Texas vs. USC

[erpowers]

USC is a great team and would not be surprised if they do a 3-peat, but can they contain Texas' offense?

[joeybee12]

1. Well, I have two points...Colorado really sucks, so probably today is not

a good indication of Texas' offensive prowess.

Second, USC' defense is fairly weak.

With those two points, I have to say, "Don't know!"

[northzax]

2. UCLA came in scoring almost 40 points a game

and couldn't run with the Trojans' D in a shootout. They are better than their stats show, I think.

[joeybee12]

3. USC's defense looked pretty good today...

...IF USC bowls out Texas in the Rose Bowl, then the sportswriters need to realize that the Big 12 is not the powerhouse it used to be.

[northzax]

4. the Big 12 is on a down year, no doubt

this is the one problem with college ball, the only very good team Texas played, through no fault of their own, was Ohio State. There is no one else of note in the Big 12 (Texas Tech has proven hollow) Oklahoma is down, Nebraska is bad, Colorado is bad, hell, there are only four teams with winning records in the conference. It's a shame that Texas didn't havea tougher schedule, it wold have been fun to watch.

Unlike the Pac-10, or the Big 10, or the SEC, or the ACC, there really isn't a number 2 in the Big 12 of national note. texas did its part, beating a top ten team on the road, but their conference is a shame. Wouldn't it have been fun to see Vince Young against the Black Shirts of old?

[joeybee12]

5. The problem is that the polls and the BCS are behind the times...Texas

is being rewarded because the Big 12 used to be a powerhouse. Not so anymore, and by the time the writers and those who vote in these polls realize it, they'll start penalizing Big 12 teams probably around the time the Big 12 is once again a powerhouse!

[northzax]

6. Texas is certainly the number two team in the country

so the polls are right there. On those two weeks where Texas passed USC, that was an aberation. number two is where they belong. Until they beat number one.

[RoyGBiv]

7. Pardon me for sec ...

You write as though the Big 12 status is ancient history.

The only thing that has kept Texas out of a national title game for several of the last five years was its encounter with Oklahoma. A couple of those cases were almost pure luck on OU's part in years that OU went on to embarass itself and the conference by its showing in bowl games, but there was little doubt among anyone except chronic Sooner haters that OU had a powerful team. If Texas is being rewarded for anything, it is the fact that the strength of the Big 12 South in recent years has kept an exceptional team out of the national spotlight.

I am not a Texas fan, but Texas is very, very good this year. It has been very good in previous years as well. If it had a weakness it was, strangely enough, Chris Simms who could seem to find a way to win against anyone except OU.

OTOH, USC is uncommonly good. In reference to your comments above, if they blow out Texas, I think the only real thing it is going to prove is that, yes, they really were that much better than any team in the nation. I very much doubt Texas will be blown out, however.