Holiday Bowl: USC vs. Oklahoma?

How would this be for a Pacific Life Holiday Bowl match-up in 2009?

Try the University of Southern California Trojans vs. the Oklahoma Sooners!

In a good year, the two schools could be playing for the BCS championship. But in a “down” year such as this, it might be the best chance ever for the Holiday Bowl to get a USC vs. Oklahoma billing.

Talk about getting the top non-BCS or New Year’s Day game if you could sign such a deal.

The Holiday Bowl is in the final year of an agreement where it gets the No. 2 pick from the Pac 10 vs. the No. 3 selection from the Big 12.

No. 12 USC (6-2) is virtually out of the Rose Bowl race with Saturday’s loss at Oregon. But the Trojans still have wins over the likes of Ohio State, Notre Dame and California on their 2009 resume.

No. 20 Oklahoma (5-3) is without QB Sam Bradford for the rest of the season, but the Sooners still have much national respect. Don’t forget that they only lost by three points to No. 2 Texas without the injured Bradford for a majority of the game.

USC vs. Oklahoma. Pete Carroll vs. Bob Stoops.

The Holiday Bowl better latch on to this great match-up while it still has the opportunity.

Rivalries promise great weekend of college football

This weekend is just about as good as it gets in college football rivalries with USC vs. Notre Dame and Oklahoma vs. Texas.

Problem is these games just don’t mean as much as they used to.

With USC, it’s a matter of always losing a game early to fall out of the BCS championship picture. With Notre Dame, it’s a matter of too many losses in recent years.

In the case of Oklahoma-Texas, it’s that the winner of this game doesn’t necessarily get bonus points when it counts the most.

Remember when Texas beat Oklahoma last year, only to lose to Texas Tech and later watch Oklahoma lose (again) in the BCS title game?

Or how about USC with its early season loss to Washington this year that has all but eliminated the Trojans from the national title picture?

It’s too bad that USC doesn’t play in the Big 12 or the Southeastern Conference. In those conferences, coach Pete Carroll’s Trojans could redeem themselves by winning out and playing in a conference championship game (which the Pac 10 does not have yet.)

That’s a sure way to get to the BCS championship (see the Big 12 and SEC.)

As for Oklahoma-Texas, this is a year when the Longhorns can actually make a win over Oklahoma matter more than last year. With a win over the Sooners, don’t be surprised to see Texas ride it out all the way to the BCS finals.

Colt McCoy vs. Sam Bradford. Jimmy Clausen vs. USC becoming tailback university … again.

It should make for an interesting weekend of college football.

Predictions:
USC 24, Notre Dame 14
Texas 27, Oklahoma 23

Mountain West among the best in college football

One week into the college football season, the Mountain West Conference is already showing why it is among the best.

Or did you not notice that the conference was 2-0 vs. the Big 12 as:

BYU beat the then No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners, 14-13 (and knocked out returning Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford for quite some time.)

Colorado State upset the home team Colorado Buffaloes, 23-17.

Sure, it’s only one week; and there is a long way to go.

What does this prove?

Among other things, the Mountain West should be included in the BCS.

Sadly, the Big East Conference – which did not have a ranked team going into the season – gets an automatic BCS berth.

The Mountain West has three teams better than anybody in the Big East: BYU, Texas Christian and Utah.

It’s unfair that any one of those teams will have to go undefeated to get into a BCS game … yet an 8-4 team out of the Big East is an automatic BCS entrant.

Until college football goes to a playoff to determine the national champion … and includes the Mountain West in the BCS … the postseason must be considered a joke.

West Coast college football better than perceived

West Coast college football wasn’t so bad after all this year, was it?

The knock on elite teams such as USC and Utah was that they played inferior talent out west.

So let’s take a look for a minute:

The Pac-10 finished 5-0 in bowl games, proving USC played a very tough schedule.
Utah is the only undefeated team left; thanks to its Sugar Bowl win over an Alabama team that was one victory from the BCS championship tilt.

USC was denied a BCS title shot based on its Pac-10 schedule. But since those Pac-10 teams are 5-0 in bowl games, doesn’t that have some meaning in the aftermath?

Oklahoma is in the title game based on its “tough” Big 12 schedule.

But when you look at it, the Sooners’ best wins this year were against Texas Tech (loser to Mississippi in the Cotton Bowl) and Oklahoma State (loser to Oregon of the Pac-10 in the Holiday Bowl.)

The best team Oklahoma beat which went on to win a bowl game turned out to be Missouri, which had to go overtime to defeat Northwestern in a no-name bowl.

So much for the argument about Oklahoma’s superior schedule/competition in the Big 12.

The obvious answer is a BCS playoff, where teams like USC can prove (or disprove) their strength.

One can only hope Oklahoma doesn’t lose the BCS championship to Florida, or it will be another knock on the supposed invincibility of the Big 12.

Prediction:
Florida 38, Oklahoma 34