Its that time of year again! Time to start stumping for your favorite team to make it into the BCS Championship.
This year it seems the decision has already been made. The reservations booked. The BCS will select Oklahoma (provided they take care of the Tigers this weekend in cold KC) to play the winner of the SEC Championship Game to play in their title game.
Is this the correct decision?
Last we checked there are three other one loss BCS programs that have been left out of the equation here.
Texas and coach Mack Brown have used every media outlet they could find to plead their case to the nation and the voters. Big Mack has been on every sports show on the "World Wide Leader." A banner, provided by Texas boosters, was flown around the campus of Oklahoma State on Saturday. Texas has done everything short of interviewing with "60 Minutes" and making a guest appearance on "The View." (It is rumored that Elizabeth Hasselbeck has a HUGE crush on Colt McCoy.)
While we recognize that we do not possibly carry the same influence, it is time that someone attempts to make a case for USC.
Today we will look at why the University of Southern California (every time I read that I break into a Keith Jackson voice) deserves a shot at the BCS Championship Game.
The Trojans are a team built to make any SEC fan proud. Their defense first mentality this season has made them THE defense in college football. The Trojans defense has first round NFL talent in nearly every position and might just shut out Daunte Culpepper and the mighty Detroit Lions.
The Trojans rank number one in every major statistical defensive category. They have allowed only 10 touchdowns all season! Seven of which were scored in 2 games. USC has held nine opponents to 10 points or less including three shut outs. They are giving up a mere 3.4 yards a play.
The Men of Troy traveled over 2200 miles to hand Virginia a 52-7 home opening whoopin'. The Trojan's turned around and dominated, now 10-2 Ohio State, 35-3. A Buckeye program that returned 19 starters from a team that played in the 2008 BCS Championship Game. USC's annual rivalry game against Notre Dame resulted in a complete embarrassment for a once proud Irish program. USC held ND without a first down until the final play of the third quarter.
USC's collection of non conference victories is more impressive than Alabama's Clemson, Tulane, Arkansas State, and Western Kentucky. SEC fans will scream, "The Tide defeated Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, and LSU all on the road!" How great was that home advantage this year? Lets not forget that Wyoming and Georgia Tech took care of business in Knoxville and Athens and it took LSU the largest comeback in school history to overcome Troy in Baton Rouge. Remember, the mighty SEC is only 6-10 against BCS programs this year.
Finally lets look at everyone's favorite barometer when judging the beauty pageant that is college football, "Who did you lose to?"
Everyone knows this answer. We even warned of it! USC lost at Oregon State 27-21. A game where the Trojans were listless and outplayed in the first half, taking a 21-0 deficit to the locker room. They outscored the Beavers 21-6 in the second half but it wasn't enough. Oregon State used this victory as a spring board to their season as they came one game shy of reaching the Rose Bowl and a Pac Ten Championship. Are college football teams allowed to have bad days?
Absolutely!
Ask Florida if they played their best, at home, against Ol' Miss this year. Their complete third quarter meltdown led to a Rebel victory, yet the Gators still play on.
USC did what it could to make it to the BCS Championship Game. If not for a first half meltdown in Corvalis, USC would be smelling more than roses this year.
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Why are you dissing Alabama when they have NOT lost?
ReplyDeleteHe's not dissing Bama; USC is just a better football team...period!!!
ReplyDeleteErr USC still has to beat UCLA, otherwise they will punch OregonSts ticket to the Rosebowl.
ReplyDeleteIf Florida destroys Alabama in the SEC championship game then it should play OU (providing OU wins). If they just scrape by, I see no reason why they should jump Texas.
Of course if Alabama wins its a moot point.
So USC's schedule is really THAT much more impressive than Alabama's? A loss to a 26-point underdog? Victories in non-conference games against an attrocious 5-7 UVA squad that did not make a bowl, an absolutely pathetic Notre Dame team that managed a eye-opening 6-6 record, and an Ohio State team that went 10-2, the only legit team in that list. Wow! Let me get out my "Golden Boy" award for USC taking on the true powerhouses in Division I football this season. When you play in one of the weakest of the Big 6 BCS conferences and have to rely on Oregon State sh-tting the bed in its final game against Oregon so you can luck out and win your conference and have only played one legitimate out-of-conference opponent, you don't deserve to be talked about in the Naational Title picture, no matter how many future NFL draft picks line your roster.
ReplyDeleteYou have officially been owned.
^ Want to talk about out-of-conference schedule. USC has never, I repeat, NEVER scheduled an FCS team. Why did Florida scheduled The Citadel at home this year rather than a team the caliper of Ohio State? Notre Dame sucks but it is a bowl-eligible BCS team. Along with USC, Cal, Washington, and WSU have never scheduled FCS opponents. Notre Dame is the only other tream on that list, meaning EVERY SEC team has scheduled these cupcakes.. When the SEC, the supposed best conference in football, stops scheduling minor league teams, then we can have a discussion on schedule.
ReplyDeleteIt's true...why is it when the Pac-10 beats up on each other the conference is considered weak, but when the SEC does it it's called "deep." I'm not saying USC should be playing in the national championship, but they definitely stack up well and should be in the conversation. It's just a bummer that they are going to go to the Rose Bowl and demolish another Big 10 team as opposed to playing someone like Alabama, Florida, Texas or Oklahoma.
ReplyDeletehttp://twowhiteboys.com/2008/
Correction for two posts above...WSU did play an FCS team just this year. Oops.
ReplyDeletecorrection for your comment Buck, he said USC has never scheduled an FCS opponent, not the Pac-10. way to read.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that the Pac-10 is considered weak when they "beat up on each other" is what they do in the non-conference, with the only exception being USC. Take Oregon State for instance, the number 2 team in the Pac-10 got demolished by Penn State at a score of 45-14 and then went and lost to Utah later in the year, granted it was only by a field goal to a BCS team, but losing to a Mountain West team when you are a serious contender for the Rose Bowl is absurd. Oregon, who is also tied for the number 2 slot in the Pac-10, lost to a non-BCS conference team in Boise State. Cal is the fourth team out of five in the Pac-10 and they got beat by a middle of the pack, no pun intended, team in Maryland. And Arizona lost to New Mexico. As for Arizona State, Stanford and UCLA, they all were huge disappointments and all consequently lost to Mountain West teams: UNLV, TCU, and BYU. Then do I need to say anything about Washington State and Washington?
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, USC has the weakest strength of schedule of the top 5 teams and have only one win against the top 15, where teams like Texas and Oklahoma both have at least 2 wins, and Oklahoma has wins against 4 top 15 teams. The Pac-10 is weak and USC deserves no shot at the MNC.
It was my own comment and I made a mistake which I corrected. If you read the comment yourself, you would have seen that along with USC I named Cal, Washington, and Notre Dame, albeit with incorrectly adding WSU.
ReplyDeleteStill, if you're a team that aspires to contend for a BCS title, you have no business scheduling FCS teams period.
There are more than 3 one loss BCS teams that are being overlooked. Don't sleep on Penn State, who blew out the same Oregon State team that USC lost to, and beat an OSU team (plus Beanie and Pryor) on the road that USC beat at home. If USC or any other one loss team has an argument to play in the BCS Championship game, Penn State does too.
ReplyDelete