How many of those spreads did I like? "None," I wrote. So I picked three I thought I wanted and went with those. The ultimate heart-over-head deal. I went 0-3.
W Connecticut @ 6 Louisville -27½ (Louisville-)
L 16 Wake Forest v 23 Georgia Tech -2½ (GT-)
W Stanford @ 21 California -29 (Stanford+)
L *2 USC @ UCLA +13½ (USC-)
L *8 Arkansas v 4 Florida -2½ (Arkansas+)
W 13 Rutgers @ 15 West Virginia -8½ (Rutgers+)
L *19 Nebraska v 8 Oklahoma -4 (Nebraska+)
W Oregon State @ 24 Hawaii -8½ (Oregon St.+)
Mean while, in Hawaii, on a field covered with bits of paper, Matt Leinart's former sub at Mater Dei High School, Hawaii QB Colt Brennan, tossed a pair of TD passes to come within one TD pass of tying David Klingler's NCAA single-season record of 54. He should be able to do that in the bowl game. OC quarterbacks (Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, etc.) rule.
Some end of the season thoughts.
Hope this isn't a new 6, 7, 8 game streak. Next year, USC will be healed, matured, loaded with talent and playing at home. A UCLA upset would be less likely next year.
UCLA's offense was terrible, as expected, but their defense was incredible. These games are almost always won and lost in the trenches. When USC had the ball, UCLA won the battle in the trenches. Those defensive ends were dominant.
The 20 point streak starts over in the Rose Bowl. Let's get it to one.
This was another loss by less than a TD. At least we still haven't had one of those early departures with our team behind by a hopeless margin in the third quarter.
USC held them to 300 yards or less. The first 33 times Carroll's teams did that, they won.
USC allowed no rusher more than 100 yards, but still did not win. That's a first for 2006.
I told you to bet the under.
How long has it been since USC lost and the opposing teams fans did not swarm the field with at least some success? Kansas State, 2002.
The Victory Bell is gone.
UCLA's offense lived down to its reputation.
Its run defense and overall defense lived up to its reputation.
Bad news, Bruins. Karl Dorrell will survive two or three years with this victory.
Good news, Bruins. Your defensive coordinator is good, and he understands the USC offense. Walker completely outcoached Kiffin.
I wonder if any recruits made up their minds because of this game, and whether it favors UCLA or USC.
That towel-waving Bruin assistant coach looks like a clown.
It would have been nice to have both of our junior linemen back from last year. Winston Justice and Fred Matua could have made a difference.
Maybe the win by UCLA will send Bruce to the NFL early.
And keep Sam Baker and Lawrence Jackson at USC for a season.
USC still has the better team and the better season, but UCLA had the better game and gets the bragging rights.
I don't think Dwayne Jarrett will return, win or lose.
Once again, USC lost a game that could have gone the other way by changing just one play. It's better than getting clobbered. But just slightly.
On our way out, we got taunted only twice. Most UCLA fans were still in the bowl celebrating. Only the losers who wouldn't shell out $20 for a nosebleed seat were waiting for us.
One group of guys yelled "You suck" at a bunch of us redshirts. We pretended they were talking to someone else. Then, as we neared the car, this one dude who clearly had been tailgating all day because he had no ticket, looked at us, bent over, spread his cheeks and said "Oh, yeah, bend over and get f*cked up the ass" I raised my eyebrows and replied "Hey, buddy, however you choose to celebrate the win is none of my business."
You generally shouldn't bet on the team coming off the big win. Last week was a pretty big win for the Trojans, though in hindsight, much less important that the win over Cal, so maybe the letdown was a week late. Do letdowns build up, like DSB?
I'm bummed, but not as bummed as Rutgers fan. I feel for Rutgers fans.
My team lost one game this week and won't play for the championship, but we are still going to a fifth straight BCS bowl.
Oregon State won against another ranked team last night. UCLA holds USC to 9. Oregon State holds the nation's highest scoring team to 9 in the second half to win. Who says the Pac 10 plays no defense?
