Pac-12 Will Dominate College Football in 2012

LSU played a schedule last year OOC that would rival anything USC has done,

That schedule rivaled anything ANYONE has done. That was amazing and for them to not lose until the NCG, was incredible.

I agree about the SEC starting to raise their OOC scheduling. You know it's gonna be awhile before most folks actually start giving credit for it. Heck, I saw someone awhile back who praised LSU for last years schedule and then proceeded to slam them for this years.
It is what it is. Seems like folks arguments against the SEC would make a whole more sense if the SEC didn't keep winning NCG's.

Heck, I saw someone awhile back who praised LSU for last years schedule and then proceeded to slam them for this years.


As one who is not afraid of posting something that doesn't comport with the mass opinion or politically correct opinion, I agree with our policy of playing 1 major OOC opponent and mostly scheduling gimmies for the rest.  Our schedule will always be really tough in conference becasue we play in SEC West and Florida is our 1 permanent SEC East opponent.  Last year was an exception in that we led off the season with the big game in Jerry's World versus the Dux...you can't turn that down.  Then we played WVU in Morgantown and still had to play Bama in Tuscaloosa. 

This year, our OOC schedule is frankly quite weak. If it plays a factor in us winning a National Championship, there will be gripes but I think it makes good sense to limit your tough games because most of the voting is based on record w/o regard to schedule.  

Hopefully the new playoff system will have a RPI like hoops does.  At least stop playing multi-directional schools.

My hope is that moving forward people will let go of the past and just work their way in the present because honestly the past means nothing to the teams of today. You ask a current Trojan if they think past championships are more important than winning one this year and its a no brainer. You ask a current Tiger the same question and im pretty sure youll get the same answer. LSU is on top of their game right now..... That is a fact and they are a force to be reckoned with. The country is aware of the Tigers, the Tide, The Ducks and everyone is realizing that USC is back. They were the flagship of college football and faded for a couple of years. It doesnt take long to forget about who was on top. The scary thing is looking at this years team and the incoming classes, USC has one of the best chances in the country to once again rule the roost for a while.

I think Barkley would have some serious problems with the LSU defense because he's not quick and no threat as a runner (negative rushing yards in 3 years).  With his accuracy and 2 outstanding WR, he can burn most defenses but LSU will have the 2 best pass rushing DE in CFB to put pressure and mathieu always a threat to make a big play.   USC's top RB is 5'7" 190, while I like shorter RBs, a RB that size will not wear down the LSU defense like a Trent Richardson that bama had last year. 

USC defense was #53 in the nation and only #94 against the pass.  While that would have been a good matchup versus LSU last year, I don't believe it will be this year even though the USC defense should be much improved. 

This year we'll find out either that Miles is the best coach ever to win 12 games per year the last 3 w/o a semblance of a decent QB, or if Zach doesn't pan out, we'll know something is wrong with his approach on offense.  I personally think this will end up the highest scoring offense in LSU history and even possibly the best LSU defense in history as well.

Only time will tell. Who knows someone in the SEC could be the surprise team and rune the table in the conference like Auburn a few years ago. Just never know.

This year we'll find out either that Miles is the best coach ever to win 12 games per year the last 3 w/o a semblance of a decent QB, or if Zach doesn't pan out, we'll know something is wrong with his approach on offense.  I personally think this will end up the highest scoring offense in LSU history and even possibly the best LSU defense in history as well.

I think that so far the expectations are way too high on Zach. There is a big worry it seems that if he doesnt pan out that the defense will not be the Ravens or Bears and score 2-3 TDs a game to keep the Offense in it. There is a ton resting on an unproven arm and if he doesnt pan out the season and all the trash talking is in serious jeopardy. Dont get me wrong USC has some pretty good backups but they also are unproven and there is no telling whether they will end up being an Mitch Mustain (by the way who was a freshman SEC starter and couldnt get on the field at USC) or a Matt leinart (won the Heisman after Palmer won it). Again i go back to saying only time will tell.

