CFN Picks UCLA over USC/Top 119 ...

[3afan]

not really :: USC 48, UCLA 41

------------------------

1. Texas (11-0)
W, at Texas A&M 40-29
next game: Colorado, Big 12 Championship
But it’s a shaky number one. The Longhorns struggled with Texas A&M and a backup quarterback, but still won a vicious rivalry game by double-digits and put 40 points on the board. The theory still holds; USC likely won’t have any prayer against the Longhorn running game (assuming all goes according to plan and the two teams play in the Rose Bowl), but ....

2. USC (11-0)
3. LSU (10-1)
4. Penn State (10-1)
5. Ohio State (9-2)
6. Auburn (9-2)
7. Notre Dame (9-2)
8. Miami (9-2)
9. Virginia Tech (10-1)
10. Georgia (9-2)
11. Michigan (7-4)
12. Oregon (10-1)
13. West Virginia (9-1)
14. Alabama (9-2)

15. TCU (10-1)
Didn’t play this week
next game: Houston Bowl
The Houston Bowl? Fine, so it’s a good chance for the Horned Frogs to play a mediocre Big 12 team, but it already proved it could beat someone like Oklahoma. It’s a shame we won’t get a chance to see how good it really is against a top team.

16. UCLA (9-1)
17. Georgia Tech (7-4)
18. Clemson (7-4)
19. South Carolina (7-4)
20. Florida (8-3)
21. Northwestern (7-4)
22. Louisville (8-2)
23. Fresno State (8-3)
24. Iowa State (7-4)
25. Iowa (7-4)

26. Boston College (8-3)
27. Wisconsin (9-3)
28. Minnesota (7-4)
29. Texas Tech (9-2)
30. Oklahoma (7-4)
31. California (7-4)
32. North Carolina (5-6)
33. NC State (6-5)
34. Maryland (5-6)
35. Virginia (6-5)
36. Stanford (5-6)
37. Florida State (7-4)
38. Arizona State (6-5)
39. Boise State (9-3)
40. Rutgers (7-4)
41. Kansas (6-5)
42. Nebraska (7-4)
43. Colorado (7-4)
44. Nevada (8-3)
45. Purdue (5-6)
46. Pitt (5-6)
47. Michigan State (5-6)
48. Wake Forest (4-7)
49. New Mexico (6-5)
50. Missouri (6-5)
51. Arkansas (4-7)
52. Utah (6-5)
53. BYU (6-5)
54. South Florida (6-4)
55. Oregon State (5-6)
56. Arizona (3-8)
57. Kansas State (5-6)
58. Washington State (4-7)
59. Vanderbilt (5-6)
60. Tennessee (5-6)
61. Texas A&M (5-6)
62. UCF (8-3)
63. Connecticut (5-5)
64. Baylor (5-6)
65. San Diego State (5-6)
66. Tulsa (7-4)
67. UTEP (8-3)
68. Memphis (6-5)
69. Northern Illinois (7-4)
70. Southern Miss (6-5)
71. Oklahoma State (4-7)
72. Colorado State (6-5)
73. Toledo (8-3)
74. Wyoming (4-7)
75. Akron (6-5)
76. Bowling Green (6-5)
77. SMU (5-6)
78. Houston (6-5)
79. Air Force (4-7)
80. Washington (2-9)
81. Miami University (7-4)
82. Navy (6-4)
83. Indiana (4-7)
84. Kentucky (3-8)
85. Mississippi State (3-8)
86. Western Michigan (7-4)
87. East Carolina (5-6)
88. UAB (5-6)
89. Illinois (2-9)
90. Cincinnati (4-7)
91. Central Michigan (6-5)
92. Ball State (4-7)
93. Marshall (4-7)
94. Ohio (4-7)
95. Louisiana Tech (6-4)
96. Syracuse (1-10)
97. Eastern Michigan (4-7)
98. Army (4-6)
99. Hawaii (4-7)
100. Ole Miss (3-8)
101. Duke (1-10)
102. San Jose State (3-8)
103. Utah State (2-9)
104. UNLV (2-9)
105. UL Lafayette (6-5)
106. UL Monroe (5-6)
107. Arkansas State (6-5)
108. Idaho (2-9)
109. North Texas (2-9)
110. MTSU (4-6)
111. Troy (4-7)
112. FIU (4-6)
113. Florida Atlantic (1-10)
114. Rice (1-10)
115. Tulane (2-9)
116. Buffalo (1-10)
117. Kent State (1-10)
118. Temple (0-11)
119. New Mexico State (0-12)

[neck_06]

USC #2!?!?!? since when?

[3afan]

CFN has had Texas #1 for a few weeks ...

[neck_06]

not in the AP, the BCS, or the USA Today poll, i just looked at those yesterday.

[3afan]

well thats nice, but CFN has UT #1. its just another poll

http://www.collegefootballnews.com/2005/Rankings/CFN_Rankings.htm

[neck_06]

you're right, didn't see that up there, my bad

i still think that USC should be #1, i beleive that if you haven't lost a game i 2 (dang near 3) years, and are the back-to-back national champions, you should be #1 until you are beaten.

