The predictable aftermath of USC’s decapitation of the Buckeyes (metaphorically illustrated to the right) has been a consolidation of USC atop the polls and the now-common chorus of the pundits, who are extolling the virtues of this year’s Trojan squad byshouting to all within earshot their belief that this team is every bit the equal of the Leinart-Bush dynasty that preceded them. Even SNL, hard-headed by any objective measure, is not so obstinate as to mainatin that USC is anyhting but the #1 team in CFB right now.
However, SNL will be the first to go on record as saying that USC’s convincing victories of arguably the worst team in the ACC (which lost to Uconn this week 45-10), and what will, by year’s end, be a 2 or 3 loss Buckeye squad, are insufficient to warrant the devout allegiance of the CFB world at this juncture of the season.
With respect to the Buckeyes, the disparity of speed at the skill positions and the plodding, unimaginative offense favored by the Vest, made for yet another mismatch. In its most digestable form, OSU’s inability to run caused its QB’s to do something that, quite frankly, they suck at-pass!! SNL knew, as did most of the flock, that the ability to run against USC’s front 7 was predicated on OSU’s willingness and ability to steadily complete the short and intermediate passes necessary to back off the linebackers who, by the way, are complete beasts. Fortunately, OSU had neither the willingness nor the ability and treated the CFB world to another game that was less engaging than an episode of the Surreal Life.
The inevitable manifestation on the Buckeye side of the coin has been an equally loud chorus of detractors, who can now point to a trifecta of OSU futility on a national stage as grounds for denying the Buckeyes any BCS consideration, even if they win the remainder of their games. The more nebulous, and hence more titillating, issue is whether the Buckeyes are now so demoralized that they are incapable of seeing themselves as a top-5 program, a condition which, if true, may result in as many as 3 more losses this season.
The BCS is also a recipient of unwanted Buckeye baggage which, coupled with the Pac-10’s miserable weekend-which saw losses to five Mountain West teams, including a 59-0 loss by UCLA and a home loss by ASU to UNLV-as USC now officially plays no one for the rest of the year. What this means is that the winner of the Oklahoma-Missouri contest in the Big 12 title game, which is a certainty, and the winner of the Florida-Georgia game, will be vying for the right to play the Trojans, who should breeze through the remainder of the lambs on their schedule.
Result? A 1-loss SEC champ, which is also inevitable, will be shunned for the Big 12 champ-which will send the SEC fans into a trailer-tipping frenzy, and provide the basis for anther year of fruitless “we-need-a-playoff” discussions amongst the fans.
-So Sayeth the Shepherd
SNL, humiliated by its failure to account for a weather phenomenon which has garnered as much air time as T. Boone Pickens (where the f*** did this guy come from anyway?), has revamped his card to ensure that you, loyal members of the flock, remain comfortably situated in the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed. Here is SNL’s added pick, carefully crafted to ensure that Vegas and its sexy transgendered inhabitants pay dearly for what they have done to me…but I digress.
