Let the countdown begin to what could be the biggest Ohio State-Michigan game ever.

The Buckeyes (7-0) and Wolverines (7-0), along with Southern California (6-0), topped the first Bowl Championship Series standings released yesterday, putting the Big Ten powers and the Trojans in control of the national title race.

The first-place Buckeyes and third-place Wolverines play in Columbus on Nov. 18. If the archrivals can avoid a major upset before then, the winner of that game is all but assured of a spot in the BCS title game.

Second-place USC still has the toughest part of its schedule ahead of it, but if the Trojans remain unbeaten they'll most likely play in a third straight championship game.

The top two teams in the final BCS standings will meet Jan. 8 in the title game at the new stadium in Glendale, Ariz., that will also be the site of the Fiesta Bowl. For the first time, the BCS title game will played about a week after the four major bowls — the Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar.

The Buckeyes have a commanding lead in the coaches' poll and the Harris poll, which count for two-thirds of a BCS average. Ohio State comes in third behind USC and Michigan in the computer rankings used for the other third of the BCS average.

Florida and Auburn both have one loss and will need lots of help to reach the national title game, which leaves Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville yearning for a playoff system.

"Until we get a playoff, the SEC's going to be on the outside looking in," Tuberville said yesterday, a day after his Tigers knocked off Florida to leave the Southeastern Conference with no unbeaten teams. "I think people are enamored by not losing, rather than voting on who the best teams are. The national champion to me is the best team at the end of the year, not the team that goes through their schedule (unbeaten)."

UH RECEIVES VOTES IN USA TODAY POLL

The University of Hawai'i received three votes in USA Today coaches' poll.

UH (3-2) is coming off a 68-37 victory at Fresno State.

In the Associated Press Top 25 poll, the top two teams in the Big Ten are now the top two teams in the country.

Michigan jumped to No. 2 in yesterday to become the fifth team this season to hold the spot behind top-ranked Ohio State.

Florida, which had been No. 2, dropped seven spots after losing 27-17 at Auburn. The Gators are the fourth No. 2 to lose, joining Notre Dame, Texas and Auburn.

The Wolverines hopped over No. 3 Southern California.

NORTH TEXAS COACH SUFFERED HEART ATTACK

North Texas coach Darrell Dickey is recovering from a heart attack he suffered Thursday. Dickey had a surgical procedure Friday and was released from the hospital Saturday. Dickey kept his hospitalization secret until he could tell his players and assistant coaches during a team meeting yesterday.