The Bowl Championship Series gave Oklahoma a break last season, letting the Sooners play for a national championship after they lost their conference title.

The BCS's new formula isn't treating the Sooners quite so kindly.

Miami, not Oklahoma, was second behind first-place Southern California when the revamped BCS standings made their debut Monday.

Put in place after last season's split national championship, this year's stripped-down BCS formula relies more on the AP Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today coaches polls. The idea was to ensure that when there is a clear consensus top two in the polls - as No. 1 Southern California and No. 2 Oklahoma have been this season - the BCS standings would reflect it.

Instead, Miami's strong computer rankings helped the Hurricanes edge the Sooners.

With about a month and a half left in the season, the BCS news hardly caused a stir in Norman, Okla.

"At this point in the season, it just generates a lot of discussion among the people who like to talk about college football," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "In that sense, it's a positive because it keeps people talking about our sport. But it really makes no difference where anyone is ranked today. There is too much of this season left to play for anyone to get too worked up about this now."

Though BCS officials again had to do some explaining.

"It's obviously very early. It's important that there not be an overreaction to this poll," BCS coordinator and Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said, adding that when he saw Miami ahead of Oklahoma, "I was a little surprised, to tell you the truth."

Weiberg noted that the top two teams in the first BCS standings of the season have never played in the system's championship game.

"I've never really understood the BCS process," Southern California coach Pete Carroll said. "And at first look, this year's updated process confuses me once again. I'm not sure how some of the other teams worked out to being where they are. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

The AP and coaches polls each count for a third of a team's total score under the new formula. The other third comes from six computer rankings.

The Hurricanes are ranked fourth in the AP media poll and third in the coaches poll, but have the second-most points in the computer rankings. Oklahoma came out fifth in the computer rankings.

"Our philosophy is that the only thing we can control is how we play," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "Because we have been named the No. 2 team in the first BCS standings, our job now is to respond and move forward."

Last season, Southern California finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in both polls but third in the BCS standings - knocking it out of the BCS title game.

Oklahoma finished first in the BCS standings despite losing the Big 12 championship game and dropping to third in the major polls. The Sooners were beaten in the Sugar Bowl by LSU, which was voted No. 1 by the coaches. Southern Cal finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Under the new system, LSU and Southern Cal would have met in the Sugar Bowl.

Weiberg said that Oklahoma probably was hurt in the computer rankings by having played only one road game this season. Oklahoma has one win over a ranked team (Texas), while Miami has two (Florida State and Louisville), which also sways computer rankings. Each team's highest and lowest computer ranking is tossed out before an average is calculated.

The Sooners will have plenty of opportunities to bolster their computer rankings in the next few weeks. Saturday's home game against Kansas (3-3) probably won't help much, but consecutive road trips to Oklahoma State and Texas A&M could.

The Orange Bowl will host the top two teams in the final BCS standings on Jan. 4.

Southern Cal, No. 1 in each of the major polls all season, has a big lead in the BCS with a score of .9912 out of a possible 1.000. Miami's score is .9187, while Oklahoma's is .9161. Auburn is fourth with .9036. Florida State, with one loss, is fifth, ahead of unbeatens Wisconsin and Utah.

In the past, results from the AP and coaches polls were averaged, then factored in with other components - a formula that lessened the significance of the polls.

BCS officials scaled down the formula, eliminating bonus points for quality wins and schedule strength, considered redundant because computers and poll voters already take that into account. And the BCS formula now considers the number of votes a team receives in the major polls, not just its ranking.