- 11.08.2009
- |
43°F
- Blogs > ACC Now
You may also like Canes Now | Balls and Strikes | Preps Now | Campus Notes
You gotta love college football
USC lost to OSU last night.
Wait, what?
Yeah, the presumed BCS finalist and No. 1 team in the country lost to Oregon State, 27-21. That's Oregon State, not Ohio State, the same Oregon State team that lost to Pac-10 doormat Stanford and by 31 points to Penn State. That OSU.
And that USC, the one that drilled Virginia and the other OSU, the latter in this year's "Game of the Century."
How? Who knows and who cares how really just that the end result proves for the millionth time that college football has the best regular season of any sport. Granted, the postseason is the worst, but give the sport its due for what it does right.
After USC's 35-3 destruction of Ohio State, the Trojans took control of the BCS race. Given the state of the Pac-10 — the same weekend of USC's big win, the rest of the conference went 0-4 vs. the Mountain West — it didn't look like USC would be tested in the conference.
Wrong. It took only one Pac-10 game for USC's run defense to be exposed and the offensive line, with four new starters, to come back to Earth.
You would think after the to-the-final-Saturday BCS races of 2006 and 2007, we all would have learned our lesson about assumptions. Wrong again.
Given USC's loss, the top two spots are wide open — which they really were all the while, we just didn't realize it.
LSU's two-loss title in 2007, the first in the AP's history, looks less and less like an anomaly and more and more like the new norm.
The only safe assumption — the race to Nos. 1 and 2 will only get crazier from here. That can't be good news for you, Oklahoma.
Oh, and USC, get in the back of the BCS line, somewhere in front of the other OSU but still behind five SEC teams and three from the Big 12.
J.P. Giglio
J.P. Giglio covers the ACC for the News & Observer, where he has worked since 1997.
Comments
the more i ponder...
Sat, 09/27/2008 - 02:02 — izzykareem...these articles by pro-bowl system types like you JPG and the argument that the regular season is really like a playoff, i really have to come back and say phooey.
Imagine if USC (The real USC) had eeked out a win on some gaffe by Oregon State. Then the excuse by you guys would have been "boy, USC got by that 'let down' game" or whatever you call it. They lose, and just barely, although OSU ran all over them at will, and now all these sportswriters all over the county are calling them all kinds of horrible names (maybe you haven't).
But it just goes to show how totally subjective all this is. This is the antithesis of sports. It would be at least a little different if the 65 voters got to see EVERY game but you guys don't. Maybe Ohio State is just really bad, look at how they've fared against all these 1A and 1AA bottom feeders. As bad as NCstate is, i think they could do just find getting beat 35-3 by USC and then beating the same bad teams by the same score as Ohio State has, the difference is that they wouldn't be ranked in the top 25. USC may very well be a horrible team, and because the Pac10 is so bad, we'll never really know just how good they are. So then OSU can go into the Big10, luckup and beat someone decent and then their "ranking is justified". EZU's entire ranking is based upon the false pre-season inflated rankings of VT and WVU. VT and WVU fall out of the top 25, but EZU is still there when obviously, they beat two pretty mediocre teams.
There has to be a playoff system, i don't care how much you guys think it "works out in the end". At least don't start ranking teams till the 3rd or 4th game of the season; at least that way you have some semblance of a body of work to base a ranking on. The ranking of FSU was total nonsense. Sportswriters just wanted to rank FSU for whatever reason.
hard to argue anything you
Sat, 09/27/2008 - 07:22 — gvillegatrhard to argue anything you said Izzy. its all very subjective ... especially when it comes to certain teams.
go ncstate
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 16:09 — izzykareemThat's right JPG...NCState only has two losses and Harrison Beck is feeling frisky this weekend...our BCS hopes just got alot brighter too...that one's for you gvillegatr
the 31 - 23 loss
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 20:05 — gvillegatrthe 31 - 23 loss tomorrow/today will give you your 3rd loss. it was a good run though!! ;)
just be happy your
Sat, 09/27/2008 - 08:14 — mad_maxjust be happy your over-hyped tarholes haven't had to play state's schedule
Maybe Wake Forest can get in
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 14:39 — Anonymous (not verified)Maybe Wake Forest can get in the hunt if they can run the table
Go Buckeyes!
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 12:06 — JPDOhioBack in the BCS Hunt!
Oregon St. is USC's criptonite.
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 11:48 — UNCAlumnusThey've not done well there in Corvallis recently. Yes, USC is better, but I never thought they were the BEST. That is one of the yet to be determined SEC teams, and probably the champ of the Big 12. USC is good, though. They will get better this year, but R. Bush just don't happen everyday. College football is getting the parity that basketball got some time ago. It will be fun.
we'll always fall for the
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 09:16 — gvillegatrwe'll always fall for the hype in which the "best team" in the land will never lose. its just what we do. unless you are a NCSU fan. thye are always on top of things and are never fooled!
only bandwagon, fairweather
Sat, 09/27/2008 - 08:17 — mad_maxonly bandwagon, fairweather fans fall for this best team in the land crap every week. just so happens the majority of unc fans fit that description! look, those of us out there that actually know something about college football, know that usc is the most overrated program in the last decade. the pac-10 is a joke, usc's split title with lsu is a joke, and the fact that auburn got left out after going undefeated in the SEC is a joke. by the way, alabama beats georgia tonight, so don't jump on the bulldog bandwagon now
Geo and Ala
Sat, 09/27/2008 - 12:09 — gvillegatrlemme guess. Georgia has the better athletes but in the trenches Ala has them licked. gosh, where have I herad that this week ... I dunno? EVERYWHERE!
Dawgs - 24
Bammer - 17
I guess I cant generalize
Sat, 09/27/2008 - 11:55 — gvillegatrI guess I cant generalize huh??? if everyone knows USC was over rated, why didnt anyone say it prior to thurs night?? sure, I and alot of other folks said the conference was, but NO ONE said USC was. you sure as heck did not. you're all tough on the internet after something happens mad max. keep up the good work!!
and anytime you want to match wits in football history or the game itself, you just let this "bandwagon" fan know!
SC is is too much like
Fri, 09/26/2008 - 09:11 — gvillegatrSC is is too much like Hollywood meaning they simply get up for the big time events and blow in the less than stellar ones.
and oh yea ohio st is terrible. cant wait for PSU to go to Colombus.