USC No. 1 from start to finish in AP poll

AP via NJOnline ^ | 01.05.05 | By RALPH D. RUSSO

[RedBloodedAmerican]

USC No. 1 from start to finish in AP poll

By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP Sports Writer

MIAMI (AP) -- Southern California joined some elite company with its latest AP national title. The Trojans became just the second team to go No. 1 wire-to-wire in The Associated Press Top 25, and the 10th team to repeat as national champs.

Following a resounding 55-19 victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, USC received all but three first-place votes early Wednesday to easily outdistance Auburn.

The Trojans (13-0) are the first back-to-back AP champs since Nebraska in 1994-95.

"I know right now I'm in the middle of something special," USC coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday morning after receiving both the AP and Bowl Championship series national title trophies.

"We are now unanimously No. 1," Orange Bowl MVP Matt Leinart said right after the game.

Not quite, but good enough.

USC received 62 first-place votes and 1,622 points. Auburn got the other first-place votes and 1,559 points.

The Sooners (12-1) finished third, ahead of unbeaten Utah (12-0) and Texas (11-1).

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Auburn (13-0) finished its perfect season Monday night with a 16-13 victory over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl.

Tigers coach Tommy Tuberville and his team practically pleaded with poll voters to give his team a championship, but to no avail.

"Anybody who thought that last night was a championship game, I beg to differ," Tuberville said Wednesday morning. "I'm disappointed that with the type of team we had, as balanced as we were, we did not get a chance to play in that game."

The Trojans' 36-point rout was the third-largest margin in a matchup between No. 1 and No. 2 teams.

USC joined Florida State in 1999 as the only teams to be No. 1 from start to finish since the AP started a preseason poll in 1950. The Trojans are also the 10th preseason No. 1 to win the national championship.

The Trojans' fifth AP title tied them with Miami for the fourth most.

Notre Dame leads with eight national titles, followed by Oklahoma with seven and Alabama with six.

And if the Trojans start next season No. 1 - a good possibility even if Leinart skips his senior season for the NFL draft - they will match Miami's record of 19 straight polls as No. 1.

No team has ever won three straight AP titles, but USC could enter next season as the favorite to do just that.

Louisville was No. 6, followed by Georgia, Iowa, California and Virginia Tech.

Miami was 11th, and for the first time since 1982, no team from Florida ended the season ranked among the nation's top five.

Florida State (9-3) finished ranked 15th and Florida (7-5) ended the season unranked.

Boise State's first loss of the season to Louisville in the Liberty Bowl dropped the Broncos two spots to No. 12.

Navy made it into the rankings for the first time since 1979 at No. 24. Fresno State also joined the poll at 22.

[NorCalRepub]

Don't count Cal out with Coach Tedford. They had several major injuries at the end of the year or they would have given TTU a better game......plus, they outplayed USC at USC this year and where the closest to beating them this year and who was the last team to beat USC..........it was Cal in 2003.......

[lugsoul]

The scary part is that she was better in that SNL appearance than she was last night.

[misterrob]

Citadel and Louisiana-Monroe????? What stiffs.

Those two games sunk them. Part of the BCS formula relies upon strength of schedule and by not playing a ranked opponent they basically screwed themselves.

[Sprite518]

The SEC is a way stronger conference than the PAC 10. You have great teams such as Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, and LSU. What does the PAC 10 have besides USC???

[NorCalRepub]

don't be that ignorant about that......everyone knows that Cal had lost all their wide receivers and best roving defensive back before that last few games of the year. I'm not making excuses cause TTU won fair and square but all we could do is run the football and JJ Arrington still gained 173 yards......by your logic of comparing teams, Cal was the only team that almost beat USC at USC, outplayed them statistically and lost by only 6 points.....using your logic then you would have to say Cal is better than OU. You wouldn't say that would you....cause they lost to USC by way less than OU.....so your logic is flawed

[Sprite518]

Too bad your school passed on the best coach you ever had. I am sure Steve is looking forward to playing you every year.

[misterrob]

Charlie Weiss could do it. Look at what he did with Tom Brady up in New England. He's got two Super Bowl rings to show kids and he's no push over.

[NorCalRepub]

again that is ignorant........Cal was not overrated all year, but they became very ineffectual near the end due to loss of their wide receivers and best defensive rover... They won their games by an average of 24 points and were the only ones that almost beat USC after outplaying them. So while I give TTU it's dues and congratulations, one game doens't mean they are better except for that night. Cal was dominent almost all year, JJ Arrington had better numbers than Benson or Peterson and was the only back to gain over 100 in EVERY game. Most people don't even follow the Pac 10 cause the east is bias as asleep by many of the games

[Sprite518]

LOL! That was pi** poor show. Especially at the end with all the booing.

[misterrob]

USC beat Virginia Tech in what ammounted to a home game for Tech.

And, I don't care what anyone says about auburn, SC has too much damned speed on offense. Reggie Bush is one of the scariest players I have ever seen. He can break one any time, anywhere.

[dfwgator]

It's going to be interesting. I wish SOS all the best, except when we play South Carolina, then he's Gator Bait just as much as Bobby Bowden.

[misterrob]

USC beat Virginia Tech in what amounted to a home game for Tech.

And, I don't care what anyone says about auburn, SC has too much damned speed on offense. Reggie Bush is one of the scariest players I have ever seen. He can break one any time, anywhere.

[dfwgator]

I think what noone talks about is USC's offensive line. The key to winning championships is to have dominating offensive and defensive lines. You can put spares in at the other positions and still win championships if you are dominant in the trenches.

[Dog Gone]

OU was soooo bad last night that even Texas could have beaten them..

Wow, that's gonna leave a mark...

[1L]

The Big 12 as a whole wasn't dominant, but he Big 12 South, with 5 teams in the top 25, all for a good period of time (not just a week or so), means they are still the dominant division, bowl results not withstanding. You can't put everything on one game.

[Sprite518]

Division IAA, Division II,and III all have playoffs in college football. Its only Division I that does not. As a matter of fact all other sports in college have some sort of a playoff system. This is terrible, and it will never change unless their is enough demand for it.

[misterrob]

The lines are important but in college it's all about speed.....

[chronotrigger]

If Auburn had bothered to play anyone noteworty on its non-conference schedule then they could have made a better beef.

But they shouldn't have had to make any "beef." They should have been given the opportunity to play USC instead of that overrated Oklahoma team.

[dfwgator]

Speed can be neutralized by a more physical team.

[GadareneDemoniac]

I turned the Sugar Bowl off after three quarters because of all the hot-dogging, booty-shaking, no-class actions of the Auburn team. This reflects poorly on the players, the coach ( especially ) and the school.
They beat an ACC team by three points and they think they should be #1 - really, now...