COMMENTARY : Trojans, Sooners look like nation’s top 2
Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. — The past two years, unexpected losses by Oklahoma and USC created paths to the national championship for SEC teams.
Don’t look for that to happen again in 2008.
The Sooners and Trojans are on — to borrow a phrase from Florida Atlantic Coach Howard Schnellenberger — a collision course with the national championship that will bring them to familiar ground.
On Jan. 8, 2009, Dolphin Stadium in Miami will host a championship game that might seem familiar to South Floridians, not to mention the Trojans and Sooners. The last time Miami hosted the BCS title game, in the Orange Bowl in January 2005, those teams met as unbeaten titans.
That OU team came in being hailed as one of the best of all time. It left humiliated, losing 55-19.
Since then, the Sooners have been in a BCS bowl funk that has saddled them with a “can’t win the big one” reputation despite their nation-best 90 victories this decade.
It weighs on the minds of a loaded team that returns stars such as sophomore quarterback Sam Bradford and arguably the best offensive line in the game. The Sooners’ mission going into the season is a four-letter acronym, WTLG. It means “Win the Last Game.” “We’ve been very deficient in that area,” senior safety Nic Harris said. “WTLG, that’s our whole motto this year.” The schedule sets up nicely for Oklahoma. The Sooners will be favored heavily in every nonconference game, and except for the annual clash with Texas in Dallas, their toughest Big 12 games are in Norman. And they wouldn’t face Missouri until the Big 12 championship game, if the Tigers make it there.
It’s a similar story for USC, which seems by far the class of the Pacific-10 after the other usual contenders lost major talent. The Trojans will field one of the nation’s nastiest defenses and have an embarrassment of riches on the offensive side of the ball. Pete Carroll has led the Trojans to six consecutive seasons of at least 10 victories and two national titles, staking their own claim to be college football’s best team of the decade.
USC’s toughest test will come Sept. 13 when Ohio State visits. Win that one, and the Trojans will be sitting pretty, barring a monumental upset in league play.
That has been the problem.
Oklahoma and USC know they missed chances the past two years. Oklahoma can point to close losses to Oregon, Colorado and Texas Tech that knocked it out of the running in 2006 and ’ 07. USC blew a title shot by losing to UCLA in 2006 and then was stunned by Stanford and Oregon last year.
Florida in 2006 and LSU last year parlayed the SEC’s strength — and other top contenders’ unexpected stumbles — into the opportunity to beat up on Ohio State in the BCS title game.
Now the league generally regarded as the nation’s toughest, top to bottom, has a chance to make history. Florida, LSU and Georgia give the SEC three powerful candidates to achieve a conference three-peat not seen since Big Ten teams won three consecutive national championships in the 1940 s.
Standing in the way: Each other. LSU will play at Florida on Oct. 11 and host Georgia on Oct. 25. Florida and Georgia will meet in their annual slugfest in Jacksonville on Nov. 1.
One of the SEC teams emerging from league play unscathed seems about as likely as finding gas for $ 2 a gallon.
No perfect record will mean no title shot for the SEC. Oklahoma and USC aren’t going to lose — until one faces the other.
“The national championship is the biggest goal,” Oklahoma All-America guard Duke Robinson said. “A lot of teams have done that here before. We want to be remembered with those kinds of teams. You can’t do it without winning one.” WTLG. That’s the Sooners’ ticket.
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