The Rose Bowl knew this could happen all along. The champions of the Pac-10 and Big Ten playing for the national championship. The problem is, it won't be in Pasadena.

That's how the Bowl Championship Series standings have it this week. No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 UCLA are virtually tied in the latest BCS standings as

Bowl Predictions Fiesta Ohio St. vs. UCLA Rose Nebraska vs. Notre Dame, Oregon or Wisconsin Orange Virginia Tech vs. Florida St. Sugar Tennessee vs. Kansas St.

figured by CBS SportsLine. For the second consecutive week, CBS SportsLine is providing a preview of the BCS poll which is due to make its official debut in approximately two weeks.

When the Rose Bowl joined the BCS, it gave up the rights to the Pac-10 or the Big Ten champion to the BCS. If either one or both were ranked first or second in the BCS poll, it plays in the de facto national championship game. In fact, the only way the Rose Bowl could retain its traditional Pac-10 vs. Big Ten matchup would be if neither conference champion were in the national championship mix.

That appears unlikely now. Ohio State is in the middle of an easy stretch that includes Illinois and Northwestern. UCLA needs to get past undefeated Oregon this week to enhance its chances of winning the Pac-10 and advancing to the Fiesta Bowl.

The suspense will go down to the wire after UCLA and Miami agreed to play Sept. 26 game postponed by Hurricane Georges. The Bruins and Hurricanes will meet in Miami on Dec. 5, the same day as the Big 12, SEC and WAC championship games. A UCLA loss that day could throw the BCS into computer meltdown.

For now, No. 2 UCLA is comfortably ahead of No. 3 Tennessee.

The Buckeyes held onto the top spot in the poll after beating Illinois 41-0. UCLA moved up from third in last week's poll after beating Arizona. The Bruins, only .03 behind Ohio State, also benefited from Nebraska's upset loss at Texas A&M. The Huskers fell from second to sixth.

Notre Dame stayed alive for one of two at-large spots by beating Arizona State. The Irish (4-1) are the only potential at-large team ranked in both major polls and all three computer indexes used by the BCS.

The rankings

Rank	Team	LW	AR	AC	SS	Loss	Total*
1	Ohio St.	1	1.0	2.33	1.00	0	4.33
2	UCLA	3	2.0	2.00	0.36	0	4.36
3	Tennessee	4	3.5	3.00	0.40	0	6.90
4	Kansas St.	5	3.5	2.33	4.24	0	10.07
5	Florida St.	6	6.5	8.66	0.48	1	16.64
6	Nebraska	2	8.0	8.00	0.92	1	17.92
7	Virginia Tech	10	12.0	5.33	1.32	0	18.65
8	Oregon	14	11.5	5.33	2.48	0	19.31
9	Virginia	11	6.5	9.91	3.28	0	19.69
10	Florida	12	5.0	12.33	2.40	1	20.73
11	Wisconsin	13	9.0	11.66	3.76	0	24.42
12	Texas Tech	NR	22.5	12.83	2.32	0	37.65
13	Arkansas	15	16.5	16.91	4.36	0	37.77
At large***	Notre Dame	AL**	19.0	23.33	1.68	1	45.01

*Key
LW = Last week
AR = Average rank in the AP and coaches poll
AC = Average rank in three computer polls with maximum adjusted deviation figured in.
SS = Schedule strength from weekly Sagarin ratings

Note: Teams shown are the undefeated ranked teams plus Florida, Florida State and Nebraska. Both schools each have one loss but are ranked in the top 10.

**Notre Dame is shown because it is the only at-large candidate ranked in both major polls.