I disagree. USC carries the Pac-1 with an occasional uprising of a Cal, Oregon, Oregon State... This isn't a new topic. We've been hearing this for 25+ years. Let's take a look at the top 25 programs of all-time. Feel free to join in. Other than USC, who in the Pac-1 would you place ahead of the teams below? Washington has probably the second best all-time program in the Pac-1, so how many of these teams do they beat out? Does UCLA beat out a few. If so...who? Alabama Arkansas Auburn BYU Clemson Colorado Florida Florida State Georgia Georgia Tech Miami Michigan Michigan State Minnesota Nebraska Notre Dame Ohio State Oklahoma Ole Miss Penn State Pittsburgh Tennessee Texas Texas A&M TCU Texas Tech USC Virginia Tech West Virginia http://pieonsports.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/ranking-college-football-winning-tradition/
One thing that's missed here is the Oregon State had Jaquizz Rogers (Pac 10 offensive player of the year) out for the Oregon game. He accounts for about a third of the offensive production. Both Rogers brothers were out for the Bowl game against Pitt.
Oh, I remember that he was out. Trust me, I was paying attention to that game. No doubt, it impacts the whole game when your star player is out. Just like when Beanie Wells was out in the USC game. USC probably wouldn't have had the ball as much because OSU would have likely had longer drives and worked the clock (it's sort of like a defense in a way). But 65 POINTS against your D AT HOME with a ROSE BOWL BIRTH on the line??? Come on. You shouldn't give up 65 at home even if your whole team died in a plane crash the previous week before. I watched Oregon St. and basically the Rogers brothers were their whole team. Against USC, they played great D though as well. All USC had to do was shut down those two guys, but they couldn't.
Is this the same talent used to lose to unranked teams like Oregon State in 2008, Stanford in 2007, Oregon in 2007, Oregon State and UCLA in 2006, and Cal in 2003? In 2004 they didn't play nary a ranked opponent until OU (according to ESPN's schedules) and in 2005, they lost the first time they faced a decent team. 2002 was the last tough schedule SC faced. Color me unimpressed. The last team who received this much praise off of he talent they produced and the wins they earned against interior talent was last seen getting their tails whipped by LSU in the Peach Bowl. They have yet to appear on the national radar since.
Get real, I've said many times on this board that LSU has had a horrible season. I call them like I see it and catch heat often for criticizing what I see happening with LSU sports, I'm the farthest thing ever from a homer. The suckeyes are the most overrated team each year in all of football. Their conference sucks year in and year out. I don't care if you happen to be a member of that conference, the truth is what it is. Quit being such a homer yourself and admit that your conference should fall out of the BCS automatic bid.
