Posted on 01/05/2005 8:38:56 AM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
USC No. 1 from start to finish in AP poll
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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).
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.
I love this. As an Oregon fan, I've been raised to severely NOT LIKE the Trojans. And really, I have no beaf against the Sooners. But, this game does two things I think needed to be done.
#1. It Screws the BCS. Should have been USC vs. Auborn or Utah.
#2. Slows the chorus of "Weak Pac-10".
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No doubt.
Uh, Auburn did not play the toughest schedule. A schedule comprising of Louisiana-Monroe, The Citadel (D1-AA) and Louisanna Tech hardly qualifies Auburns schedule as tough.
Way to go USC!
>> [Auburn was] more deserving to go to the National Championship than Oklahoma, but the sportswriters were not going to let that happen again. <<
You seem to presume the sportswriters are against Auburn. Why would they be?
And there lies the problem. Football aint a democracy! Until we have a playoff, there is NO real National Champion.
With that said, the only team to even come close to USC is Cal. USC is the best in the country, IMO.
Hello! I agree with you, but I think the Sooners are #3 in both of the major polls.
Thanks!
OU was soooo bad last night that even Texas could have beaten them..
There's a problem with that..you had 4 undefeated teams this year, so you figure that you could have a 4 team playoff..two rounds, right?..OK..what would have happened had Cal managed to win their last game?
The scary thing is that Oklahoma isn't THAT bad. IMO, USC is just that good. And could be better next year.
I dread Sept 24th 2005 (not really, it'll be a hell of a game!).
Sagarin's computer rankings at USA Today put USC's schedule strength at 7th and Auburn's at 60th.
Exactly.
What a total joke this system is. Look at the final polls, both still voted OU ahead of Utah. OU looked pathetic last night, barely beat an A&M team (by deflecting a tying touchdown in the endzone on the final play) that Utah handily whipped, and the results for USC and Utah against their 3 common opponents were very similar. Yeah, Pitt wasn't that great an opponent, but Utah thrashed them and handed them their worst loss of the season, 38-7, with Pitt's other losses being by 12, 7, and 7. Not saying that Utah should be ranked ahead of USC(though they and Auburn should have a shot playing USC in a 4 team playoff finish), but they darn should be ranked ahead of once again overrated Oklahoma.
I was surprised. I thought OU would win, and easily..that's why they play the game..
I believe your AP poll is post-bowl and your Coaches is pre-bowl, no?
I think so. I only copied it off Fox Sports.
The Freepers posting on this board are too tough on Oklahoma. After all, doesn't California pay better than any other state?
I thought Texas did pretty good. Their Rose Bowl victory this year was one for the ages.
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