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.
You forget VA Tech and the zebra bailout.
Not to mention they didn't play Utah, Auburn, Texas, Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida State, Miami, Boise State, Louisville. If there were a playoff I'd be betting on USC winning it all, but the current system never removes all doubt as to who the best would end up being.
I think your coaches poll is the final regular season poll from early December. The one published today has USC with all the top votes. Check it out at USA Today
for the record, i do have allot of respect for OUs coach
And if he does not, they will still be OK:
9-3-05 at Hawaii
9-17-05 ARKANSAS
9-24-05 at Oregon
10-1-05 at Arizona State
10-8-05 ARIZONA
10-15-05 at Notre Dame
10-22-05 at Washington
10-29-05 WASHINGTON STATE
11-5-05 STANFORD
11-12-05 at California
12-3-05 UCLA
Could be a couple of good games here....
Like it or not, OJ is a freeman and USC cannot control or prevent him from attending the game.
I watched all of the game and did not see any evidence of OJ at the game, especially not on the SC sidelines (Shack, O'Farrell and others).
OJ is personna non grata at SC.
Clueless coaches poll (no way that OU and Texas should be ahead of Utah):
ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Coaches' Poll
1. Southern California (61) 1,525
2. Auburn 1,460
3. Oklahoma 1,366
4. Texas 1,324
5. Utah 1,300
6. Georgia 1,191
7. Louisville 1,166
8. Iowa 1,022
9. California 937
10. Virginia Tech 906
11. Miami, Fla. 903
12. Michigan 802
13. Boise State 792
14. Florida State 776
15. Tennessee 771
16. LSU 693
17. Texas Tech 478
18. Wisconsin 449
19. Ohio State 430
20. Arizona State 377
21. Boston College 245
22. Fresno State 206
23. Virginia 157
24. Navy 129
25. Florida 101
Dropped out: Pittsburgh (8-4), West Virginia (8-4), Texas A&M (7-5).
Others receiving votes: West Virginia, 96; Bowling Green, 57; Pittsburgh, 45; Northern Illinois, 40; Texas A&M, 16; Colorado, 15; Minnesota, 13; Oregon State, 11; Iowa State, 7; Purdue, 5; Connecticut, 4; Georgia Tech, 3; Texas El-Paso, 2; Toledo, 2; Wyoming, 2; Hawaii, 1.
The reason both USC and Oklahoma started high and stayed high in the polls was because they were seeded high based on last year's results. Auburn was not among the elite last year.
With that said (and I am an SC fan and alum), the "National Title" is still mythical. I can say, with out a doubt, that USC is the strongest college football team in the nation - and has been for two years.
I don't think so. Auburn was condemned to finish where they did simply because USC and Oklahoma were ahead of them in the pre-season polls and would remain there as long as they kept winning.
Auburn finished the season 12-0 in what is undoubtedly the toughest conference in the nation (the SEC). That conference had five teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation at the end of the season before the bowl games began (I believe they were Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and LSU). That's pretty amazing -- one out of every four teams in the top 20 were from the SEC.
From what I understand, Oklahoma only played three ranked teams all year long Texas, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M) -- one of which (Oklahoma State) was no longer ranked by the end of the year. They didn't impress me at all this year, which is why I wasn't surprised by the 55-19 debacle last night.
Jan. 4, 2004 |
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Rank | Team (first-place votes) |
Record
|
Points
|
Last week
|
|
1.
|
Southern California (61) |
13-0
|
1,525
|
1
|
|
2.
|
Auburn |
13-0
|
1,460
|
3
|
|
3.
|
Oklahoma |
12-1
|
1,366
|
2
|
|
4.
|
Texas |
11-1
|
1,324
|
5
|
|
5.
|
Utah |
12-0
|
1,300
|
6
|
|
6.
|
Georgia |
10-2
|
1,191
|
7
|
|
7.
|
Louisville |
11-1
|
1,166
|
8
|
|
8.
|
Iowa |
10-2
|
1,022
|
13
|
|
9.
|
California |
10-2
|
937
|
4
|
|
10.
|
Virginia Tech |
10-3
|
906
|
9
|
|
11.
|
Miami (Fla.) |
9-3
|
903
|
14
|
|
12.
|
Michigan |
9-3
|
802
|
12
|
|
13.
|
Boise State |
11-1
|
792
|
10
|
|
14.
|
Florida State |
9-3
|
776
|
15
|
|
15.
|
Tennessee |
10-3
|
771
|
17
|
|
16.
|
LSU |
9-3
|
693
|
11
|
|
17.
|
Texas Tech |
8-4
|
478
|
21
|
|
18.
|
Wisconsin |
9-3
|
449
|
16
|
|
19.
|
Ohio State |
8-4
|
430
|
22
|
|
20.
|
Arizona State |
9-3
|
377
|
24
|
|
21.
|
Boston College |
9-3
|
245
|
NR
|
|
22.
|
Fresno State |
9-3
|
206
|
NR
|
|
23.
|
Virginia |
8-4
|
157
|
18
|
|
24.
|
Navy |
10-2
|
129
|
NR
|
|
25.
|
Florida |
7-5
|
101
|
19
|
|
Dropped out | |||||
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Also receiving votes | |||||
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The AFCA prohibits coaches from voting for schools on major NCAA probation. |
Ouch! In parts of the country - them's fightin' words.
Norm Chow's next Heisman project. And then a kid from Orange County, CA, named Sanchez.
As an Auburn grad ('75) who did his masters at USC ('82), it's great to be affiliated with both these teams.
The TROJANS are #1!!!
WAR EAGLE!!!
Don't forget that the non-conference games are scheduled 5 to 10 years in advance..Auburn got hurt when they opened the season down in the early polls...they moved up.but they can't pass other undefeated schools who were ranked ahead of them..maybe there should be no polls until the 5th week..
If SC loses to any of those teams on that schedule, it would be a huge upset.
Some possibilities:
UCLA - They are due
Arizona - They will surprise a lot people next year.
Arkansas - Doubtful
Cal - They have peaked and are going to fall further next year.
Yup..and it's true..the Texas seniors are the first class in what, 50 years NEVER to have beaten OU.
USC had a TBA date for September 10. The @Hawaii game is considered a bonus away game, so they get another - probably a home game against an out-of-conference opponent.
I agree, USC has likely been the best team in college fraudball the last 2 years. And just think, if Cal had pulled off the upset, USC wouldn't have had a chance to expose OU, and might not have even made the BCS. What a joke this system is.
Doncha love how Cal is still ranked way ahead of Texas Tech in both polls, even though they were soundly beaten IN CALIFORNIA?
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