<p>Am I the only one saying Hook'em?! I feel so alone....</p>
<p>MartinSMC,</p>
<p>I don't find SEC any special this year. They are the ones that have played almost nobody outside of their conference. Only one of their non-conference opponents is currently ranked (Texas vs Arkansas).</p>
<p>While Pac-10 plays teams from Mountain West, Western Atlantic, and major conferences, SEC plays primarily with Sun Belt teams and those in the non-bowl subdivision. By the time they start their conference games, many of them are already ranked based on the biased preseason ranking and the easy wins they've collected. People then start talking about their "tough" conference schedule when their ranking was never proven at the first place.</p>
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While Pac-10 plays teams from Mountain West, Western Atlantic, and major conferences
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<p>They HAVE to play these teams. The Pac-10 is so bad if they didn't, nobody would know who the Pac-10 was!</p>
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Am I the only one saying Hook'em?! I feel so alone...
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<p>It's not that I root against Texas, it's just fun to root for a team as quirky and unexpected as Texas Tech :)</p>
<p>hops_scout,</p>
<p>This is not ESPN board. I hope you can give a more logical response next time.</p>
<p>The Pac-10 proved that they were down precisely by NOT playing teams like Tulane, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State, Troy, North Texas, Applachian State..etc.</p>
<p>Initially, Pac-10 had 4 teams ranked in the top-25: USC, Cal, Oregon, and Arizona State. Cal fell out of the ranking after losing to Maryland (currently ranked #25) even they did beat Michigan State. Arizona State lost to UNLA/Gerogia but blew away North Arizona (the kind of teams that SEC often plays); Oregon fell out of the ranking after losing barely to Boise State (currently ranked #9). I should also added that Oregon State got blown by Penn State (currently ranked #3) and narrowly lost to Utah (currently ranked #10) after beating USC.</p>
<p>Now imagine all these Pac-10 teams played the teams SEC played:
1. Oregon State would probably be ranked after beating USC (USC would look better from losing to a "decent" team, instead of one that got blown by Penn State). Instead of losing to Utah, Oregon State would collect another win by beating Western Kentucky and by now, Oregon State would be a 6-1 team! What a difference!
2. Oregon could easily be a great 7-1 team had they played North Texas instead of Boise State. They would still have Purdue/Utah State on their schedule (no worse than typical non-conference schedule most SEC teams play) so they would still have a "respectable" schedule.
3. Arizona State could easily <em>pretended</em> they were decent by playing the team Mississippi State plays instead of losing to Georgia as an underdog. This is another important point: Pac-10 teams frequently play non-conference teams as underdogs. By the time they play California, they could be 4-0 and ranked between 10 and 15.
4. Cal could easily be a 5-0 and ranked very high after beating the "ranked" Arizona State. They already beat Michigan State. They would be the team people would hype about at that point.<br>
5. The only loss USC had would have come from a "pretty good" 6-1 team (see #1).</p>
<p>And Pac-10 would still have 4 or 5 ranked teams at this moment!</p>
<p>Does this sound a lot like what is (had been, depending on the year) going on in SEC? Imagine what would happen if LSU scheduled something semi-decent? Are they really that much better than Arizona State? They and Arizona State lost by similar margin and frankly, their loss was probably uglier as they gave up 52 points vs 27 points for Arizona State. Now, SEC teams may very well be great and won with a tougher schedule. We just do not know and that's why their ranking was never proven. It's based on circular reasoning and what's on paper (preseason ranking) more than anything else. On the other hand, Big12 has proven themselves to be better than what's on paper.</p>
<p>So you know, I'm not an SEC fan.. for many of the reasons you have provided.</p>
<p>But let's be real here. When half your conference has losing records, somebody is screwing up. Sure, they play "harder" competition, but who is at fault for that?</p>
<p>If USC thinks it truly deserves to compete for a National Championship, it needs to get Washington, Washington State, UCLA, and Arizona State off their schedule.</p>
<p>^ So you want USC to change conferences...? What USC really needs to do is schedule a non-conference SEC game.</p>
<p>On a different note, while the Big 12 may be lacking in the defense department, they sure are fun to watch! Unlike most of these boring SEC teams (with the exception of Florida and SOMETIMES Georgia/LSU).</p>
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^ So you want USC to change conferences...?
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<p>Hard to claim to be in a "tough" conference when you get to play those teams. That's nearly half their schedule right there..</p>
<p>Anybody else in a "tough" conference get to play teams like that for most of their schedule year in and year out? In conference play?</p>
<p>I'm rooting for the Longhorns.</p>
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What USC really needs to do is schedule a non-conference SEC game.
