SEC Champions

Reed, sorry to break it to you, but LSU was rediculously over-rated. They lost to Tennessee. They played the typically cupcake SEC non-conference schedule (aside from a mediocre Arizona State team, which they barely defeated). They played in what could possibly be the worst offensive conference. Don’t be too psyched that the Dawgs beat the Tigers.

In fact, UGA may have run the table (or only lost one game), had Shockley not gotten injured. Plus, the game was in Atlanta. There isn’t much of a difference between LSU and UCLA. Both had a crappy loss to a bad team (LSU lost to Tenn, UCLA lost to Arizona). Both eeked out games in the last second. The difference is LSU has a good defense and no offense, and UCLA is vice-versa.

I would say that USC shutting down the top rated QB in the nation is much more impressive than UGA beating a mediocre team whos starting QB got injured halfway through.

Oh, and USC will kick Texas’s ass (just like USC whooped Oklahoma last year). You can rag on the USC defense, but when they have more than 1 week to prepare, they can shut down any offense. Outside of Ohio State and Penn State, USC has the best linebacking core in the nation. They’re young, but now that they’ve had a year to develop, they’re good. Vince Young will be lucky to break 100yrds throwing or rushing.

Darn the formatting on this board!!

LSU wasn’t ridiculously overrated. The two games that you cite as the reason for mediocrity were the first two games that LSU had to play following Hurricane Katrina. Given the turmoil that the team was going through, LSU did fine to go 1-1.

In that first game, LSU had to come back from a 17-7 deficit to beat ASU 35-31. Southern Cal had to come back from a 21-3 deficit to beat ASU 38-28. I believe that I would probably cite this game as reason to believe that LSU is not mediocre.

Additionally, your comparison of LSU to UCLA isn’t an apt comparison at all. While both lost to bad teams, you have to take a look at how they lost. LSU lost by 3 points in overtime to a 5-6 team, while UCLA lost 52-14 to a 3-8 team. Not the same thing at all.

LSU’s quarterback didn’t just happen to get injured; UGA put him out of the game with a vicious hit after knocking him around for two and a half quarters. Until Georgia’s reserves came in during the fourth quarter, LSU had gained only 127 yards total offense. That’s a great defensive performance. And USC’s play has zip, zero, nada relevance to it. As a gentle reminder, if USC is the expected standard of play, they make Penn State look like an NAIA team, too.

As far as linebacking talent goes, I might give you Ohio State, as they’ve got the #1 rushing defense in the nation, but Penn State as #2? That’s pretty laughable. Three teams on UGA’s schedule alone - LSU one of them - have a better rushing defense. Six SEC teams have better total defense numbers than Penn State; therefore, your contention that the SEC is a bad offensive conference isn’t accurate. The SEC is a great defensive conference.

Penn State’s offense is ranked 30^th in the nation. Doesn’t sound too bad, but the defenses that they faced had an average rank of #75. In the meantime, LSU faced defenses whose average ranking was #38, while Georgia faced defenses whose average ranking was #39. Both SEC division winners faced 5 of the top 12 defenses, while PSU faced four of the bottom 20 and 2 of the bottom 3. I wouldn’t belittle anyone’s offense given that kind of cupcake schedule. I doubt that PSU would have made it through either SEC division without at least 3 losses.

As to your prediction about the BCS title game, USC won’t be able to just roll their helmets out there and win. They had to pull comebacks against Arizona State and Fresno (Fresno!) State, and the officials flat out missed a penalty - the “Bush push” - that should have resulted in a USC loss. Further, while USC has the #1 ranked offense and #2 scoring offense, they also have the #36 defense. Texas, on the other hand, has the #3 offense, the #1 scoring offense, and the #6 defense. Frankly, they’re a more complete team. I agree with Reed. Texas will take this game, and you’ll find that the Oklahoma game is a distant memory.

Six SEC teams have better total defense numbers than Penn State

That’s because SEC defences get to play SEC offences, whereas BigTen defences must play BigTen offences.

Further, while USC has the #1 ranked offense and #2 scoring offense, they also have the #36 defense. Texas, on the other hand, has the #3 offense, the #1 scoring offense, and the #6 defense. Frankly, they’re a more complete team. I agree with Reed. Texas will take this game, and you’ll find that the Oklahoma game is a distant memory.

