Fighton247 Board

If that's what you think USC football is all about, your Bama team, as you say, "will be unprepared for it". SC for the the past decade has played lights out offense with "SEC" calibre players, Elite coordinators, and a Pro-style offense. SC's defense has been the benchmark of defense, EASILY on par with the SEC, especially in the Pete Carroll years. No body, including last years Bama team, can say anything against the 08 SC defense. Plus, we play "offense driven" teams out here in the west coast where we can't pad our defensive stats against those in the SEC.
The only program that recruits BETTER than any SEC team this past decade is USC. Frankly, it's the only program that would have broken the SEC grip on the BcS beauty pageant if given the chance.
Lets all pray it happens this year, the Nation wants it....CFB deserves it.

With a team playing 4 OOC games vs ITT Tech, then a bunch of SECs offenses. That team BETTER be among the nations best Ds statistically! Especially when they play at home %75 of its games! AND get 4 bye weeks per year!

The original post was Bama vs. SC. I would love to see that.

Although, unfortunately, no matter how badly SC beats up on Bama (or any other SEC team) it wouldn’t matter; the bias is so thick no nuclear detonation could blast through it: everyone will still be singing the same, old, sad song: “The SEC is still the best.”

Whatever.

Again. I would love to see Bama/LSU vs. USC. I’ll take the Natty this year back to Southern Cal, celebrate, and know that five minutes later, everyone will chant the same old tired tune...

That is a falsehood. One thing I will say, in all the 45 years I've been a CFB fan, the decline in true sportsmanship happened the moment the SEC became more than Alabama. You people just don't shut up, or act with class.

It's a no win for whoever goes up against the mighty SEC...no win. If the SEC wins, the boasting and strutting will make the noise out of the south unbearable. IF the opponent wins....I guarantee you, what will be coming out of your conference mob is the "the SEC was down this year...our schedule is so tough, our champion was so beat up, the opponent was so lucky to even be on the field with us..." blah, blah, blah.

Fact is, you have no respect for anyone...even yourselves, judging by your over all conduct. Wish you would take the floats, they give you a run for your money as a bunch of blowhards. Learn to win with class.

Class and fans don't belong in the same sentence for anyone's fanbase, by the way. I don't see the decline of true sportmanship amongst most fans. It seems about the same as it was 30 years ago, IMO. The difference is that there is more interaction on internet message boards where people get a brave sense of entitlement mixed with alcohol from time to time that makes them say things and act a way that most wouldn't do in person.

The SEC is on top at the moment, for one reason, well, actually 6 of them. Past those 6 games, none of the rest of it matters. Most conferences are more equal than anyone actually likes to admit or believe. If any of those 6 games (or at least the 5 that matched other conferences) then the landscape of things is slightly different. If a couple of them went the other way, it is drastically different. If things leading up to those games go a little different, they don't happen to begin with.

You can look at games like USC/Oregon St in 2008, WVU/Pitt in 2007, Mizzou/OU in 2007, and many more I am sure that I don't feel like looking up on an I-pad. All of those games had to fall a certain way for this to happen and if any of them had gone differently, the landscape would be much different.

I guess the point is that it either didn't go different so it is what it is or that it takes a lot of luck to get in position to play in that game and in all actuallity, it was just 6 football games in which a certain team from certain conference happened to win. There isn't a whole lot more to it. It is all pretty random, IMO, and to say that it makes one conference definitely better than another is foolish, but to say that fans of a conference should't take pride and even be a little boastful is just as foolish.

Also, to say that someone has no respect for themselves based on their reaction to a game that is supposed to fun and entertaining is going a little far. I could care less how someone acts in response to a game, as long as they aren't hurting anyone. It is just a game and expecting people to act a certain way about just doesn't rank on my list of items to care about. I would worry more if that same person beat his/her spouse, pushed elderly people out of the way to get to the Express checkout at the grocery store, or something like that than I would their reaction to a game played for fun that is a way for people to checkout of the serious problems facing themselves in the real world. None of this is real, IMO.

The Oregon/Auburn game was flat out just a good hard-nosed football game in which the Tigers managed to pull out in the end....no doubt every bit what a championship-caliber game should be! The Oregon/LSU game was earlier in the season (I believe the first or second game for both programs). Plus, the Ducks suffered injuries to their top two RB's in that game, not to mention, the Tigers were also assisted by four turnovers inside the Ducks own territory which directly led to 23 points for LSU....something that impacted the outcome of that game tremendously!

As much as Alabama's offense turned around their performance against the much celebrated Tiger Defense....I inclined to believe that would be the case with Oregon if they had the opportunity to play the Tigers at the end of the year.

So now we are going back to the you have to have time to stop Oregon again?

Do you guys not prepare for these different offenses in the spring and during August in camps?

Seems foolish not to. Besides, Oregon had the same amount of time to prepare as the other team. That argument is either lame or your not getting your money's worth from coaching staffs out there.