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<p>Or you could turn it around and say SEC teams like LSU, Florida and Alabama really need to schedule non-conference games that aren't the Citadel or Louisiana Monroe or Western Kentucky. USC doesn't have the strongest schedule but their OOC games for the past few years HAVE included Ohio State, Arkansas, Virginia and Auburn. </p>
<p>hops_scout, just wondering, what team/conference DO you root for? Because you seemed more preoccupied with bashing another conference than saying good things about your own.</p>
<p>hops_scout,</p>
<p>I think you miss the point. I wasn't even arguing that USC deserves to be whatever. In fact, I have said that USC is not worthy of being in the title game, at least not at this point. </p>
<p>My point was SEC teams haven't proved themselves. Their rankings are based pretty much on preseason rankings and they ride on that advantage by playing very weak non-conference schedule. They have been enjoying the same advantage year in and year out. The fact that Pac-10 lost those games means SEC <em>could</em> very well be like Pac-10 if they had similar schedule. You just never know. But where can you find the kind of team that got blown twice, beat nobody, and is still ranked #15? It's often found in SEC (in this example, it's LSU). Where do you find a team that was ranked #9 but managed to score just THREE points on Mississippi State, a team that lost to Louisiana Tech? It's SEC - Auburn. "That shows SEC style tough defense", they say, forgetting minor teams like Louisiana Tech/Southeastern Louisiana had just put more points on Mississippi State than Auburn did. After that game, I already suspected Auburn had been very overrated, which turns out to be correct but not until after other SEC teams already reap the benefit by beating it. It seems to me there's every reason to suspect SEC could very well end up with quite a few losses had they scheduled tougher teams.</p>
<p>I think the BCS ratings are all crap. For example LSU last year shouldn't have even made it to the National Championship game. Sure, they won handily, but their record should not have provided them the opportunity.</p>
<p>Rachel, you really don't want to hear about the Ohio Valley Conference or Army, do you? My favorite college teams are Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (beat FCS #19 Tennessee State Tigers in OT last weekend) and the Army Black Knights of West Point.</p>
<p>I see where you guys are coming from with your doubt of the SEC, although I agree that it seems like they don't play anyone good out-of-conference, there has to be an argument when you realize they have won the last two national championships-however they were both against some disappointing Ohio State teams. Either way I'm glad there's a topic on this forum that isn't "Wharton chances?" or "I-banking major". Lets keep it going!</p>
<p>I hope it will be Texas vs. Florida national final.
I think Big 12 vs. SEC game is appropriate this year.
But if Florida can't jump to #2 by the end of the year, then Alabama might as well go undefeated(which will be huge) and play Texas.</p>
<p>You're right, USC should probably schedule more SEC games...like they did in 2002 & 2003 (Auburn) and 2005 & 2007 (Arkansas) making Pete Carroll 4-0 vs. the SEC (including a shutout of Auburn and a 50-14 blowout of SEC West champions Arkansas)</p>
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If USC thinks it truly deserves to compete for a National Championship, it needs to get Washington, Washington State, UCLA, and Arizona State off their schedule.
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<p>It wasn't more than a couple years ago that Washington State had consecutive 10-win seasons, and Arizona State went 10-3 only last year. </p>
<p>As for out-of-conference games, thanks to the Pac-10's round robin scheduling and the traditional rivalry game with Notre Dame, USC only gets 2 non-conference games to schedule freely every year, and I think that Virginia and Ohio State (who collectively won 20 games last year) was about as good as they could have managed.</p>
<p>And we learn that the big 12's best defense resides in...Lubbock, TX? Discuss.</p>
<p>Wow, wow, wow. The UT vs tech game was amazing. I was pulling for Tech all the way and they pulled it off at the end.</p>
<p>Tech dominated in the 1st half. They were able to hit Colt hard and it knocked him silly. He was scared of the tech defence and the offense suffered. On the otherhand, Tech was able to have a decent half for them and rack up some points. The 2nd half showed what UT was capable of. They made a comeback that I was expecting but it wasn't enought. The final play of the game was weird. I wanted Crabtree to hurry up and get out of bounds so they could kick a field goal, but he went in for the touchdown. He was 6 inches away from out of bounds, and the UT players couldn't get him out? Come on. </p>
<p>I'm thinking Tech should be ranked #3. I'm a Tech fan, but I don't think they should be ranked #1 or #2 yet. After they beat Oklahoma State make them #2, and then if they beat Oklahoma make them #1.</p>
<p>DP</p>
<p>Awesome game-I never realized how much of a man Michael Crabtree is, Jesus. jbusc is right, if Texas Tech is truly the Big 12's best defense, there's not going to be much hope in Miami. Florida looked awfully good yesterday, as did USC. Both defenses can contain Mike Leach's boys, or at least slow them down a bit. I don't think Tech is going to win out, however, and whoever comes out of the Big 12 is going to have a hard time getting into the BCS championship game if it's not an undefeated Tech. The teams that could probably do it are Texas and Oklahoma. If SC continues to roll, and Florida can win out, we just might see them both in the championship game-that is, unless, Penn State stays undefeated. It's just a mess up there in the BCS rankings, but for some reason I'm one of its few advocates. It makes for a good game each and every week. If anyone wants to discuss more national championship scenarios go right on ahead. My guess is going to be Florida vs. Penn State (possibly USC).</p>
<p>As a USC fan, I hope #1 they blow out Cal, Stanford, Notre Dame, and UCLA with some shutouts
#2 Penn State losing at least one (Michigan State has the best chance IMO)
#3 Missouri wins Big 12 (Eliminating Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State from the race)
Hopefully, that will set up a USC vs Florida or Alabama National Championship game.</p>
<p>Wow, that Tech game was really emotionally draining. They totally outplayed UT the first half, but the second half was a lot better. There were a couple bad calls for both sides, which affected the score (the horrible penalty on the UT lineman which pushed then back for a pick 6, and the offensive PI on Crabtree).</p>
<p>UT NEEDS Quan Cosby, and I really think that hurt their offensive production a lot. Curtis Brown is garbage; he can't cover anyone. </p>
<p>UT dropped 3 easy balls (the Shipley one, and the two defensive back ones). I would not want to be Blake Gideon. I know tons of people who have messaged him on facebook, and told him along the lines of </p>
<p>"You lost the chance for UT to make it to a national championship because you could catch a facking tipped ball. I hope you remember this forever, and get the fack out of UT; you don't deserve to play here."</p>
<p>In all honesty, he deserves it too. It must suck to be hated more on campus than Chris Simms though. </p>
<p>Also, it's looking like a Florida-Penn St. national championship. What a yawner.</p>