Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnLSU
That year, as normal, the Pac 10 wasn't that great. Besides ASU, only Washington finished in the top 25. With Big Ten, you had five teams finish in the top 25 -- OSU, Penn State, Northwestern, Iowa, Michigan. Everybody thought OSU would kill ASU. When Jake Plummer kept them in the game, it was pretty amazing. Like I said, I honestly forgot that OSU had actually won. |
John - that bolded part simply isn't true. I cannot give you the precise line but I do recall that it was
very narrow.
As for the relative merits of the Big 10 and PAC 10 in that year - aside from underscoring the cyclical nature of the game - it has little relevance to the perceived strength of ASU as a team in that year. They were ranked #2 for a reason. Besides which the contrast between the Buckeyes prior game and that of the Sun Devils couldn't be more glaring.
OSU - loss to TSUN, ASU rolled up 651 on rival Arizona in their prior game, then were held 224 below their 500 yard average by the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl.
OK - back to the BCS Championship game.