NEW YORK — The grid is set for the race to the BCS national championship game.

Texas holds the pole position and Alabama is second. Penn State joins the Longhorns and Crimson Tide in the front row, but the Nittany Lions already might have too much ground to gain.

The Longhorns were way ahead of the field when the season's first Bowl Championship Series standings were released Sunday — as expected. Texas appears to be in position to play for the national title on Jan. 8 in Miami if it can stay unbeaten. The top two teams in the final BCS standings play for the championship.

Texas is an overwhelming No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll and the Harris Poll, and rated first in each of the six computer rankings, giving the Longhorns a BCS grade of .998 out of 1.000.

Alabama is second across the board, behind Texas in the polls and the computers. The Crimson Tide has a BCS average of .949, which bodes well for Alabama. The Tide will be tough to catch from behind if it can stay unbeaten.

That's bad news for third-place Penn State. With an .867 average, the unbeaten Nittany Lions will have to keep winning and hope Texas or Alabama slips.

In fact, fourth-place Oklahoma (.832) might be able to catch Penn State, even if coach Joe Paterno's team wins out.

Southern California (.775) is fifth, Oklahoma State (.773) sixth and Georgia (.720) is seventh.

Texas Tech (.713) and Ohio State (.703) round out the top 10.




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