LOS ANGELES - Sometimes, you just have to throw out the numbers. They’re for statisticians, mathematicians, accountants.  They’re for people toiling in cubicles, eating at their desks, and breaking for the occasional unhealthy snack.

For instance, USC gave up 424 total yards to California on Saturday. The Bears’ J.J. Arrington rushed for 112 yards. Cal dominated time of possession.

The Trojans won the game, 23-17.

Here are some more numbers you can toss in the round file:

Although USC was ranked No. 1 going into their titanic clash of unbeatens, Cal was rated No. 7.

USC 23, Cal 17 Game summary USC gets revenge Ventre: Matchup was among nation's best USC WR Smith breaks leg Ventre: Carroll master of fixes Curtis: Can Cal keep Tedford around Scores, stats AP, coaches' polls

Now here’s where I take out my pocket calculator, crunch some figures, and emerge with an absolute truth that makes anything Einstein did look like doodles at a kids’ party:

USC and Cal are the two best teams in the nation.

Go ahead. Check my figures. If you take a cold, objective look at the data, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Naturally, there will be doubters, especially among lunkheads who are paid to speak on television, because USC hung on and sweated out the victory Saturday, and Cal was not as efficient in the red zone as it could have been.

But football does not always add up as neatly as the monthly sales figures. Sometimes, a game of the magnitude of USC-Cal comes down to intangibles like “reaching down” and “manning up.”

What’s scary is that both the Trojans and the Bears did so Saturday.

Cal, which came into the game tops in the country in scoring and second in total offense, advanced down the field via quick pokes, and with astounding efficiency. At one point, Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed an NCAA-record tying 23 straight passes in head coach Jeff Tedford’s high-octane offense. He would finish 29 of 34 for 267 yards and one touchdown.

Interactive Readers decide to put Trojans on top

There was little USC could do. When the QB takes a short drop, pops his throws to sure-handed receivers before the pass rush can get there … well, as a defensive coordinator, that’s a real Bear.

“I hate to use the phrase, ‘Bend, don’t break.’ I didn’t plan it to be that way. But that’s what this was,” said USC coach Pete Carroll, who handles USC’s defense. “You just had to suck it up and wait it out.”

When it came to scoring, the Bears — who averaged 48.7 points per game in their three previous outings — managed just 17.

And Cal stalled on the final drive. With a sellout crowd of over 90,000 creating a ruckus not heard around L.A. since the riots, USC’s defense stiffened when it needed to, and halted Rodgers & Co. at the 9-yard line on three incompletes and a sack.

“We rope-a-doped them today,” Carroll said.

On the other side, Rodgers was quietly livid. “We thought we were the better team,” he said. “We moved the ball up and down the field all day. In the end, we just didn’t execute.”

A No. 1 team faced a formidable challenge within its own Pac-10 ranks and prevailed. Two head coaches who just might be the sharpest minds in college football (along with Oklahoma's Bob Stoops) played a rousing game of chess. It was tense and exciting and thrilling.

Football isn’t about 58-0 routs of Louisiana Tech by schools with storied pasts and fat reputations. It’s about meeting challenges from worthy opponents.

Strictly in terms of college football in the year 2004, this was Ali-Frazier.

These are the two best teams in the country because they’re balanced, dynamic, high-powered and tough-minded.

Would anybody like to nominate Oklahoma for No. 1? It’s a nice gesture. I’m sure the Sooners would be flattered.

As much as I respect Stoops and his defense, don’t be swayed by the smackdown Oklahoma administered to Texas earlier on Saturday. The Longhorns, year in and year out, might just be the most overrated team in the history of competition. Each year under Mack Brown they crow about dropping the Sooners, and each year they wind up like the cattle that had hoof and mouth disease in “Hud.” Texas never has a passing game worth mentioning, and it can’t control the line of scrimmage in order to rush the ball successfully.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma has a splendid running back in freshman Adrian Peterson. But quarterback Jason White leads a passing attack that seems quaint and amateurish when compared to the sophistication and wealth of options produces by both USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow and Cal’s Tedford.

I love Stoops. I think he’s a defensive wizard. I have the utmost respect for what he’s accomplished at Oklahoma.

But play somebody. Texas doesn’t count. With Stoops matched against Brown, it’s not a rivalry anymore. It’s a reason to tailgate.

The other pretenders don’t add up to the level of USC and Cal, either.

Georgia lost to Tennessee on Saturday. The most enjoyable by-product of this development is that it makes a certain motor-mouthed analyst on a worldwide sports network who has his head planted where it shouldn’t be look even more clueless than usual.

Miami isn’t a factor in this formula. The Hurricanes have Brock Berlin at quarterback. The only time Berlin looks good is either when Miami is playing a patsy, or if he’s matched against Chris Rix. Miami isn’t championship quality on either side of the ball.

I like Auburn, but it’s a team that wins by playing solid but not spectacular football. Florida State, Purdue, Virginia, they’re all adept at sending the alumni home happy on most Saturdays, but none are Orange Bowl bound.

No, USC is the best team in the country. Cal is second.

That’s not to say neither is capable of losing from here on. Fluky things happen. Teams sometimes, inexplicably, can come out flat. Or a key injury could alter the football universe. The Trojans only get to savor this for a day or two before preparing for another aerial onslaught against unbeaten Arizona State, which had Saturday off to prepare. Cal could stumble against ASU also in three weeks, or in the season finale at Southern Mississippi.

But for now, put away the spread sheets. USC No. 1 and Cal No. 2 are the only numbers you need to believe.

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