entire season, due partly to Texas's wins over ranked programs such as Ohio State University and Texas Tech University. On October 24, 2005, Texas passed USC in the BCS rankings due to a strong showing in the computer rankings, which favored the Longhorns because of the overall strength of their opponents as well as the October 22, 2005, win over previously unbeaten Texas Tech. The first-place ranking was the first for UT in the BCS era, and the first top ranking in any major football poll since October 8, 1984, when they were atop both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. The 0.0007% margin separating Texas from USC was the slimmest margin between the top two teams since the inception of BCS rankings. The stay at the top was short-lived. With the October 31, 2005, BCS rankings, Texas remained first in the computer rankings, with Virginia Tech pulling even with USC for number two in the computer rankings. However, USC remained atop both human polls and was able to reclaim the top overall ranking. Texas and USC won the rest of their games and faced each other in the National Championship, which Texas won 41–38. This was only the 35th meeting of the two top-ranked teams in the history of college football, including both regular season and bowl games. The BCS system now ensures that the two top teams in the BCS rankings face each other annually in a national championship game, but the methodology for ranking the teams remains controversial among fans and sportswriters. The 2005 season marks only the eighth time in 50 years that exactly two teams have gone into the bowl season undefeated. This has been a major criticism of the BCS format, which does not use a playoff to determine the national championship. Unless there are exactly two unbeaten teams, both from BCS conferences, the choice of the top two teams can generate controversy. If more than two undefeated teams remain, then one or more of those teams must be left out. If one or fewer undefeated teams remain, then an opponent must be chosen from among the one-loss teams, meaning that other one-loss teams will be left out. In the eight National Championship games through the 2006 Rose Bowl, the team ranked number one prior to the game has won five times, while the number two team has won three times. Up to the