I don't see the issue with taking pride in a conference. Of course, the accomplishments of my school outweighs any accomplishments that another school has, but I would still rather see the other teams in my conference do well. It is part of what makes the SEC so much fun to follow and also I guess what pisses off the rest of the country.

I would much rather see Auburn with a National Title than tOSU, Michigan, Texas, or any other school. I have friends that are fans, supporters, and graduates of that school. Why wouldn't I want to see them happy? People are people. There can be rivalries, but there isn't a difference between someone that lives in Spokane, WA and is a Washington St fan and a person that lives in Greenville, SC and is a South Carolina fan. It is OK to be happy for other teams and their fans when they win, and if I am going to be happy for someone, I would rather be happy for someone I know or the people that I see more often.

Take 2005 for example. You know that I am a USC fan, but I was living in Austin, TX at the time and had attended about 4 or 5 of their games that year. I grew to dislike most Texas fans eventually the longer I was there, but outside of the football environment, they were good people and I had some friends that could be obnoxious about it, but they were fine. Silently, I was cheering for USC in the BCSCG that year, but had no problem with Texas winning the game, as it made some people that I was friends with happy. It is also easier to deal with defeat when it is not "your" school as well I guess.

To the sportsmanship issue. You may be correct about college football in LA, as there is a much more relaxed atmosphere at the games. But in the South, this is THE sport. More so than the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, or anything else. So yes, the atmosphere is ramped up a bit. If you compare the scene after Alabama, Auburn, or LSU winning the National Championship to the riots outside the Staples Center following the Lakers' titles or to that in Columbus, OH after tOSU won in 2001, I would say that you don't find cars being flipped and set on fire here like you might in those places.

It just depends on what people are passionate about. USC alums and supporters are passionate about USC, but the mainstream LA resident doesn't care so much. LA residents are passionate about the Lakers though, so you have a much larger following. Well, here those same % of people are all passionate about Alabama or Auburn football so you have a much wider demographic of people and backgrounds that care. That sometimes hurts "sportsmanship" of things a little bit. If all of those people rioting in the streets following a Lakers championship cared as much about college football, you would have a different atmosphere as well.

I respect your opinion, and I really love just about everything Southern (expect the food), but we're different, and I think I respect the differences...but I don't take too kindly to people who know nothing about how truly "passionate" we are, knock us because we don't get into drunken brawls or chant conference allegiance (not directed at you, by the way).

As for Laker fans...bad bad example. While half are good fans and passionate, the other half are thugs and hoodlums (add too many of the Dodger fans also)....who in the hell wants to be like that? Those aren't fans, they're simply thugs looking for an excuse to behave badly. That has no place at all in college football, IMO.

Agree somewhat... but...
Its alot more then games. Its all about what the boxing judges think. Whats on their score cards. Thats why the BCS system has been tweaked and changed almost every year. People crying for it to be torn apart year after year.

2003. The entire nation, coaches, AP, and fans thought USC was the best team and should be in the MNC game, but nope.

2004 in the game

2005 in the game

2006 lost to UCLA in the last game which kept USC out of the MNC game and put in FL (One of the games that your talking about that changed things...ON THE FIELD)

2007 SEC always wins a tie breaker. LSU with 2 loses (by a total of 8 points) gets in over USC with 2 loses (by a total of 8 points) Though USCs loses were earlier in the season and LSU lost its last regular season game of the year.

2008 SEC always gets the tie breaker. USC with 1 loss who lost on the road, i repeat ON THE ROAD to eventual 9-4 Oregon State gets left out for 1 loss FL who lost at at home, I repeat AT HOME to eventual 9-4 Ole Miss. SEC tie breaker. wow!

USC had a solid or great argument to be in the game every one of these years but 06' when they lost in their last game. So yes its won and lost on the field...sometimes. The judges score cards and perception plays a much bigger role!

I agree, but that type of fan is more into college football here.

I agree that true USC fans are very passionate. There just isn't the same loyalty to schools in some areas unless you have a direct connection. In the South, people that have no real connection to the schools are just as loyal and their voices are heard just as much if now more, honestly. Same holds trues for other schools as well, such as Penn St, Michigan, and tOSU as well. Same used to be very true with Notre Dame, although that has somewhat died off, which is kind of sad, IMO. I'm not sure they are ever going to get back to the highest level of football at a consistant basis.

Personally, I am fine with that type of fan. They tend to be the crazier fan that camps out for games and to get autographs and stuff like that, but more power to them. I am no better than they are just because I went to the school. I have a degree and an education, not more of an entitlement to be a football fan.

5 plus years? Kelly has only been their HC for three years. Also, SC put the "only one week to prepare" thing to rest last season. Other than SC, the point still stands. All of Oregon's losses under Chip have come when teams have had at least a month to prepare.

And outside of the PAC12, but that must just be a coincidence.