ATHENS, Ga. - Mark Richt can't figure it out.

Georgia is fifth in one poll, eighth in the other - and ninth in the all-important Bowl Championship Series standings.

Blame it on the computers.

"I really don't understand it," the Bulldogs coach said Tuesday. "The computer polls are interesting. I'm not sure what everybody is looking for. I'm surprised we're as low as we are in the computer polls."

Georgia (7-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) moved up in both "human" polls after beating Florida 31-24 last weekend. The Bulldogs are ranked No. 5 by the coaches and eighth in The Associated Press media poll.

But they remained ninth in the latest BCS standings, even though two teams - Miami and Florida State - dropped past the Bulldogs after upset losses.

Instead of moving up, Georgia got leapfrogged by Texas and Tennessee. The reason: a No. 12 average ranking among the six computer polls.

Naturally, there was some frustration in Athens when the results came out.

"I've got some things I could say about the computers off the record," Richt said with a smile, declining to say any more.

Center Russ Tanner pointed out that a couple of Pac-10 schools, Southern California and California, are first and fourth in the BCS standings.

"They must have made those computers in the Silicon Valley," he quipped.

Actually, Tennessee had a higher computer ranking (fourth) than California (fifth), which accounts for the Vols being ahead of Georgia in the BCS despite trailing in both the coaches' and media polls.

All partisanship aside, Tennessee probably should be ahead of the Bulldogs. After all, the Vols handed Georgia its only loss - at Sanford Stadium, no less.

Also, while the victory over Florida was huge in the Bulldog Nation (after 13 losses the previous 14 years), it didn't make much of an impact nationally.

The Gators (4-4) are having a mediocre season and already fired coach Ron Zook.

"Of course, beating Florida was great for Georgia," defensive lineman Kedric Golston said. "But Florida has really struggled. When you beat a team that lost to Mississippi State, you can't expect to go up in the computers. It's just another game to them."

But Tanner believes the BCS standings are out of whack.

"It's disappointing," he said. "I don't know why the computers have to decide where we are. We got jumped by two teams after winning against Florida in Jacksonville. That's something I don't understand."

He doesn't think Georgia is getting enough credit for playing in the SEC, especially when he sees a team such as Utah three spots ahead of the Bulldogs in the BCS rankings.

"You see the schedule they play and then see the one we play," Tanner said. "You wonder how teams from the WAC or Pac-10 would do in a conference like ours."

Actually, his argument missed the mark. Utah is a member of the Mountain West, not the Western Athletic Conference, and SEC teams are 2-6 against the Pac-10 since 1999.

Georgia's hopes of qualifying for an automatic BCS bid probably took a fatal blow when Tennessee won at South Carolina last Saturday.

The Vols can clinch the SEC East by winning their last two conference games, and they'll be heavily favored against Vanderbilt (2-6) and Kentucky (1-7).

If that scenario plays out, Georgia would have to hope for one of two at-large berths in the BCS. To qualify automatically without winning the conference, the Bulldogs would have to finish no lower than fourth, and maybe even third (don't ask).

To accomplish that, Georgia must win its remaining games - most notably, the Nov. 6 showdown with unbeaten Auburn. The Bulldogs will be favored in their other games: at Kentucky on Saturday and the season finale at home against Georgia Tech.

A victory over Auburn would undoubtedly give the Bulldogs a major boost in the computer rankings, so it's still a little early to worry about where they stand.

"If we take care of our business in the next couple of weeks, we'll be put in our proper place," Golston said.

Still, it's never too early to grumble about the rankings.

"I'm a supporter of letting it be decided on the field," fullback Jeremy Thomas said. "All that computer stuff is kind of baloney."

BCS Standings ListNov. 1AP USA/ESPN Computer BCSRk Pts Pct Rk Pts Pct Rk Pts Pct Avg Pv1. Southern Cal 1 1616 .9945 1 1516 .9941 t1 98 .980 .9895 12. Oklahoma 2 1556 .9575 2 1459 .9567 t1 98 .980 .9648 23. Auburn 3 1507 .9274 3 1409 .9239 3 92 .920 .9238 44. California 4 1362 .8382 6 1200 .7869 5 79 .790 .8050 85. Wisconsin 5 1359 .8363 4 1262 .8275 11 61 .610 .7579 76. Utah 7 1212 .7458 8 1087 .7128 6 77 .770 .7429 67. Texas 6 1230 .7569 7 1150 .7541 9 70 .700 .7370 108. Tennessee 9 1132 .6966 11 931 .6105 4 83 .830 .7124 119. Georgia 8 1162 .7151 5 1221 .8007 12 59 .590 .7019 910. Miami 11 1035 .6369 10 979 .6420 10 68 .680 .6530 311. Michigan 10 1062 .6535 9 1025 .6721 13 50 .500 .6086 1212. Boise St. 16 685 .4215 15 724 .4748 7 75 .750 .5488 1313. Florida St. 13 803 .4942 t13 743 .4872 t14 44 .440 .4738 514. Virginia 12 815 .5015 t13 743 .4872 16 38 .380 .4563 1615. Louisville 14 793 .4880 16 681 .4466 18 32 .320 .4182 1716. West Virginia 15 754 .4640 12 784 .5141 19 27 .270 .4160 1817. LSU 17 557 .3428 17 576 .3777 20 25 .250 .3235 2018. Arizona St. 23 189 .1163 23 144 .0944 8 74 .740 .3169 1519. Oklahoma St. 19 469 .2886 19 352 .2308 17 37 .370 .2965 1920. Virginia Tech 18 515 .3169 18 503 .3298 23 12 .120 .2556 2221. Iowa 20 416 .2560 20 341 .2236 21 21 .210 .2299 2322. Texas A&M 22 206 .1268 22 151 .0990 t14 44 .440 .2219 1423. Southern Miss 21 209 .1286 21 239 .1567 25 10 .100 .1284 NR24. UTEP 25 69 .0425 30 28 .0184 22 17 .170 .0769 2425. Boston College 24 111 .0683 25 102 .0669 NR 0 .000 .0451 NR