• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

ESPN Top 10 Teams

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Yea they just showed it on SC. Dan Patrick said something like...

"100,000 people voted with 49 states going with USC. Ohio was the only one to vote for OSU."

And on the Ohio part, he said it in a "Who wouldn't be surprised" way.
 
Upvote 0
Dan Patrick is the most cynical, boring person I've ever seen on ESPN. I can't believe ESPN can't find someone more exciting to put on the tv and radio.

As for USC, I agree with those posts earlier that refer to Miami. Remember before the Miami game all the "experts" were not only predicting a Miami win, but were telling people to not even bother watching the game b/c we were going to get blown out so badly. Then look what happens. Our '02 team would definitely give USC a game, if not win.
 
Upvote 0
ESPN is all over USC's nuts and it's getting out of control. Apparently, they might as well not even play the title game and just bow down to the might USC Trojans and give them their trophy.

This is looking like '02, and it would be sweet to see ESPN's talking heads look stupid (AGAIN), should USC get trucked in the Rose Bowl.

As for this whole "How does USC rank with the top teams?" thing, I wouldn't be surprised if ESPN's analysts and national "fans" have them beating every team and given the label of best ever.

One thing bothers me about the '02 Bucks and '05 USC matchup. From the ESPN page on the matchup:
<TABLE id=inlinetable cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=375 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR class=stathead><TD colSpan=3><CENTER>Tale of the Tape</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>'02 OSU</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Stats</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>'05 USC</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>364.5</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Yards Per Game</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>580.2</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>191.3</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Rush Yards Per Game</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>264.2</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>173.2</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Pass Yards Per Game</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>316.0</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>29.3</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Points Per Game</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>50.0</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>13.1</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Points Against</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>21.3</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>16.2</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Margin of Victory</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>28.6</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>4</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>All-Americans</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>3</CENTER><CENTER></CENTER>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
How do you not include defensive stats? Casual college football fans know that the strength of this OSU team was their defense. Seems that whenever a conversation starts on ESPN comparing USC to another team, the only thing brought up is offense.
 
Upvote 0
osufootball727 said:
One thing bothers me about the '02 Bucks and '05 USC matchup. From the ESPN page on the matchup:
<TABLE id=inlinetable cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=375 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR class=stathead><TD colSpan=3><CENTER>Tale of the Tape</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>'02 OSU</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Stats</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>'05 USC</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>364.5</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Yards Per Game</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>580.2</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>191.3</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Rush Yards Per Game</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>264.2</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>173.2</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Pass Yards Per Game</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>316.0</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>29.3</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Points Per Game</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>50.0</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>13.1</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Points Against</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>21.3</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>16.2</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>Margin of Victory</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>28.6</CENTER></TD></TR><TR class=oddrow vAlign=top><TD width=103><CENTER>4</CENTER></TD><TD width=148><CENTER>All-Americans</CENTER></TD><TD width=123><CENTER>3</CENTER><CENTER></CENTER>



</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
How do you not include defensive stats? Casual college football fans know that the strength of this OSU team was their defense. Seems that whenever a conversation starts on ESPN comparing USC to another team, the only thing brought up is offense.
Click to expand...

I noticed that too. Godamnit, why don't they just come out and say they think USC is the greatest team ever!?
 
Upvote 0
All this damn hype this USC team is getting is ridiculous in my opinion. There defense isnt very good and anyone of these teams with a very good defense shuts this team down. Our 02 team shuts them down, Miami 02 shuts them down, the list would go on and on. Hell I feel there are 5 teams that could beat them this year, and that isnt counting the thousands of other great teams there have been in college football. Heck I think last years USC team is better than this one. Also they havent even finished the season and won the NC. The question I want to raise is if Texas beats them and beats them pretty handly will Texas be appointed the greatest team of all time, then they would have to give us a little recognition as we pissed away the Texas game. Maybe this years buckeyes team is the greatest of all time.

Now I get to read this article. What a joke. When will this hype stop.

<TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Trojans beating NFL team isn't impossible
<SCRIPT> function BlogThisStoryTools() { var headline = "Trojans beating NFL team isn't impossible"; var url = document.location.href; var destination = "http://blogs.foxsports.com/BlogThis.aspx?r_title=" + escape(headline) + "&r_url=" + url; //alert(destination); //return; window.location.href = destination; } </SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR align=middle><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px" align=left>Story Tools:</TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD><TD> </TD><TD>XML </TD><TD colSpan=2> </TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD></TD><TD>Print </TD><TD>Email </TD><TD>Blog This </TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=440 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Eric Moneypenny / FOXSports.com
<!-- Meta Tag For Search --><!-- meta name="author" content="Eric Moneypenny"--><!-- meta name="source" content="FS"--><!-- meta name="eventId" content=""--><!-- meta name="contentTypeCode" content="1"--><!-- meta name="editorContentCode" content="1"--><!-- meta name="blurb" content="Just the mere thought of a college football team competing with, let alone defeating, an NFL team is ridiculous, right? Maybe not, says Eric Moneypenny as he takes a serious look at the probability of notion the USC Trojans beating one of the NFL's worst."--><!-- meta name="modDate" content="December 14, 2005 19:31:39 GMT"-->Posted: 7 days ago<SCRIPT> // front-end hack to remove postedTime from Rumors page until a better way can be determined if (document.URL.indexOf("/name/FS/rumors") != -1) document.getElementById("postedTime").style.display = 'none'; </SCRIPT>
</TD><TD width=10></TD><TD align=right><!--this is for sponsorships or brandings--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!-- workingCategoryId: 24--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=10></TD><TD width=440><!-- search:</noindex> --><SCRIPT> if(fanid.length > 0 && typeof(nflDefaultLeague)!= "undefined") { leagueId = nflDefaultLeague; //find teamId of default league (if exists) for(var i=0; i < teamsInfo.length; i++){ if(teamsInfo[4] == leagueId){ defaultTeamId = teamsInfo[0]; } } var fantasyLeaguePlayerJsPath = 'http://msnfantasy.foxsports.com' + '/nugget/200002_' + leagueId + '|||' + fanid; document.write('<scr' + 'ipt language="JavaScript1.2" src="' + fantasyLeaguePlayerJsPath + '" type="text/javascript"></scr' + 'ipt>'); } </SCRIPT>Every time a ridiculously awesome college team comes around, a more ridiculous situation gets speculated upon.

