ROAD TO THE ROSE BOWL: UCLA'S RANK IN MOCK BCS RISES AGAIN BRUINS ARE NO. 2; OKLA. NO. 1.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

The Bowl Championship Series was supposed to release its first set of rankings on Tuesday but put it off. Too bad for UCLA, which is now No. 2 in one mock ranking.

Earlier last week, the BCS delayed the release until Oct. 22, stating that not enough games had been played for accurate rankings. But if the season ended today, even though official BCS rankings aren't out, UCLA (5-0) would get an invitation to play for the national title at the Rose Bowl.

At least that's how Jerry Palm sees it. Palm runs the collegebcs.com Web site, which mimics the BCS rankings. He factors in polls, computer rankings, quality wins and strength of schedule.

Bruins fans would love to check out the rankings now, but maybe it's just as well. Last year, after national-title talk emerged from the Bruins camp, the season went in the tank.

``We're pushing for that (a national championship),'' said UCLA tailback DeShaun Foster, who had a school-record 301 rushing yards Saturday. ``As long as we win out, our schedule is good enough.''

Just ask the computers.

The Bruins are ranked No. 1 in five of the eight computer rankings - Matthews, Sagarin, Anderson-Hester, Colley and Massey - and one hasn't been updated from last week yet. Oklahoma, which is first in the BCS rankings, is first in Billingsley and Rothman.

UCLA's impressive 35-13 win over Washington propelled it to No. 2 in the mock BCS and No. 4 in the Associated Press poll. UCLA is No. 6 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.

This season, the BCS gives incentive for beating a top-15 team (considered a quality win), although it only gives bonus points for wins over teams that finish the regular season in the top 15. But for now, UCLA gets a quality win over Washington, which fell to No. 15 in the AP poll.

Palm's top 10 in the BCS is Oklahoma, UCLA, Nebraska, Oregon, Virginia Tech, Miami, Fresno State, Michigan, Texas and Florida.

--Rolling, rolling: Miami moved another step closer to a BCS game with a 49-27 win over Florida State. It was another impressive victory for the Hurricanes, who snapped Florida State's home unbeaten streak at 54 games, which was the longest in the nation.

But will an undefeated season be enough?

Miami (5-0) moved back to No. 1 in the AP poll, but it's just sixth in the mock BCS rankings. That's not bad, considering the Hurricanes were 13th last week. Miami has also played Penn State, Rutgers, Pittsburgh and Troy State. Its game against Washington, postponed until Nov. 24 because of the terrorist attacks, will help its BCS ranking.

``Our biggest opponent now is the computer,'' Miami running back Najeh Davenport said. ``I don't think the BCS likes us. Maybe it thinks we're a bug or we have a bad area code.''

It's no joke. It's possible Miami could finish the season ranked No. 1 in the polls and not play in the national-championship game. That's what would happen if the season ended today. Can you say controversy?

Miami scored 28 third-quarter points en route to the win. It makes you wonder, could there be another Miami-UCLA showdown, this time for the national title on Jan. 3? The last time the teams met, in a 1998 game postponed until the end of the season because of a hurricane in Florida, Miami won 49-45, ending UCLA's national-title hopes.

--Florida stumbles: Just when Florida had taken over the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press poll again, it lost to Auburn 23-20. Auburn kicker Damon Duval connected on a 44-yard field goal with 10 seconds left for the upset.

Florida quarterback Rex Grossman threw for 362 yards and a pair of touchdowns but also threw four interceptions.

--Down for the count: For the first time in three years, Florida State (3-2) won't play in the national-championship game. That was fairly obvious after a 41-9 loss to North Carolina. But Saturday's loss to Miami made it a certainty.

--Bulldogs watch: Fresno State was 30 seconds away from watching its undefeated season fall apart to Colorado State. But it wasn't Hesiman hopeful David Carr who saved the day. Sure, he was impressive again, completing three passes before setting up the game-tying field goal.

Asen Asparuhov kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired in regulation and then connected on a 41-yarder to lead Fresno State to a 25-22 overtime win.

Fresno State (6-0) continues its dream bid for one of the coveted at-large berths in the BCS. But just barely.

EXPERTS' consensus: WOLF'S PICKS (see text)

Daily News Staff Writer Scott Wolf is an Associated Press top-25 voter this season. Here's how he voted this week:

1. Nebraska

2. Miami

3. Oklahoma

4 .Virginia Tech

5. Oregon

6. Texas

7. UCLA

8. Florida

9. Michigan

10. Auburn

11. Fresno State

12. Florida State

13. Maryland

14. Colorado

15. Washington

16. Georgia Tech

17. South Carolina 

18. Tennessee

19. North Carolina

20. Washington State

21. Clemson

22. Georgia

23. Purdue

24. Michigan State

25. Stanford

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

Photo:

Whoa, DeShaun Foster. National-championship talk out of UCLA might be a little premature.

Greg Wahl-Stephens/Associated Press

Box:

(1) EXPERTS' consensus: WOLF'S PICKS (see text)

(2) AP TOP 25