I was in Corvallis last weekend, watching Oregon State stick it to Southern California for the second time this season. As we all know, the Beavers knocked 'SC out of the national title game with a 27-21 upset in September. By no-showing in last Saturday's Civil War, in which Oregon clubbed them 65-38, the Beavers lost their shot at playing in the Rose Bowl, in the process thrusting USC into a kind of post-season Groundhog Day.
Regardless of the gracious things Pete Carroll and his charges will say about returning to the Rose Bowl for the fourth year in a row, you know the prospect of another bus ride to Disneyland is driving these guys barking mad. This means that an entire generation of Trojans will never take an airplane to a bowl game. 'SC players are on a first-name basis with the wait staff at Lawry's restaurant, where they know the difference between the "Beef Bowl cut" and the "Diamond Jim Brady cut," and how many shrimp come with the Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail. That would be five -- the number of times USC will have played in the "Grandaddy of 'em all" in the last six years. It's safe to say this is one grandparent the Trojans would not mind seeing trundled off to a rest home.
Walking off the practice field with Carroll last week, a few days before his team beat Notre Dame for the seventh straight time, I sought to plumb the coach's frustration. In 2006 and 2007, a one-loss season would've earned his team a ticket to the BCS title game. (Both times, the Trojans dropped a second game). In 2008, however, it took only that sole defeat to keep them out of The Game. With Pac-10 schools going 14-16 against non-conference foes (including an embarrassing 1-6 mark against the Mountain West); with half the conference under .500; with the Washington schools playing their worst football in a generation, the BCS computers could not have been less impressed with the Trojans' seven Pac-10 victories.
"But at least they're in the Pac-10," Carroll interrupted, as I ticked off the woes of the Bruins and Cougars and Huskies. "What conference is The Citadel in?"
A millisecond later, he was spouting assurances that he had nothing but respect for The Citadel (a member, incidentally, of the Southern Conference, one of the strongest leagues in the FCS, formerly known as I-AA). But the battle was joined.
"Who's better?" he asked, "Oregon State or Ole Miss?" Which team is more deserving of a shot at the national title, in other words: the team that lost to the Beavers in Corvallis, or the one that got rolled by Mississippi in their own Swamp?
"Oregon State is vying for a conference championship. What's Ole Miss doing?"
Cont'd ...
