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.

[Diddle E. Squat]

With that said, the only team to even come close to USC is Cal.

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.

[capitan_refugio]

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

[RedBloodedAmerican]

for the record, i do have allot of respect for OUs coach

[Michael.SF.]

if Leinart.. returns

And if he does not, they will still be OK:

John David Booty
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Shreveport, La.
High School: Evangel Christian
Height / Weight: 6-3 / 195
Position: QB
Experience: 1V
HIGH SCHOOL: As a junior quarterback in 2002 at Evangel Christian Academy in Shreveport (La..), he led his team to the Class 5A state title while throwing for 4,144 yards and 38 touchdowns while earning Student Sports Underclass All-American and Class 5A All-State honors. He also led Evangel Christian to the Class 5A state title as a 2001 sophomore, passing for 4,330 yards and 50 TDs while being named a Student Sports Underclass All-American and Class 5A All-State.

[RckyRaCoCo]

2005 Southern Cal Trojans Football Schedule

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....

[Michael.SF.]

but I was pulling against USC when I heard OJ would be at the game!!!

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.

[Dead Dog]

I don't think you would have ended up with 4 undefeated teams. I like the idea of Conference Champions playing in their traditional bowl games. Re. Big 10 vs Pac 10 in the Rose.

There are 12 conferences, 6 bowl game winners. That, and add with two wild card teams gives you a 3 game playoff series. Could be done with within a 12 game season if the OC gimmie games are dropped from the schedules.

The trick will be incorporating the bowl games so that they are BIG rivalry games...Big 12 vs SEC in the Cotton Bowl for instance. If done right this could be a huge revenue machine. However, it might also require some changes to the conferences.

[Diddle E. Squat]

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.

[capitan_refugio]

If you review which papers/organizations the sportswriters work for, you will find there exists a south and east bias. (That doesn't mean, necessarily, the voter is biased - but they are certainly exposed to their regional games more so.)

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.

[Alberta's Child]

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

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.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

It reads Jan 4, 2005.

Jan. 4, 2004
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
No. 20 Pittsburgh (8-4), No. 23 West Virginia (8-4), No. 25 Texas A&M (7-5).
Also 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 USA TODAY/ESPN Board of Coaches is made up of 61 head coaches at Division I-A institutions. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. This season’s board: Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin; Chuck Amato, North Carolina State; Gary Barnett, Colorado; Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech; Mike Bellotti, Oregon; Phil Bennett, Southern Methodist; Jack Bicknell, Louisiana Tech; Bobby Bowden, Florida State; Tommy Bowden, Clemson; Jeff Bower, Southern Mississippi; Gregg Brandon, Bowling Green; Mack Brown, Texas; Watson Brown, Alabama-Birmingham; Lloyd Carr, Michigan; Larry Coker, Miami (Fla.); Gary Crowton, Brigham Young; David Cutcliffe, Mississippi; Gary Darnell, Western Michigan; Darrell Dickey, North Texas; Bill Doba, Washington State; Dennis Franchione, Texas A&M; Ralph Friedgen, Maryland; Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee; Joe Glenn, Wyoming; Walt Harris, Pittsburgh; Dan Hawkins, Boise State; Fitz Hill, San Jose State; Pat Hill, Fresno State; Terry Hoeppner, Miami (Ohio); Brady Hoke, Ball State; Lou Holtz, South Carolina; Dirk Koetter, Arizona State; Jim Leavitt, South Florida; Rocky Long, New Mexico; Sonny Lubick, Colorado State; Dan McCarney, Iowa State; Andy McCollum, Middle Tennessee; Glen Mason, Minnesota; Les Miles, Oklahoma State; Joe Novak, Northern Illinois; Houston Nutt, Arkansas; Tom O'Brien, Boston College; George O'Leary, Central Florida; Joe Paterno, Penn State; Gary Patterson, TCU; Bobby Petrino, Louisville; Gary Pinkel, Missouri; Bob Pruett, Marshall; Mark Richt, Georgia; Steve Roberts, Arkansas State; Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia; Nick Saban, LSU; John L. Smith, Michigan State; Bob Stoops, Oklahoma; Mike Stoops, Arizona; Jeff Tedford, California; Jim Tressel, Ohio State; Tommy Tuberville, Auburn; Ron Turner, Illinois; Charlie Weatherbie, Louisiana-Monroe; Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame. The AFCA prohibits coaches from voting for schools on major NCAA probation.

[capitan_refugio]

Ouch! In parts of the country - them's fightin' words.

[capitan_refugio]

"John David Booty"

Norm Chow's next Heisman project. And then a kid from Orange County, CA, named Sanchez.

[O6ret]

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!!!

[ken5050]

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..

[Michael.SF.]

Could be a couple of good games here....

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.

[ken5050]

Yup..and it's true..the Texas seniors are the first class in what, 50 years NEVER to have beaten OU.

[capitan_refugio]

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.

[Diddle E. Squat]

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.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Doncha love how Cal is still ranked way ahead of Texas Tech in both polls, even though they were soundly beaten IN CALIFORNIA?