Trojans have nobody to blame but themselves

2008-12-09T20:40:07-05:00

2008-12-07T00:43:18-05:00

246

2008-12-07T00:43:18-05:00

2008-12-09T14:34:37-05:00

350

Stuntman Mike

Casablanca 624219

In your comparison, ND opponents have only 6 losses vs ND, while the opponents of USC and Ala have 11 losses vs USC/Ala. For your record comparison to be valid, you need to remove the opponent's wins and losses versus the teams being compared. The results then would be: USC's opponents record 68-65, a .511 winning pct.Alabama's opponents record 65-66, a .496 winning pctNotre Dame's opponents record 65-68, a .489 winning pctTo me it doesn't prove a thing about strength of schedule, but by your criteria ND had the weakest schedule of the teams being compared.

245 that is not how strength of schedule is calculated nitwit. So we should let everyone else count their tough games into their strength of schedule, but ONLY NOTRE DAME, because we hate them, should we NOT COUNT their tough opponents? What a dipshite. Oklahoma has a tough strength of schedule because they played Texas and Texas Tech. etc. It works both ways. If you count the 0-12 Washingtons (who both USC and ND played) you have to count the 11-1 USCs and 11-1 Texas Tech's too. Wow, its amazing how people's utter hate for Notre Dame turns them into blithering idiots. 3595459

2008-12-09T20:40:07-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/604/103/thumb/homer-simpson_donut.jpg 416 XX

jelly donut

No City 604743

that is not how strength of schedule is calculated nitwit.

246 Wrong again. That is exactly how Sagarin and everyone else calculates strength of schedule. They remove the results involving the team having its SOS calculated. Of course, who could argue with those insults, you must be right. Wrong!!! 3600043

2008-12-08T23:15:59-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/604/103/thumb/homer-simpson_donut.jpg 416 XX

jelly donut

No City 604743

USC's opponents record 69-76, a .476 winning pct.Alabama's opponents record 66-77, a .461 winning pctNotre Dame's opponents record 71-74, a .490 winning pctNotre Dame had a tougher schedule than either USC or Alabama

244 In your comparison, ND opponents have only 6 losses vs ND, while the opponents of USC and Ala have 11 losses vs USC/Ala. For your record comparison to be valid, you need to remove the opponent's wins and losses versus the teams being compared. The results then would be: USC's opponents record 68-65, a .511 winning pct. Alabama's opponents record 65-66, a .496 winning pct Notre Dame's opponents record 65-68, a .489 winning pct To me it doesn't prove a thing about strength of schedule, but by your criteria ND had the weakest schedule of the teams being compared. 3586869

2008-12-09T14:34:37-05:00

350

Stuntman Mike

Casablanca 624219

2008-12-08T20:47:39-05:00

350

Stuntman Mike

Casablanca 624219

A better question is why is Utah even in the Top 10? They aren't a BCS school. They don't play a BCS schedule. What's the deal? How do cupcakes like Utah and Hawaii, play nobody all year long and then get to ruin a good BCS matchup for us fans? I mean we'll never know how bad Alabama really is until next season, and it'll be another cupcake for the Tide to eat as they roll through the most pathetic competition in D1-A. And don't give me the SEC schedule, the SEC had a losing record head-to-head against the Mountain West, Big East, and ACC this season and pulled even with the Pac-10.

243 USC's opponents record 69-76, a .476 winning pct. Alabama's opponents record 66-77, a .461 winning pct Notre Dame's opponents record 71-74, a .490 winning pct Notre Dame had a tougher schedule than either USC or Alabama 3585617

2008-12-08T23:15:59-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/604/103/thumb/homer-simpson_donut.jpg 416 XX

jelly donut

No City 604743

2008-12-08T16:45:21-05:00

2062

Sandy Underpants

Los Angeles 481510

How can anyone put USC above Utah?