Texas got to play the mediocre competition in the Big12 (the fourth best BCS conference behind the ACC, Pac10, BigTen, - see Sagarin, although I think the SEC is better than the Big 12). That inflates you stats. On top of that, USC’s defense rates poorly because of injuries that decimated their LBs and secondary. Now that the young LBs have some experience (and the hurt guys have a chance to get healthy this month), the only hole is in the secondary (and we saw how UCLA’s top notch passing attack couldn’t do anything against that secondary). USC is going to spy on Vince Young, shut down Texas’s running backs, and make them beat ‘em through the air. I suggest Texas do the same thing against Reggie Bush and the USC offense, and hope Leinart gets all emotional, throws passes high, and they can stay in the game.

The BigTen is all offense and no defense (aside from Penn State and OSU). I never said any different. What’s impressive is that Penn State and OSU shut down those high powered offenses.

Texas played no one other than Ohio State (the scheduled Lousiana Lafayette and Rice outside of conference). The only other top 25 teams on the schedule were Oklahoma and Texas Tech. Texas Tech played the cupcake of all cupcake non-conference schedules (Floriday Intl, Sam Houston, Indiana State) & they lost to Oklahoma State. Oklahoma lost UCLA and TCU out of conference and beat Tulsa. The Big12 is weak – Texas Tech’s non-conference sched makes an SEC non-conference schedule look tough.

USC beat UCLA (the team that beat Oklahoma), Notre Dame, & Oregon (top 25 teams). They also played Arkansas (an SEC team), Fresno State (the “world beaters” that other teams won’t schedule), and Hawaii (the cupcake). Neither team played a top 10 schedule in terms of difficulty, but I’d say USC’s was more difficult.

Of course, football has no transitive properties (Michigan beat Michigan State, who beat Notre Dame, who beat Michigan).

What’s impressive is that Penn State and OSU shut down those high powered offenses.

I don’t find it all that impressive, because I don’t think the offenses were all that high-powered. I think the Big 10 probably just has a lot of decent offenses that are ringing up big numbers against a bunch of nancy defenses.

Yes, Texas’s schedule has been pretty easy. They’ve also annihilated their opponents. Good gosh, their average score is 51-15. I don’t care if you’re playing against Conference USA, that’s impressive.

SC’s schedule is tougher, no doubt. UCLA got beaten 52-14 by a 3-8 team, and the fact that they beat Oklahoma is unimpressive - so did TCU, so I don’t really count UCLA as that great a win. Oregon, on the other hand, is a solid football team, and beating them 45-13 is impressive. I wasn’t impressed with their effort against Notre Dame. ND had more yards against USC than they did a 5-6 UT team. What USC did to Arkansas was purely frightening. On the flip side, the Fresno State game was completely unimpressive and it showed that USC can’t hammer a decent team by goofing off.

Listen, I don’t have any doubts that USC is a great team. I also don’t have any doubts that Texas is a great team. The thing that makes this matchup so exciting is that you have on one side, the most explosive running back since Bo Jackson. On the other side, you’ve got a really good defense and a quarterback with almost the raw talent of Vick but who has a more complete game at this level.

Two game changers. Put either of them on any other team and they instantly become much better. Imagine Georgia with DJ Shockley and Reggie Bush in the same backfield. Or Penn State with Robinson and Bush. Or Virginia Tech with Vick and Bush. Imagine Minnesota with Vince Young and Maroney. Or Miami with Young and Moss and Devin Hester split out. Or Auburn with Young and Kenny Irons.

You know, there’s a game that stands out in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. 1992: Duke 104, Kentucky 103. Both teams fighting with all their might for a win. Both teams elevating their play, and elevating it again until every player was playing at his peak. I am hoping for the football analogue to that game. Two great teams landing haymaker after haymaker. The issue in doubt the entire time. Every play a threat to go the distance. Many that actually do. I want to see a game that is so good that people laugh when 1971 Nebraska-Oklahoma is called the best game ever. And it’s possible. USC is that good. Texas is that good. Any other year, either of these teams is Nebraska 1995. Not this year.

shows what you know. hating on vince young :)