enjoy and how the heck is notre lame 36? they play one ranked preseason team- granted i know things can change throughout the season but damn Phil Steele
lsu's "low" sos ranking is probably right when you factor in playing 3 in state cupcakes. the only thing usc has like it is san jose st and und has navy. the sec isnt being underrated. expect this every year until lsu stops scheduling 3 cupcakes every year.
dont get me wrong, im happy with where lsu is--- cupcake teams are necessities to compensate for the cempetitive SEC and allow injured players to heal and allow to run scheme for upcoming games etc.
Are you serious? USC's entire schedule is cupcakes. Name one legitimate contender on their schedule and please don't say Ohio State although they are the toughest opponent. 09/05/09 vs. San Jose State 09/12/09 at Ohio State 09/19/09 at Washington 09/26/09 vs. Washington State 10/03/09 at California * 10/17/09 at Notre Dame 10/24/09 vs. Oregon State (Parents' Weekend) * 10/31/09 at Oregon 11/07/09 at Arizona State * 11/14/09 vs. Stanford (Homecoming) * 11/28/09 vs. UCLA * 12/05/09 vs. Arizona *
i dont think that i would consider La Tech a "cupcake" this season. they've been playing competitive ball, and the WAC isn't terrible. i think they give auburn one helluva game this season. now tulane, and usl, are pathetic and should never, ever be on LSU's schedule again.... EVER. i'd like for LSU to add a USM or TCU caliber team though.
i will say this, with the losses USC sustained through graduation and the NFL i could see them losing three of these games. they'll prob just lose one or two but it could happen. (and yes i know USC reloads every year on talent....) oregon cal and ohio st could be toughies for the trojans.
I hate the way most people determine SOS. The gap between a mediocre team and a cupcake is the same as between a NC contender and a mediocre team. If you play a bunch of mediocre teams and some strong teams you'll be rated more highly than a team that plays a good amount of strong teams and a few cupcakes.
Re: 2009 strength of schedule-- LSU # 21 We play 4 top 25 teams and only get a 21 SOS ranking, really. They have to pump up USC's SOS, it's the only shot they have to be a MNC contender.