[injuredinmelee]

Originally posted by neck_06
you're right, didn't see that up there, my bad

i still think that USC should be #1, i beleive that if you haven't lost a game i 2 (dang near 3) years, and are the back-to-back national champions, you should be #1 until you are beaten.

That might be the case if you had the exact same personnel year after year.

[neck_06]

i don't care, a champion should be at the top until beaten, just like in boxing.

[neck_06]

ttt

[big daddy russ]

USC's scary. I hate that team, but don't try to convince me that they're not playing down to the competition. They may go into the championship game and put a hurtin' on UT and make the Big XII look worse than it already does.

[tigers05]

I honestly don't believe Texas will have a problem with USC...USC has played mediocre teams down to the wire...they really havent seen a team half as good as Texas. They may have not lost in a couple years but what have they done this year, what impressive victories do they have...don't even say the last second win over Notre Dame is impressive because Notre Dame is extremely over rated. Yes Reggie Bush is fast, news flash so is Texas's defense. Yes Matt Leinart is good, news flash so is Texas's Secondary. So who's going to stop Vince Young?

[whtfbplaya]

Originally posted by neck_06
i don't care, a champion should be at the top until beaten, just like in boxing.

Amen

[whtfbplaya]

In the poll is anyone ranked higher than a team they lost to now?

[neck_06]

Originally posted by tigers05
I honestly don't believe Texas will have a problem with USC...USC has played mediocre teams down to the wire...they really havent seen a team half as good as Texas.

Texas just went to the wire with A&M (if it wasn't for a blocked punt). I also believe that Texas hasn't seen a team as good as USC.


So who's going to stop Vince Young?

At this point VINCE YOUNG is the only person who can stop Vince Young. The guy is good.

[neck_06]

Originally posted by whtfbplaya
In the poll is anyone ranked higher than a team they lost to now?

Miami is ranked higher than Georgia Tech

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by tigers05
Yes Reggie Bush is fast, news flash so is Texas's defense. Yes Matt Leinart is good, news flash so is Texas's Secondary. So who's going to stop Vince Young?
What's going to stop the other two? Chizik's my boy. I love the guy and love the way his teams play defense, but the stud-loaded Auburn defense he had last year was faster than the UT defense he has this year. UT is bigger, but that just means they'll shut down LenDale White, their forgotten third man in the offense.

Like I said, they've been playing down to their competition, and there's no way in hell Notre Dame's "mediocre" this year. Just look at the teams they've been through to get that 9-2 record.

September 3 at No. 23 Pittsburgh W 42-21 1-0
September 10 at No. 3 Michigan W 17-10 2-0
September 17 Michigan State L 44-41 2-1 NBC
September 24 at Washington W 36-17 3-1
October 1 at No. 22 Purdue W 49-28 4-1
October 15 No. 1 USC L 34-31 4-2 NBC
October 22 BYU W 49-23 5-2 NBC
November 5 Tennessee W 41-21 6-2 NBC
November 12 Navy W 42-21 7-2 NBC
November 19 Syracuse W 34-10 8-2 NBC
November 26 at Stanford W 38-31 9-2

They lost to a very underrated MSU squad who was rolling at the time, hung in there with #1, and beat several ranked teams along the way. That includes a Michigan squad whose four losses came to top-20 teams by a grand total of 17 points, never by more than a TD (against none other than ND). That's an average of about four points per loss.

Either you don't really keep up with college football or you have a really dark shade of rose on those glasses of yours.

And if the ND win doesn't convince, what about that 45-13 victory over Oregon? The Ducks would tear apart any team in the Big XII this side of UT... and possibly, POSSIBLY... Tech. They went up 13-0 early against USC. A great team had the champ on the ropes, but when the champ decided he wanted to start throwing punches it was over.

Watch them against UCLA. If they lose it's not because they were overrated. It's because they got bored with the competition just like UT got bored and sputtered against TAMU.

Not saying that USC will win if they play UT, just saying I'd rather my boys on the plains play UT in the national championship than USC. They may have had a chance last year, but this year's a different story.

[3afan]

i agree, ND is not overrated

[tigers05]

How can you say Notre Dame is not over rated, their best game this year was in a lost to USC, they lost to a 5-6 MSU team in South Bend, and they went to the wire with Stanford. Say what you will but the fact of the matter is Kansas and North Carolina have more wins (4) over teams with winning records than does Notre Dame (3). Sure their schedule looked tough at the beginning of the season but seriously, Tennessee blows, Purdue is not good, and neither is MSU.

[stxboy05]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by tigers05 Yes Reggie Bush is fast, news flash so is Texas's defense.
Man Reggie Bush is more than fast, u talkin like he's just some regular old back.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by tigers05
How can you say Notre Dame is not over rated, their best game this year was in a lost to USC, they lost to a 5-6 MSU team in South Bend, and they went to the wire with Stanford. Say what you will but the fact of the matter is Kansas and North Carolina have more wins (4) over teams with winning records than does Notre Dame (3). Sure their schedule looked tough at the beginning of the season but seriously, Tennessee blows, Purdue is not good, and neither is MSU.
Did you keep up with MSU this year? What about the Big Ten in general? Purdue's not good??? The Big Ten's top nine teams were probably as good or better than the Big XII's second-best team. That leaves Indiana and Illinois as the two lone weak teams in the conference.

