We've said this before: Margin of victory was taken out of the BCS computer formula, but it was not taken out of the eyeballs of USA Today coaches and Harris poll voters, who can take measure of a blowout and assign it a subjective value.
Alabama ran its record to 16-1 against the Sun Belt Conference -- as well Alabama should have.
The Tide, incredibly, keeps rising, buoyed by an 11-point poll jump, to No. 13, after a season-opening win against Clemson . . . Clemson?
Like a great SEC tailback, Alabama cut left through the polls, then right. It went upwardly Mobile by playing a fantastic first half in Athens against Georgia, which was thoroughly exposed Saturday with a 39-point loss to Florida.
Alabama didn't score an offensive touchdown against Tulane, defeated Kentucky and Mississippi, in Tuscaloosa, by a total of seven points, but the Tide is on an uptick.
Oklahoma beat Nebraska so badly you might not have known these schools were once rivals. The Sooners know all opponents since the Texas loss have to be treated with the same respect as road kill.
USC leveled Washington, but what did it mean? Will it be deemed by voters to be cruel and unusual punishment? The Trojans have defeated Washington and Washington Light (State) by the cumulative score of 125-0, but that might not actually be good news in terms of USC's computer numbers.
With North Texas picking up its first win Saturday (against Western Kentucky), Washington (0-8) became the remaining winless team on the major-college level.
Two of USC's nonconference opponents -- Virginia and Notre Dame -- also lost, which didn't help the Trojans' composite cause.
Florida's dismantling of Georgia in what became the World's Largest Outdoor Tail-Kick Party, could move the Gators off their No. 8 spot in the BCS into the top five.
Will Florida jump USC?
Florida waited 12 months for payback after Georgia's 2007 storming of the field after scoring the first touchdown.
Georgia didn't celebrate its first touchdown Saturday because it came with 3:09 left and the Bulldogs trailing, 49-3.
The entire Georgia team did, however, race in the same direction on Saturday -- to the bus.
Oklahoma State sent notice it was still in the chase with its T. Boone drilling of Iowa State, the fifth time this year the Cowboys have scored 50 points or more.
And the best news is Oklahoma State gets the chance to knock the smile off the face of 9-0 Texas Tech on Saturday in Lubbock.
Even BCS No. 11 Boise State, in a battle with No. 10 Utah for one major bowl spot for the non-BCS schools, got in some early voting with a 49-0 win over New Mexico State.
That showed much better than Utah's 13-10 win over New Mexico.
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chris.dufresne@latimes.com
