PASADENA, Calif. – There was nothing “mythical” about it.

Not after the way Southern California thumped Michigan in full view of 93,849 witnesses, most of whom walked away from the most majestic stage in college football Thursday evening with no doubts they had just seen the nation’s best team.

And anybody who still wants to defend the Bowl Championship Series should remember this: The one person in the Rose Bowl who knew better than anyone how good USC really is, Wolverine coach Lloyd Carr, won’t even be allowed to put the Trojans at No. 1 when he casts his final vote in the coaches’ poll this season.

That’s because Carr and his fraternity brothers agreed to automatically give the No. 1 slot in the ESPN/USA Today poll to the winner of Sunday’s Sugar Bowl matchup between Oklahoma and LSU.

Media members who vote in The Associated Press poll, on the other hand, are free to vote any way they want and Carr wished he could join them.

“I think USC is very deserving,” he said after Michigan absorbed a 28-14 beating, its worst of the season. “You can make me an honorary member.”

It’s too late for that, but Pete Carroll, Carr’s Southern Cal counterpart, promised not to hold it against him.

“Guys have to do what they think is right and I’ll respect that,” he said.

Carroll wisely opted out of voting in the coaches’ poll, but added that he wouldn’t dissuade any of his brethren from casting a protest vote by sending their ballots in with Southern Cal on top. But his lobbying effort ended there, and with good reason. The Trojans did all the convincing they needed to between the white lines.

Michigan came into the game having won three of its last four games against Top 10 competition, but the way the Wolverines were manhandled by Southern Cal proved just how far they were stepping up in class.

Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart threw for 327 yards and three touchdowns against a defense that was ranked sixth in the nation and had allowed just five TDs all season.

USC sacked John Navarre nine times – and that after he had been dumped just 15 times all season. The sacks came from everywhere, but the pressure up front was constant.

Small wonder the defensive line was nicknamed “Wild Bunch II” to commemorate a unit that led USC to a share of the national championship 25 years ago. Back then, the coaches’ and writers’ polls often disagreed on who was No. 1, which is why the title came to be called “mythical” in the first place.

All of that was supposed to end with the BCS promise of matching No. 1 vs. No. 2. Despite topping both polls, the BCS computers nudged LSU into the Sugar Bowl ahead of Southern Cal based on the strength-of-schedule component. Proving the old saw about garbage in, garbage out, the computers shoved USC aside only after the very last game of the season, when Boise State beat Hawaii 45-28.

Receiver Mike Williams said USC’s claim on the championship comes down to whether you put your faith in men or machines.

“All I know is that we’re the No. 1 team in the human poll and we won our bowl game, so we’re the No. 1 team in the country,” he said. “That’s all I need to know. The trophy says “champions’ on it. BCS, Oklahoma, LSU, whatever, that has nothing to do with us.”

But teammate Jason Leach said a share of the title was good enough.

“The BCS can figure out whatever they’ve got to figure out,” he said. “We won the game.”

Southern Cal can afford to be generous because complete as the Trojans seem, they’re almost certain to be even better next season.

Carroll got drummed out of the NFL twice for being too nice, but that same quality makes him one of the best recruiters on the college scene. And he’s not afraid give those recruits a chance to show their stuff early. Fifteen of his starters are underclassmen, including Leinart, Williams, all three of his running backs and most of the defensive line.

Few expected the dividends this fast, though, especially after USC started 2-5 in Carroll’s first season. Since then, the Trojans have gone 26-4 and dominated good teams while doing it, beating their last 16 opponents by an average of two touchdowns, the same margin they put between themselves and the Wolverines.

“They’re a great team and I’m not going to beat myself up over it,” Michigan tackle Tony Pape said. “We played the No. 1 team in the nation and got beat.”

The last “mythical” national championship was 1997, when Michigan beat Washington State in the Rose Bowl then got submarined when the coaches gave their share of the title to Nebraska as a going-away present to retiring coach Tom Osborne. Minutes after Nebraska beat Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, Husker quarterback Scott Frost grabbed a microphone and lobbied the coaches from the podium on the field.

“If your job depended on playing either Michigan or Nebraska,” he said, “who would you rather play?”

Change the names to Southern Cal and whichever team wins the Sugar Bowl, then put it to the coaches again. If they’re telling the truth, how do you think most of them would answer?