OSU FOOTBALL / WEEK 7: WISCONSIN Ohio State sees No. 1 rank as test

Published Oct. 11, 2010 10:01 p.m. ET

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Thanks to Alabama's shocking loss at South Carolina on Saturday, Ohio State rose to No. 1 in the nation yesterday for the first time since the end of the 2007 regular season. The way coach Jim Tressel viewed it, though, it's more like Buckeyes are walking a tightrope rather than sitting on a peak.

"When you take a look at the top 10 week to week, the precarious nature of any ranking is obvious -- just review the change in the makeup of the top 10 between the beginning of the season until now," Tressel said in a statement released by the OSU athletic department. "The Buckeyes know what it's like to have a target on our back, especially since we are now well into Big Ten play.

"We expect that every team will give us its best shot. How we respond will determine our ultimate ranking."

The Buckeyes are No. 1 in the USA Today coaches poll and the first-week edition of the Harris Interactive poll. The two polls make up two-thirds of the Bowl Championship Series ratings, which will be released Sunday for the first time this season. The other one-third is an average of six computer rankings. The top two teams in the BCS ratings at regular season's end will move on to the national title game Jan. 10 in Glendale, Ariz.

While Alabama plummeted to No. 8, the new No. 2 is Oregon, which OSU beat in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. Boise State moved up to No. 3, while Nebraska -- headed to the Big Ten next year but vying for a Big 12 title this season -- is No. 4 after jumping over No. 5 Texas Christian.

"The No. 1 ranking just means that more than ever, we're in control of our own destiny," said OSU defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.

Or, as receiver Dane Sanzenbacher put it, "The top ranking is obviously a challenge we welcome, but we all know how much more important it is to be No. 1 at the end of the season."

Talk about timing: OSU's second big test of the season is Saturday night against No. 16 Wisconsin in Camp Randall Stadium, one of the tougher venues in college football.

"It's good to be No. 1, but if we don't play like it every week, then all the hype will be for naught," OSU linebacker Brian Rolle said.

Alabama, the defending national champion, and Ohio State had been one-two in the coaches poll since preseason, and the Crimson Tide seemingly had put the clamps on the top spot with a one-sided win over Florida on Oct. 2. But then came 'Bama's 35-21 fall at South Carolina.

Now, Ohio State, coming off a 38-10 win over Indiana, is the top dog, and OSU quarterback Terrelle Pryor embraced that, even though the most-recent time it had happened, in 2007, the Buckeyes went on to lose the national title game to LSU.

"I love it for the Ohio State students and fans, but it's a big responsibility and opportunity for us," Pryor said. "How we react to being No. 1 and how we stay determined in our focus and in our work habits will tell us how long we will stay there."

tmay@dispatch.com