How many teams ranked in the top two lost their last game? I can think of UCLA (Miami 1998), Nebraska and Florida in 2001, Ohio State and Oklahoma in 2003, Michigan this year. One other I can't recall from the 2001 season. (K State?). Unlike Nebraska, Oklahoma and maybe Michigan, USC can't afford to lose and still play for the title.
USC went undefeated this season against team's whose QBs did not start for UCLA. [Former Bruin] Matt Moore and Patrick Cowan both did us in this season.
When Arizona beat Cal, I was almost disappointed, because it made the win over Cal less valuable for BCS purposes. Turns out, had they won that game, we'd be going to the Holiday Bowl.
Cal is Pac 10 co-champion, now, too.
I just realized that I am going to save a fortune on bowl tickets and travel expenses. There's a silver bronze lining to this loss.
USC was exposed as a merely very good team -- young, dinged up, inexperienced and vulnerable in road conference games. I just wish we could have won this game and gotten exposed by Ohio State instead. Besides, sometimes the weaker team wins. Ohio State probably would have killed us, but maybe we'd have played the perfect game and won. Championships are not always won by the best team.
Now that we are exposed, USC will be an underdog in the Rose Bowl against LSU or Michigan. When were they an underdog before this? Oklahoma was a 1 point favorite for a day, but the line closed at USC - 1/2. So what was it? The 2002 Orange Bowl? Iowa -7? That's the most recent one I can recall.
With Florida's impressive win and collection of big wins, they deserve to go to Glendale. Not that I'd like USC to get whupped by Michigan, but I want SEC champ Florida to play for the national title. That team was one of the three Florida schools I thought were overrated at the beginning of the season. Michigan was another. I called it right with FSU and Miami, though.
At the beginning of the year, I thought 10 or 11 wins and at least a share of the Pac 10 was a reasonable goal for the Trojans. The only reason this feels so disappointing that that they came two plays away from going so much farther.
If Michigan and Ohio State meet against in the BCS Title, I won't bother watching it. Boring.
I won't watch the Boise State game, either. Boring.
I would have watched an Orange Bowl with Rutgers, but Louisville and Wake Forest? Boring.
I might watch the Sugar Bowl.
I will watch the Rose Bowl, from the stands. I don 't miss those.
Can you think of any Rose Bowl game ever in which both teams arrived disappointed to be there? They'll deny it, but both teams will come in bitter about playing in Pasadena.
Here's what I predicted before Saturday:
Orange Bowl: Wake Forest v. Louisville
Rose Bowl: LSU v. Michigan
Fiesta Bowl: Nebraska v. Boise State
Sugar Bowl: Notre Dame v. Arkansas
BCS Title: USC v. Ohio State
Here's what I predict today:
Orange Bowl: Wake Forest v. Louisville
Rose Bowl: USC v. Michigan
Fiesta Bowl: Oklahoma v. Boise State
Sugar Bowl: Notre Dame v. LSU
BCS Title: Florida v. Ohio State
We'll know in 3 hours.
I watched the replay of the last 10 minutes of the Boise State game and got all I needed. Couldn't have watched it live if I wanted to, because I wasn't yet home from the Rose Bowl, so no, I can't say I feel like a jackass for it. For such a boring blog, you read quite far into it. Feel free to come back and be bored at any time.
Besides, the excitement of the finish is not at all what I was commenting on. The fact was, and remains, that I couldn't care less who wins that game. The plays were great, but great plays and great finishes can come in any game, even a game between, say, Nevada and Miami (which most people couldn't have cared less about, either).
It we had a playoff, and that Boist OU game was a quarterfinal, THAT would have been exciting.
Posted by: lex icon | January 07, 2007 at 09:03
I bet you feel like a jackass not wanting to watch the Boise State game. Your blog is boring.
Posted by: Bronco Nation | January 06, 2007 at 18:53