Remember when you were in first grade and you were learning how some things were greater than others? And they started throwing these symbols at you, like > (greater than) and < (less than) and = (equal to)? Remember that? Well, I'm not exactly sure how they come up with the ranking system for college football with their "coaches polls" and their "strength of schedule" and their "computers," but I think they should go back to first grade. Because in my world, where it's always first grade, Southern Cal's loss to Oregon State last night means Penn State is the #1 football team in the country!

Three weeks ago, Penn State dismantled Oregon State at Beaver Stadium in a 45-14 win, and people began to question if the Nittany Lions were that good, or if the Beavers were that bad. I think the consensus was it was somewhere in between. But, since Penn State has outscored opponents 211 - 40 on their way to a 4-0 record and ranking of 12 in the AP and USA Today polls, people are saying they're a legit team. OK, so besides beating OSU they've only played Syracuse, Temple and Coastal Carolina, but still ...

Then Thursday night, that same Oregon State team that Penn State handled so easily beats top-ranked USC 27-21. So, follow me here. USC is #1, Oregon State beats USC, Penn State beat Oregon State, Penn State's #1! OK, if first grade is too remedial for you, let's go to some algebra. a>b, b>c ∴ a>c. Btw, in that analogy, a = Penn State, b = Oregon State and c = USC.

So, while I would normally never listen to anything a former star of The Bachelor would say, when Jesse Palmer said Oregon State's win should move Penn State up in the polls dramatically, I'm listening closely.

So, until I hear a reason why I should rethink my first grade mentality (it's worked great for me this far in life), Penn State is the #1 team in the country. Now whatever you do just don't blow it against Illinois Saturday night.