I really thought Mauck was a senior who graduated and had to choose between dental school or something and going pro. I honestly don't remember his circumstance now. Am I wrong? Was he really a junior? I know Clayton was a junior.
From a realistic, national perspective, we are not the team of the decade, yet (we are only 7 seasons into the 2000's decade). In the 80's, as much as I hate Miami, I have to admit they were the team of the 80's (Miami won three Undisputed National Championships in the 80's -- 1983, 1987, 1989). The only 80's program that came close was Paterno's Penn State. As for the 90's, there was no "team of the decade." The closest a team came during the 90's was Osborne's Nebraska (two Undisputed National Championships in 1994 and 1995, and one split-title in 1997) and Bowden's Florida State (two Undisputed National Titles in 1993 and 1999). Sadly, for the SEC, Spurrier's Florida OWNED the SEC during the 90's, yet only won one National Championship in 1996. The problem for Florida was that they had to deal with Miami and Bowden's FSU program -- both programs who were just as good as Florida the 90's (FSU won the title in '93 and '97 and Miami split the title in '91). So far in the 2000's, LSU won the title in 2007 and split the title in 2003. USC won the title in 2004 and split the title in 2003. During the 2000s, LSU made it to two BCS National Championship games, same as Miami, Oklahoma, and USC. Ohio State made it to three. Being objective and realistic, if I had to vote on a "team of the decade" at this point (we are only 7 seasons into the 2000's decade), I would vote Carroll's USC at #1 and Tressel's Ohio State at #2 (that could change if OSU beats USC next year). But I wouldn't put Brown's Texas or Stoop's Oklahoma on the same level as LSU. That why this year was so great to me, we actually took down Tressel's Ohio State program!!!!!!! Goooooooooo TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (To me, "Geaux" is for true Cajuns).
I think if OU goes into that game undefeated, we just USCw, and the outcome is the same, we would've been unanimous in both polls. Remember, up until the B12CC, OU was the best team in the history of college football.
My criteria for team of the decade (so far, of course), is quite simple. Who wins the most BCSNC's. Imaginary, split titles are not how I judge. Thus, the reason for my statements are now clear. How you could pick Ohio State over LSU when they are "owned" by the SEC is beyond me.
Sure, but you forget your history. The only decent teams OU beat during 2003 was Les Mile's Okie State team that finished 9-4 and Mack Brown's Texas team that finished 10-3. Had OU beat K-State like they were "supposed to" in the Big 12 Championship, the BCS National Title Game would have been USC vs Oklahoma. That's why Oklahoma's loss in the Big 12 Championship was so lucky for us. Had Oklahoma not got squashed by K-State in the Big 12 Championship, LSU would never have had a shot at the BCS National Championship. Yes, reality was that Bob Stoop's 2003 OU team got exposed like the pretenders they were in the Big 12 championship by getting beat down by a three-loss 2003 K-State team (during the 2003 regular season, K-State lost to Marshall, a Les Miles-coached Okie State team, and a Mack Brown-coached Texas team). In that 2003 Big 12 Championship Game, K-State had 519 yards, OU had 398. The final score was K-State 35, OU 7. Imagine if LSU had gotten beaten down by Tennessee in the SEC Championship this year, and was still allowed to go to the BCS Championship Game against #1 Ohio State instead of Georgia or USC. Would that make sense to you? That is what happened in 2003 under the BCS system in place at that time (fortunately they have updated the BCS system since then). Remember, 2003 K-State went to the BCS Fiesta Bowl where they got beat by Tressel's 2003 Ohio State team. And the #1-ranked 2003 USC team beat the #4-ranked 2003 Michigan team in the BCS Rose Bowl.
I agree with you with the SEC thing. Unfortunately, the reality is that USC and Ohio State aren't part of the SEC. But yes, that was cool how the 2007 Tigers chanted "SEC! SEC! SEC!..." after their win on Monday. Anybody who doesn't think the SEC is the best conference in college football is seriously delusional.
Actually, most people think that LSU would've been left out of the BCSNCG if OU had won the Big 12 CG that night, but that game didn't affect LSU at all. It only affected the "split national championship" nonsense. The only person that knew this, in advance, was isistl--ask him. USC was on the outside looking in where the BCS was concerned because on that same day, Syracuse beat ND and Boise State beat Hawaii (both of those losing teams were USC's opponents.) The resulting drop in strength of schedule caused LSU to take the #2 spot in the BCS after having beaten UGA (a top 10 team at the time.) USC was ALWAYS left out, then Pete Carroll whined about it enough that the AP decided that USC would be #1 in their poll if they beat "mighty" Michigan.
Stacey, I understand what you're saying about USC ending up #1 in the AP poll but the AP voters always had them ahead of LSU, all season. Whether or not they should have in the final poll is one thing but USC never jumped us. They were always left out of the BCS poll not the AP. Dam good thing the coaches had entered into an agreement too cause there would have been a lot of them who would have voted like the AP and there are obvious reasons but some of the "Neutral" ones would have too. No doubt in my mind we had a great matchup that never got played and speculating would be pointless but I like our chances. :wink: November 9, 2003 Week 13 AP Poll AP Top 25 Week 13 (Nov. 11 - 17) 1. Oklahoma (65) 10-0 2. USC 8-1 3. LSU 8-1 4. Ohio State 9-1 5. Michigan 8-2 6. Texas 8-2 7. Georgia 7-2 8. Washington State 8-2 9. Tennessee 7-2 10. TCU 9-0 November 16, 2003 Week 14 AP Poll AP Top 25 Week 14 (Nov. 18 - 24) 1. Oklahoma (65) 11-0 2. USC 9-1 3. LSU 9-1 4. Ohio State 10-1 5. Michigan 9-2 6. Georgia 8-2 7. Texas 9-2 8. Washington State 9-2 9. Tennessee 8-2 10. TCU 10-0 November 23, 2003 Week 15 AP Poll AP Top 25 Week 15 (Nov. 25 - Dec. 1) 1. Oklahoma (65) 12-0 2. USC 10-1 3. LSU 10-1 4. Michigan 10-2 5. Georgia 9-2 6. Texas 9-2 7. Tennessee 9-2 8. Ohio State 10-2 9. Florida State 9-2 10. Miami 9-2 November 30, 2003 Week 16 AP Poll AP Top 25 Week 16 (Dec. 2 - 8) 1. Oklahoma (65) 12-0 2. USC 10-1 3. LSU 11-1 4. Michigan 10-2 5. Georgia 10-2 6. Texas 10-2 7. Tennessee 10-2 8. Ohio State 10-2 9. Florida State 10-2 10. Miami 10-2 December 7, 2003 Week 17 AP Poll AP Top 25 Week 17 (Dec. 9 - 15) 1. USC (42) 11-1 2. LSU (21) 12-1 3. Oklahoma (2) 12-1 4. Michigan 10-2 5. Texas 10-2 6. Tennessee 10-2 7. Ohio State 10-2 8. Kansas State 11-3 9. Florida State 10-2 10. Miami 10-2