What's that?
Well, some wise guy at work standing next to the water cooler (or some moron with a sports column) makes a fun remark that the latest great college team could beat the worst NFL team.
It's fun to joke like that, and usually, it's never even close to realistic. However, this time, I am not joking. I am arguing.
I really feel that this year's USC team could truly make a run at beating the worst NFL team, and here's why.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=185 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
5150786_36_2.jpg
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption><ID>Just how much fun would Reggie Bush have against some of the NFL's (or even CFL's) worst defenses?</ID> (Stephen Dunn / Getty Images)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Yes, I realize that even the worst NFL team has 53 players on the roster talented enough to beat a very good college player right now, right? Isn't that how things work?
However, it's not unfathomable to make the assumption that seven to 10 players from each class of the 2005 USC team could eventually be drafted, or one day wind-up on an NFL roster or practice squad.
Remember, that means we're talking seven to 10 true freshmen, redshirt freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors. Therefore, it would not be ridiculous to speculate that there are at least 40 future NFL players on the current Trojans roster.
Now, when it comes to talent evaluation, I'm no Mel Kiper, nor do I possess the awesome hairdo. But, I guarantee that in five years, you will take a look back at the current USC roster and marvel at the embarrassment of talent riches that were in Troy.
Sure, right now, they're all only 18-23 years old. Which means, on a good day, the Trojans shouldn't be expected to compete physically, or mentally, with the worst pro team.
I do guarantee that USC would move the ball pretty well against a bad NFL defense, though. Remember, they probably have four or five potential future NFL All-Pros at the offensive skill positions.
That includes quarterback Matt Leinart, who should be spending a few February vacations in Honolulu, playing with other top players while wearing a silly-looking Pro Bowl uniform. That also includes Reggie Bush, who appears ready to step in and make a couple of dozen NFL defenses look silly, as early as this Sunday.
Also, on this explosive offense, you have a pretty darn good offensive line. In fact, it's one of the more dominating college lines in recent memory. One could even argue that Sam Baker, Ryan Kalil and the gang upfront comprise a stronger unit at the moment than, say, the Houston Texans' line.
Bold statement? Sure. If you don't believe the USC O-line is that good, then how many times this season has Matt Leinart had seemingly 20 seconds to throw the ball on one play? The Trojans sport two of the best tailbacks in college, which is unfairly aided by the fact that neither one of them usually get touched until they're at least four yards downfield and running at full speed.
USC's defense is the weaker unit for sure.
Maybe they couldn't stop an NFL offense. But, they did make a pretty fun UCLA offense downright unwatchable for three and a half quarters last Saturday.
Sure, the Colts could easily drop 70 points on USC, and that's with QB Jim Sorgi playing the entire fourth quarter. But, USC could probably hold the Jets under 30. If playing the Texans, I'd expect to see Trojans' defensive linemen Sedrick Ellis, Lawrence Jackson and Frostee Rucker downright getting after David Carr.
Plus, a guy like USC safety Darnell Bing should wind up as one of the better safeties in the NFL over a 10-12 year pro career. And the other safety, Scott Ware, is no slouch; and both guys lined up behind an extremely talented linebacker corps.
Therefore, when declaring that USC's defense is the "weaker" unit, there are tons of guys in the Trojans' two-deep system that will eventually be cashing pro football paychecks. But that's the future. At the present, they possess enough talent to at least frustrate one of the NFL's more anemic offenses.
Plus, when we're making the argument that they COULD beat a bad NFL team, remember, this isn't a really good Nebraska team from the 1980s or 1990s that we're talking about.
The Trojans aren't running an offensive scheme like the option that simply wouldn't work against a pro defense. They run a pro-style, West Coast offense, while Pete Carroll schemes up his same defensive game plan that has worked at the next level.
Therefore, they even have the correct systems and coaching in place to give themselves the best chance to be competitive, should they be playing against the worst pro teams.
However, I do realize that almost every current and former NFL player would scoff at the notion of the Trojans beating ANY team in the pro ranks.
Poll
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript type=text/javascript>var pollWidth=250;</SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript type=text/javascript> var userStatus='vote'; // if this poll is the one for which they have answered, show results if (typeof(pollsVoted)!="undefined") { for (var i = 0; i < pollsVoted.length; i++) { if (pollsVoted == 5162288) { var userStatus = 'results'; break; } } } // has to have retry because hitbox code is defered. function hitBoxVote(m,p) { } if (typeof(pollWidth)=="undefined") { var pollWidth=298; } var pollHeight = (269 + (2 - 5) * 35); var flashPollQuery='choices=2&questionId=48186&pollId=5162288&cUrl=&userStatus=' + userStatus+'&width='+pollWidth; flashPollQuery+='&bgColor=&fgColor=&bgImage=&bgInvert=false&bgTexture=1'; flashPollQuery+='&choicesTextArray=&resultsLink='; flashPollQuery+='&buttonIndex=1'; document.write('<object codebase=" http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,0,0" width="'+pollWidth+'" height="'+pollHeight+'" >







'); document.write('<embed src="/fe/swf/poll_generic.swf" flashVars="'+flashPollQuery+'" loop="false" quality="high" width="'+pollWidth+'" height="'+pollHeight+'" scale="noscale" salign="LT" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" menu="false" wmode="opaque"></embed></object> ');</SCRIPT><EMBED src="" width=250 height=164 type=application/x-shockwave-flash wmode="opaque" menu="false" salign="LT" scale="noscale" quality="high" loop="false" flashVars="choices=2&questionId=48186&pollId=5162288&cUrl=&userStatus=vote&width=250&bgColor=&fgColor=&bgImage=&bgInvert=false&bgTexture=1&choicesTextArray=&resultsLink=&buttonIndex=1" poll_generic.swf swf fe></EMBED>



