

With every team in the Big Ten and Pac-10 already having a loss, and none currently ranked in the BCS top six, it seems likely that the conferences will preserve their streak of Rose Bowl meetings for at least one more season. Taking it beyond 55 straight will be difficult, however, as the Rose Bowl will be the host of the 2001 national title game.

Mississippi State seems to be the anti-Clemson, getting the respect of the computers but not the pollsters. The Bulldogs are 13th and 14th in the polls but are ranked from 4th to 9th by all eight computers. Their average computer rating of 7.14 is sixth-best in the nation despite having the one loss.

Brad Edwards is a college football researcher for ESPN and one of the few people who actually understands the BCS. Edwards will provide weekly analysis of the BCS rankings.