I think Barkley would have some serious problems with the LSU defense because he's not quick and no threat as a runner (negative rushing yards in 3 years).  With his accuracy and 2 outstanding WR, he can burn most defenses but LSU will have the 2 best pass rushing DE in CFB to put pressure and mathieu always a threat to make a big play.   USC's top RB is 5'7" 190, while I like shorter RBs, a RB that size will not wear down the LSU defense like a Trent Richardson that bama had last year.

No doubt. If USC and LSU play this year. LSU's defense will be the best defense that USC see's all year (btw, this will be true for any team that LSU faces). On the flipside, USC's offense will be the best offense that LSU has seen all year. The game would be decided by how much LSU's offense improves next year vs. how much USC's defense improves.

If Mettenberger is as good as LSU fans seem to think, there will be significant improvement in LSU's offense. USC's defense was much better by the end of the season and should be significantly improved as well. They will be more experienced and should have Monte Kiffin's defense down now. The question mark will be on the d-line as we lost 3 of the 4 starting linemen. The replacements are talented and not exactly inexperienced, but you never know how a player will react to the pressure of being the starter.

I think it would be an extremely close and exciting game (think USC/Texas, but with more defense). In my opinion, the game would come down to quarterback play (which one can limit their mistakes and make plays when they have to) and that edge would go to USC.

The X-factor would be the Honey Badger. He has a knack for coming up with big plays from seemingly out of nowhere. If he makes a big play on special teams or on defense, it could tip the game in favor of LSU.

Either way, this game NEEDS to happen!!

USC Fight OnThe Ducks and everyone else dont care if USC is back.
USC shared the conference with WSU, CAL and Az ST.
Had losses to Stanford before they were good. Washington, Oregon State, Oregon, UCLA, Arizona too during that run with Carroll. 
Oh that accounts for all 9 of the Pac 10.  Colorado might care but I dont think Utah does since they beat USC in that 2001 Vegas Bowl and almost beat them last season. 
Oregon and USC are 1-1 the last 2 games. 2-2 the last 4. 5-5 the last 10.

Honestly i can care less about what happened before. USC ended Oregons title hopes last year and have a powerful team with some serious momentum going in to this season. If nobody cares then thats great because by the time they do it will be too late. Like i have said before one of the biggest games of the year will be when the Quacks migrate down to LA and try to win a big one on the road. Will both teams be undefeated? who knows. What i do know is that everything you talked about goes away and becomes irrelevant if USC goes to ans wins ANOTHER NC.

Hey LSU fans i have a question for you.


Who is your star running back this year. The only guy i remember is the guy whos last name is blue? Also who is your recievers that are going to be the breakout guys this year because Randle left right? Is Shepard still there? Help me out would ya! 

Oh come on fight on, SC was a "trap" game for Oregon.

How dumb do you have to be to overlook SC? Trap game? really? If that is how Oregon saw them then they flat out deserved to lose.... SC was on fire going into that game and if Oregon overlooked them that that shows the arrogance and ignorance of the entire coaching staff and players period.

How dumb do you have to be to overlook SC? Trap game? really? If that is how Oregon saw them then they flat out deserved to lose.... SC was on fire going into that game and if Oregon overlooked them that that shows the arrogance and ignorance of the entire coaching staff and players period.

wazzufan is exactly right. I got into a discussion with a couple of Oregon fans who claimed that USC was a trap game and my response was basically the same as yours. Their logic was that USC was a trap game because it came after the Stanford game and before the rivalry game with Oregon St.

Going into the USC game, Oregon was ranked highly enough that a win over USC and a win vs. Oregon St. could have put them into the NCG, USC was also on a serious roll, were sitting in 1st place in the South and were showing ourselves to be a formidable opponent. If Oregon overlooked USC, then they deserved to be "trapped".

If there was a "trap game" for either team, it would have been for USC playing UCLA the week after the Oregon game. After all, beating Oregon at Autzen was a very emotional and taxing game for the Trojans and one could understand a bit of a letdown going in against a UCLA team with a lame-duck coach and trying to salvage their season. Well, we all saw how USC handled our "trap game".

BTW, teams from the SEC (Arkansas and Auburn) have played USC OOC. And yes, I remember USC won all 4 games! :) 

Are you sure? I can post the scores if you'd like.