239 A better question is why is Utah even in the Top 10? They aren't a BCS school. They don't play a BCS schedule. What's the deal? How do cupcakes like Utah and Hawaii, play nobody all year long and then get to ruin a good BCS matchup for us fans? I mean we'll never know how bad Alabama really is until next season, and it'll be another cupcake for the Tide to eat as they roll through the most pathetic competition in D1-A. And don't give me the SEC schedule, the SEC had a losing record head-to-head against the Mountain West, Big East, and ACC this season and pulled even with the Pac-10. 3582928

2008-12-08T20:47:39-05:00

350

Stuntman Mike

Casablanca 624219

2008-12-08T17:20:16-05:00

181

CuseFanInSoCal

San Diego 190925

241 Sandy, the Fiesta Bowl ruined a good match up by screwing over the Sugar Bowl. Utah would have brought tons of fans to Phoenix (though not as many as Ohio State, granted); they won't to New Orleans. Which is a shame, as we won't get to see Ohio State beat an SEC team in a bowl game for the first time this year (and we would have if the Buckeyes had played Alabama). 3583561

2008-12-08T17:52:24-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/359/778/thumb/USA_rowing.jpg 42 CA

Stewart L

Oakland 360218

Sandy, the Fiesta Bowl ruined a good match up by screwing over the Sugar Bowl. Utah would have brought tons of fans to Phoenix (though not as many as Ohio State, granted); they won't to New Orleans. Which is a shame, as we won't get to see Ohio State beat an SEC team in a bowl game for the first time this year (and we would have if the Buckeyes had played Alabama).

242 Actually, I like the Fiesta Bowl. I find TX v. OSU more compelling than TX v. Utah. I also like the Sugar of Bama v. Utah better than either Bama v. Tx or Bama v. OSU. ... just personal opinion. 3584030

2008-12-08T17:20:16-05:00

181

CuseFanInSoCal

San Diego 190925

2008-12-08T17:18:20-05:00

181

CuseFanInSoCal

San Diego 190925

240 Utah is not Hawaii. They played two BCS schools, one which finished in the top 25 in the polls (Oregon State), and two other ranked MWC schools (BYU and TCU). And the Mountain West is not the WAC; it's by far the toughest of the non-BCS conferences (though it is not, the Sweep's conference ranking article notwithstanding, better than the Big East or Pac 10; Utah just might be better than Cinci, but Pitt is better than TCU, WVU is better than BYU, Rutgers is better than Air Force... and Syracuse is better than San Diego State). 3583489

2008-12-08T13:23:08-05:00

Uncle G

Clearwater 193654

232 How can anyone put USC above Utah? 3578736

2008-12-08T16:45:21-05:00

2062

Sandy Underpants

Los Angeles 481510

How can anyone put USC above Utah?

2008-12-08T16:35:13-05:00

champ357

Fresno 628978

238 everybody on this thread that isn't a fan of usc would hate to play them...you say they don't deserve it because pete refuses to play the beauty contest of running up the score...well Cal's defense along with Arizona's is very underated and among the best in the nater let alone the pac 10 so just because you think we should put 50 points on everybody doesn't mean its going to happen....And must we forget their is another team playing against them its not like they just have to lay down because their playing USC....And yes they do have better althletes...IE maybe 5 or 6 first round draft picks after losing 4 last year 6 in the first 2 rounds...did your school do that....? and if they did whats their record now....11-1...I think not! Fight On...! USC 42- PSU-21 3582745

2008-12-08T15:46:36-05:00

Christopher democrat

No City 621651

237 The PAC-10 does not have as many ranked teams during the middle of the season because of it's 9 conference games and tough non-conference schedules. PAC-10 schools do not start with 4 cupcakes. The "weak" USC schedule was against 12 BCS opponents (no other school did that). Many PAC-10 teams started slow (Oregon, Oregon St., CAL, WSU) and struggled to recover after QB issues and injuries. Look at UW's schedule before they lost their star QB. Had Locker's TD ball flip not been whistled the entire PAC-10 season could've gone differently. This became even worse after Oregon State gave away then 4th quarter to Utah. Basically though, the PAC-10 is mathematically penalized for having 9 Conference games, no conference championship game, and tough non-conference opponents. Check the facts and do the math. College football needs to settle on common schedule requirements to be eligible for BCS bowls. 3581548

