''It's only October,'' safety Mike Doss said. ''We still have five games left. We'll worry about that in November.''

Punter Andy Groom pretended not to care about the ranking, but then rattled off all five teams ahead of Ohio State -- Oklahoma, Miami, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Georgia -- and had already memorized all five teams' schedules of who plays where and when.

Then he reverted back to the proper company line.

''All that matters is in November,'' Groom said. ''So all we have to do is keep winning and things will take care of themselves.''

More BCS

Tressel said he can live with the BCS as it currently works, but has always been a proponent of a playoff. He has extended experience with playoff systems from his days at Division I-AA Youngstown State, where he won four national championships.

''(The BCS) is the best we have right now,'' Tressel said. ''I'm hoping someday it will fit in with the culture of our bowl system -- I don't think we should do anything to affect the bowl system -- and somehow, some way come up with an eight-team playoff.''

Olivea out

Right tackle Shane Olivea had an appendectomy yesterday, meaning he will be sidelined for Saturday's game against Penn State. He could return next week to play Minnesota.

Left tackle Ivan Douglas will move to the right side and Rob Sims will start at left tackle in Olivea's absence.

Consistency needed

Tressel said one of the biggest disappointments he saw in the Wisconsin game was the lack of consistency on offense.

''We had some moments where we made some great plays and we had moments where we didn't execute or had a holding call,'' he said. ''We had six guys grade out at a winning performance on offense. Six guys probably won't give us the consistency that we're going to need this week (against Penn State).''

jlloyd@morningjournal.com