Posted on 08/06/2008 1:20:58 PM PDT by GOP_Raider
This is the year that someone breaks through and ends USC’s six-year choke hold on the Pac-10 title.
Yeah, right.
Sure, the Trojans have shown signs of vulnerability the past two seasons, losing
head-scratchers to Oregon State, UCLA and Stanford, but when a November surge is needed, they always deliver. Plus, no one fills holes in a depth chart faster than the Men of Troy.
So, as USC feeds the NFL with a new crop of talent, there are a bunch of young players, likeDE Everson Griffen, RB Joe McKnight and QB Mark Sanchez, who are poised for stardom …and another BCS bowl game.
The nine teams chasing the Trojans can be broken down neatly into three groupings. In the first tier are Oregon, Arizona State and California — the schools best positioned for a Rose Bowl run. The Ducks begin life after Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart by hoping that a bunch of newcomers can keep the offense humming. Determined to build on last year’s banner season under Dennis Erickson, the Sun Devils first must figure out how to keep QB Rudy Carpenter from being treated like a piñata. Cal is looking to regain some street cred after back-to-back disappointing seasons, including last year’s second-half implosion.
(Excerpt) Read more at cfn.scout.com ...
I can find this out ya know...;)
I’m going to post the SEC Preview late tonight/tomorrow morning, just so we can get that skirmish out of our hair. I’ll get to all of them...eventually.
Absent some sort of psychological blow if they should happen to lose to Ohio State in their second game, USC should pretty much manhandle their conference opponents.
All of their tough games are at home, including the Ohio State game.
Virginia is an away game to start the season, so they need to be prepared. But in any kind of neutral evaluation of talent, Virginia is no USC.
I'm not sure UVa knows Hoo they're dealing with.
*rimshot* Thank you I'll be here all week...
But I did look at SC's schedule this year and I don't really see a "trap" game on their slate, certainly not in the conference. Maybe (and it's a GIGANTIC maybe) Oregon State in Corvallis but that's really pushing it.
The only thing about Corvallis is that it can be wet and so foggy that you can’t see ten yards. A punt just disappears.
So that kind of game allows for an upset. But only if that kind of weather is present.
Are you just gonna sit there, or what?
I expect some to take issue if it's not posted in Breaking News.
I don’t really have the clout on FR to be bold enough to post it there. :)
Don't they have y'all losing to Petrino and the Hawgs?
True, I noticed that when I went to Corvallis last year to see the Utes play Ore. St. Playing them in August in Corvallis has to be a lot different than playing them in, say, late Oct-early Nov.
One advantage to this though is that you get them on Sept 25, albeit on a Thursday night. I do remember though that even though there were pockets of empty seats when I was there last year, Reser Stadium gets loud! Obviously SC will be used to that—or they should be by now—but it impressed the hell out of me.
USC will have to have bad weather, a slick football, and then just be out of synch to lose to Oregon State this year.
It could happen. I wouldn’t bet on that, but in college football most anything can happen.
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