LSU BY A BYTE MORE TROJANS UNFAZED BY BCS COMPUTER.

Byline: Scott Wolf Staff Writer

USC basked in the glory of its national championship Monday but what would happen if Bowl Championship Series rankings were released this week, after the Trojans and Louisiana State won their bowl games?

BCS analyst Jerry Palm crunched the numbers with six of the seven computer polls reporting their final results Monday and found LSU finished No. 1 and actually increased its advantage over the Trojans to nearly two points.

The teams were just .16 apart when the final BCS standings were released Dec. 7.

But the Tigers took advantage of two factors to widen the gap with the Trojans:

1.) They received 1.3 quality-win points by defeating then-No. 1 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl and benefited from Georgia moving back into the top 10 with its Capital One Bowl victory over Purdue. Any victory over a team in the BCS top 10 earns a quality-win bonus.

2.) The Trojans were penalized by the coaches' poll automatically voting LSU the national champion, even though USC was No. 1 in the final regular-season poll. A team's poll average is used to determine the BCS rankings, so USC lost half a point overall.

Ironically, USC did not lose ground to the Tigers in strength of schedule. After the bowl games, LSU had the nation's 12th-best schedule and the Trojans played the 20th-best schedule.

That eight-spot difference is identical to the regular-season margin.

``LSU ends up about two full BCS points ahead,'' Palm said. ``Even if the coaches' poll was reworked and USC was No. 1 in it, LSU is still ahead.''

BCS computer poll contributor Richard Billingsley did not release his updated results but Palm said it would not affect the final results.

None of that mattered during Monday morning's victory celebration before more than 200 fans outside Heritage Hall, where USC was presented with the Associated Press national championship trophy after finishing first in their top 25 poll.

``Let me just say at the Associated Press we take a lot of pride in getting it right,'' an AP spokesperson said, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Instead of the more famous crystal football awarded by the American Football Coaches Association, USC received a trophy with a silver football from the AP.

``I like the crystal one better,'' tight end Gregg Guenther said.

USC also won the Grantland Rice Trophy, because the Trojans finished first in the Football Writers Association of America poll.

Despite the controversy over a split national championship, USC players who attended the ceremony were careful not to criticize LSU.

``LSU didn't have it handed to them like Oklahoma,'' USC cornerback Marcell Allmond said. ``LSU fought hard and won their conference.''

But that didn't mean they enjoyed sharing a title with the Tigers.

``It's a tough thing. Nobody wants to share,'' defensive end Kenechi Udeze said. ``You play the whole season and then you have to share.''

During his speech to the fans, USC coach Pete Carroll tried to distance himself from the BCS problems.

``The controversy of the BCS is one that hopefully something good will come out of it,'' Carroll said. ``I don't really care except for what we accomplished. I'm going to enjoy the heck out of it.''

Carroll leaves today to address the AFCA convention in Orlando. He said he expected to speak to the coaches about the Trojans' offensive and defensive schemes although those aren't subjects he likes to divulge information about.

``They won't get a whole lot out of me,'' Carroll said.

He didn't expect to speak about the problems over the coaches being required to vote the BCS champion No. 1, which allowed LSU to leapfrog USC on Sunday night.

However, Carroll applauded the fact three coaches defied orders and voted USC No. 1 anyway.

``The guys that did decide to vote their conscience, more power to them,'' Carroll said.

Asked if the AP title demonstrated that writers know more than coaches, Carroll joked, ``I've always said, 'believe everything you read.' ''

It didn't take long for Carroll to get back into his normal routine after the morning ceremony. By noon, he was playing basketball in USC's North Gym.

Monday's ceremony was just the first for the football team. USC will hold a larger public event later this month for the entire team, once students return to school. Later this year, the football team also will be invited to a White House ceremony honoring the national champions.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

USC coach Pete Carroll hoists the Associated Press college football national championship trophy presented Monday to his 12-1 Rose Bowl- champion Trojans, who split the national title with Sugar Bowl and BCS champion LSU.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

Box:

USC REALLY MAKES ITS MARK THIS SEASON