Posted by ESPN.com’s Graham Watson

The national rankings can be a cold, cruel mistress for nonautomatic qualifying teams.

A couple flashy wins and the rankings love you. A loss and you’re kicked to the curb.

	AP Photo/Victor Calzada
	Houston’s run as a possible BCS buster has ended.

Houston learned the fleeting love of the national rankings this week.

After losing 58-41 to Texas-El Paso, the Cougars were unceremoniously booted from their No. 12 ranking in the polls without so much as Dear John letter.

Why weren’t wins against No. 5 Oklahoma State and a Texas Tech team that played toe-to-toe with Texas a couple weeks ago enough to warrant a second chance?

Yes, Houston isn’t as sexy as USC, which lost to a 1-1 Washington team yet fell just nine spots in the polls. Or a Mississippi team that was manhandled by an unranked South Carolina squad, but managed to hang on at No. 21. Even Oklahoma State, the team Houston beat, remained in the top 16 after its loss to the Cougars.

Perhaps it’s because Houston is from the other side of the tracks.

Conference USA has never produced a BCS buster despite its teams popping in and out of the polls throughout the years. And Houston doesn’t exactly have a strong national track record. The last time it defeated a team ranked in the top 5 was 1984. Houston’s win over Texas Tech marked just the third time in the past 20 years that the Cougars started the season 3-0.

Houston’s appeal might just have been that it was the new kid on the block and it was hangin’ tough with some of the veterans.

But it’s clear there’s a double standard between losing to automatic qualifying team and a nonautomatic qualifying team.

BYU lost to an automatic qualifying team -- a bad Florida State team -- and still hasn’t been bumped from the rankings despite currently having a lesser résumé than Houston. Last year, East Carolina lost to a 1-2 NC State team -- a team that barely made a bowl game -- and still stayed in the bottom of the poll.

But Utah can relate to the love-hate relationship with the polls. Last year and in 2004, the polls loved the Utes enough to push them into a BCS bowl berth, but not enough to name them a national champion despite undefeated records both seasons. This year, the national polls booted No. 18 Utah after its road loss to Oregon. Oregon, incidentally, is now ranked No. 13 and the best win on Boise State's schedule.

Boise State can relate, too. It learned last year that even if you do everything the polls ask, sometimes they don’t love you back. Even this week, Boise State remained undefeated yet dropped a spot to make room for a 4-1 Virginia Tech team.

Let’s be honest, regardless of how many giants the nonautomatic qualifying teams slay, they’re still not the prince the national rankings are waiting for. Sure, the non-AQs are fun to play with, but when it comes to getting serious, the AQs take precedent.

Houston is just the latest team to learn that lesson the hard way.