Armchair Quarterback: Eating crow thanks to the Trojans
Okay, so now I owe the Trojans an apology after dogging them all year, saying they were “overrated” and had no business in the title game.
They came in and smoked the Oklahoma Sooners like a practice squad, humiliating the pride of the Big 12 on the national stage at the Orange Bowl. The only thing worse than the Sooners’ play Tuesday night was Ashley Simpson’s halftime performance, which was met with a round of jeers from the audience. Perhaps she needs to go back to lip-syncing, if that’s how her live voice sounds.
Much to my surprise, USC was sharp and their passing game, behind Matt Linert’s five TD passes, was overwhelming, taking the emphasis off of Reggie Bush and putting it onto the young Sooner secondary.
Would USC have beaten Auburn or Utah? We will never know thanks to the greed of the BCS schools.
But, it really doesn’t matter since the BCS is the agreed formula for determining the national champion. For this reason, USC needs to stop saying they will three-peat next year since they have only won one championship. Last year was won by LSU while USC, rightfully or not, was beating a mediocre Michigan team in the Rose Bowl.
As for who will compete for the title next year, well, a lot may have to do with whether Linert comes back for another season. If he remains, USC should be about as good as this year. By the way, they were undefeated this season due to one arrant Cal Bear pass at the end of their showdown with the one team that beat them the year before. Other than Utah, which won all of its games by at least 14 points, the other top teams all had close ones like Auburn’s 10-9 win against LSU and Oklahoma’s 38-35 win against Oklahoma State.
In the SEC, the Vols finished on a good note, beating Texas A&M like a rented mule in the Cotton Bowl. They will be a favorite in the SEC next year, but will be facing the same old obstacles like Florida in the Swamp and Georgia at Neyland. Auburn also promises to bring another strong team to the table this year and it’ll be interesting to see how the Old Ball Coach does at South Carolina. I don’t think they’ll be contenders right off nor do I think one year will be time enough for Florida’s new administration to put them in the national championship picture.
Elsewhere, Louisville and the latest Brahm brother at quarterback will dominate the Big East where they will finally get an automatic bid to the BCS. Virginia Tech will get a Vick back, so they will be going head to head against the usual crowd in the ACC in Florida State and Miami, both coming off subpar seasons.
But, the team I look to make the biggest comeback will be Ohio State. They really slipped this year, but they have a lot of good talent, some of which was showcased in their beat down of Oklahoma State. I look for them to rule the Big 10 and perhaps get a shot at a USC, Oklahoma, or who knows, even a Tennessee in next year’s championship game.
Yes, Tennessee doesn’t lose a lot and they’ve a wealth of weapons so it’d be ridiculous not to put them in the top 10 or even top five this coming year.
Of course, take this with a grain of salt seeing my debacle with picking this year’s champion. But, if I were only 80 percent in picking the winners, you’d be paying hundreds of bucks for my advice. Here, you get it for 75 cents on Sunday — a bargain anywhere.