Big Ten Standings
TEAM CONF. W-L OVERALL W-L
Penn State 7-1 10-1
Ohio State 7-1 9-2
Wisconsin 5-3 9-3
Northwestern 5-3 7-4
Michigan 5-3 7-4
Iowa 5-3 7-4
Minnesota 4-4 7-4
Purdue 3-5 5-6
Michigan State 2-6 5-6
Indiana 1-7 4-7
Illinois 0-8 2-9

How's this for good... the third-worst team in the 11-team conference almost hung an upset on #1 AND #2? Lost by nine and 11, respectively, but the games were closer than the scores. Oh, and that four-loss Michigan squad that beat MSU by a whopping three points is as good as just about any team in the nation. MSU has one of the four best QB's in the nation this year and were at their peak when they beat ND earlier in the season.

Sure, look at their record and they don't look like much, but you could also look at Iowa Park's 4-5 record going into the playoffs and say they didn't look like much. As a matter of fact, go tell that to some of Sweetwater's fans... or Pilot Point or Little Elm. See what they tell you.

The fact of the matter is that unless you've actually watched them play you have no idea how good that team really is. Maybe that USC game was the only ND game you saw. Maybe you don't venture out of your Big XII viewing box very often. Maybe you didn't get to see how the Golden Domers HANDLED then-#22 Purdue. But don't watch one game that ND played against USC (and they did play a great game), look at their two losses, then think of them as merely media darlings who are overrated. They're not.

Those two losses came against one of the toughest schedules in the nation. ND is basically the 12th member of the Big Ten. The Big Ten is arguably the toughest conference in D-IA right now. (The only other conference that has a legit case in this argument is the ACC... not the SEC, not the PAC-10 and definitely not the Big XII).

Tennessee may have a horrible record but nobody will argue that they don't have talent.

And Stanford??? Are you actually trying to make an argument against one of the hottest teams in the nation right now? Sure, they had problems at the beginning of the year. Hell, they lost to a I-AA team. But they've come on since the Oregon game. After squeakers over Washington State and Arizona, they took care of a talented Arizona State squad, almost knocked off the #8 team in the nation, and handily beat a very, very, very underrated Golden Bears squad in the the Big Game.

That is how I can say they're not overrated. They're better than any Big XII team this side of UT. They're better than 95% of the teams out there, and if you don't believe that then start watching their games. The college football world isn't exactly revolving around the Lone Star State right now. We have a grand total of one great team, one pretty good team, and a bunch of mediocre teams.

[tigers05]

I have been watching the Notre Dame games, which causes me to be a firm believer that they're in a BCS bowl because their name is Notre Dame. Regardless of your stats and what you say, nothing will convince me ND is not over rated, nothing, period. 3 wins over teams with winning records is the stat that sticks out in my mind. Sure Purdue and Tennessee have talent, but that doesn't mean they're good, Diamond Hill-Jarvis has talent, are they good? No because they underachieve, much like Tenn. and Purdue. I have also watched many Michigan State games, and you are not going to be able to convince me that they're a good team either, once again they also have talent but they've underachieved as well. So what if they've played team's close, a good team will pull it out. It's not about stats or talent, it's about W's and L's and Purdue, Tennessee, and Michigan States all have more L's than W's, which in my book means they aren't good. Now I know that ND has more W's than L's, and they are a good team for that, but not a great team, not a top 5 and possibly not a top ten, but a top 20 for sure.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by tigers05
...Now I know that ND has more W's than L's, and they are a good team for that, but not a great team, not a top 5 and possibly not a top ten, but a top 20 for sure.
So possibly a top ten team is what you're saying? Would eight sound about right? Seven? Cause they're seventh in the the two major polls and eighth in the BCS. Is that overrated?

Week 14 AP Top 25
1. USC (55) 11-0 1,615
2. Texas (10) 11-0 1,570
3. LSU 10-1 1,447
4. Penn State 10-1 1,430
5. Virginia Tech 10-1 1,332
6. Ohio State 9-2 1,276
7. Notre Dame 9-2 1,252
8. Oregon 10-1 1,144
9. Auburn 9-2 1,126
10. Miami 9-2 989
11. UCLA 9-1 942
12. West Virginia 9-1 932
13. Georgia 9-2 899
14. Alabama 9-2 758
15. TCU 10-1 740

[District303aPastPlayer]

and this is why Russ deserves most informative poster for the 3aDL season ending awards :)

[3afan]

Originally posted by whtfbplaya
In the poll is anyone ranked higher than a team they lost to now?

of course - thats not at all unusual - a few that jump out ::

#7 ND lost to #47 Mich St
#15 TCU lost to #77 SMU
#67 UTEP lost to #77 SMU