246

<div class="photo_container image_right"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/t1_sanchez1206.jpg" alt="T1_sanchez1206" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Mark Sanchez and the Trojans will have to settle for a Rose Bowl game against Penn State. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images </div> </div> PASADENA, Calif. -- They have only lost once this season, just like Oklahoma, Texas and Florida. They have won nine consecutive games, a streak longer than Oklahoma and Texas and just as long as Florida. They were nearly the unanimous No. 1 team in the country at one point this season, garnering over 95 percent of first place votes. They won their conference outright and qualified for a BCS bowl game for a record seventh consecutive season. And according to several Las Vegas sports books I contacted prior to today's action, they would be favored to beat any team in the country on a neutral field. The USC Trojans, however, amazingly or understandably -- depending on where you stand -- have absolutely no chance to play in the BCS National Championship Game. None. Nada. Zip. Zero. Not only are the Trojans not in the championship discussion today, they haven't realistically been in the mix since Sept. 25, when then No. 1 USC lost to Oregon State, 27-21, on a chilly Thursday night in Corvallis, Ore.   Rarely, if ever, has a No. 1 team lost so early and been so ignored at the end of a season filled with so many one-loss teams. Of all the national championship contenders, USC lost the earliest and went the longest without a loss to finish the season, which in past years would have gotten them back into the race. As it turned out, a 27-21 loss to UCLA on Saturday would have left them with the same fate that their six-point loss to Oregon State did back in September. "All year, for whatever reason, that one loss hung on us and you can't do much about that," said Pete Carroll, refusing to politic for a spot in the title game after accepting the Rose Bowl's invitation to play Penn State on Jan. 1. "The opinion of that loss never changed even though as it turned out we only played a bad quarter-and-a-half this season. Other than that, we've controlled games and been in the driver's seat all season long. It's really hard to win every game, just look at this season." Many around the team and within the athletic department will contend privately that USC was ignored because of the national media's insistence on having the SEC champion and Big 12 champion meet in the national championship game this season. USC offensive line coach Pat Ruel went so far as to publicly berate former USC player and Fox Sports Net analyst Petros Papadakis after practice on Wednesday night. "Quit tooting the SEC's horn and the Big 12's horn. Quit it," he said. "You ought to be tooting the Pac-10's horn!" "It hurts -- we should be in that national championship game," said USC defensive end Kyle Moore. "I want to play an SEC or Big 12 team so we can end that SEC, Big 12 beast. When we go out of conference, we handle business wherever we go: ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10, it doesn't matter. I would have liked to have played Florida, Oklahoma or Texas in the championship game." Of course, USC has only itself to blame for its current predicament. It was gift wrapped the No. 1 ranking after blowing out a sub-par Virginia team in its season opener and was practically the unanimous No. 1 team after beating Ohio State. All it had to do was beat nine average-to-mediocre Pac-10 teams and a lousy Notre Dame side (they would be favored by at least two touchdowns in each game) to get to the national championship game. But they couldn't do it. They lost to 23-point underdog Oregon State, which began the season 2-3 and gave up 65 points to Oregon in its regular season finale. "We had one bad half. We deserve more," said USC linebacker Rey Maualuga. "We bounced back from that lost and finished strong. We can only control what we can control. We'll accept what comes our way, which is probably going to be the Rose Bowl. We can match up and beat any team in the country. We want to test ourselves against the best." A myriad of factors have conspired to keep the Trojans out of the national championship game this season and none of it has to do with a national media bias (which is almost laughable when you consider the national media is the only reason USC has at least a split of the 2003 national championship). First of all, the Pac-10 and Notre Dame had down years, meaning the Trojans didn't play a single "signature" game against a ranked team after beating No. 5 Ohio State 35-13 on Sept. 13. While Florida played LSU, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida State and Alabama, USC played Arizona State, Washington, Arizona and Notre Dame. While Oklahoma played Kansas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Missouri, USC played Washington State, Cal, Stanford and UCLA. No matter what they did, they were literally a team stuck in quick sand, unable to get out of the mess it got itself into. That became clear to them early on when they were being leapfrogged by one loss teams in October. "They did us wrong, they did us dirty," said Moore. "They moved us down from No. 5 to No. 7 after we beat a team 56-0. So we've been trying to fight back every week but it doesn't matter." USC also didn't help its cause with a couple lackluster performances down the stretch. While its defense will probably go down as one of the best in modern college football history, its offense is one of the most inconsistent Carroll has had. The Trojans beat Arizona 17-10, failing to score in the fourth quarter. They beat Cal 17-3 in a game they lead only 10-3 in the fourth quarter. Meanwhile Oklahoma and Florida were busy running up the score against ranked opponent after ranked opponent. After Florida's lone loss to Ole Miss, the Gators scored an average of 49.4 points per game and won by an average margin of 36.4 points. After Oklahoma's loss to Texas, the Sooners averaged 59.9 points and won by an average margin of 30.1 points. That's the biggest reason why Oklahoma and Florida are likely headed to Miami to play for the national championship, while USC will be spending another New Year's at home in the Rose Bowl. 29721 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/396/7/thumb/markazi_arash.jpg 118 CA

Arash Markazi

Los Angeles 3987