Heck, a former NFL player might even scoff at the notion of USC beating the worst CFL team. Though, I'm sure that the mere thought of Reggie Bush's potential all-purpose yards while playing the Hamilton TigerCats on a wider field would be a near dream for a lucky team owner in a CFL Fantasy Football league.
So, I realize that any NFL players, or coaches that don't think my argument holds up, would have every right to do so. I realize that I'm just a writer who's never played college or pro football.
I haven't put on the pads at those levels, so maybe I can't truly grasp the difference between the college and pro game when making a purely speculative argument like this. Maybe you COULD send the 2005 Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers or New York Jets into the L.A. Coliseum, and they'd beat this year's USC team 59-14.
But I highly doubt it.
Yes, USC struggled with Notre Dame. Yes, USC needed a near-superhuman individual effort to beat the third-place team in the WAC. And maybe, they'll lose to Texas in January. All that said, I still think they're the best example we've ever seen of a college team that could beat the worst NFL team. Maybe not every time. Maybe only half of the time. And maybe it'd only be 31-30. But I still think they could. USC is that good, in an NFL sort of way

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
I've long said there is one CFB writer at ESPN who knows what he's writing about, and (no disrespect to the great MLB columnists like Gammons, Neyer and Olney) pretty much single-handedly warrants maintaining my Insider subscription.

Bruce Feldman, the CFB voice of reason at ESPN, picked the Silver Bullets in his blog:

History in the making: USC vs. 2002 Ohio State
There are a handful of teams in recent history that I think could beat this USC team, and this is one of them. (Vote here.)

I'm not sure there was any mentally or physically tougher team in the last two decades than the '02 Buckeyes. Yeah, they often won ugly, but they always found a way to win. They had talent too, with 13 players getting drafted in the first three rounds. They also surrendered only 71 second-half points all season, while holding 11 of their 14 opponents to more than 100 yards below their season average in total offense.

The 2002 Buckeyes were a great tackling team. I think that MLB Matt Wilhelm missed only seven tackles the whole regular season. Of course, he didn't have to face Reggie Bush, but he definitely went up against some superb talent. And they did bottle up Willis McGahee pretty well. OSU also had one of the most underrated D-lines in college football history. Just watch the Fiesta Bowl, in which they overmatched a supposedly strong Miami front by really exposing OT Carlos Joseph. That said, USC's offensive line, in my opinion, is better than the group OSU beat in the Fiesta Bowl.

The other thing I think people tend to forget is how strong a college runner Maurice Clarett was that year (such forgetfulness is probably related to what an embarrassment Clarett has proven to be). Also, OSU had two legit rangy playmakers in Mike Jenkins and Chris Gamble who would've been nightmares for USC's shaky corners to match up with.

The OSU lineup
QB: Craig Krenzel
RBs: Maurice Clarett and Branden Joe
WRs: Mike Jenkins and Chris Gamble
OL: RT Shane Olivea, RG Bryce Bishop, C Alex Stepanovich, LG Adrien Clarke, LT Ivan Douglas
TE Ben Hartsock
K: Mike Nugent

DTs Tim Anderson and Kenny Peterson
DEs: Darrion Scott and Will Smith
LBs: Matt Wilhelm, Cie Grant and Robert Reynolds
CBs: Chris Gamble and Dustin Fox
S: Mike Doss and Donnie Nickey
P: Andy Groom

Offensively, I think Jenkins and Nugent are perhaps the only locks to start over anyone on USC, although the Buckeyes' O-line is very close to USC's -- and Hartsock, a tremendous blocker, is a pick 'em with TE Dominique Byrd.

Defensively, though, it's a much different story. I think safety Darnell Bing is the lone Trojan who would start over any of the Buckeyes, and that would have to be at Nickey's expense, and he too, was a quality college player.

The Pick: OSU 30-28
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Dryden said:
I've long said there is one CFB writer at ESPN who knows what he's writing about, and (no disrespect to the great MLB columnists like Gammons, Neyer and Olney) pretty much single-handedly warrants maintaining my Insider subscription.

Bruce Feldman, the CFB voice of reason at ESPN, picked the Silver Bullets in his blog:
Click to expand...

Damn good write up and right on the mark.
 
Upvote 0
Aaaahh!!Herbie said the '69 Longhorns showed guts when they came back from being down 14-0 to win 15-14 and were a magical team but he said the Buckeyes were lucky and needed a few breaks to win games. What the fuck!? Stupid shit like that really gets on my nerves. The Buckeyes were never lucky. How was that lucky when Craig Krenzel threw that touchdown to Jenkins in the Purdue game? They created their own destiny which makes them good, not lucky. Herbie is really fucking up the top 10 list so far. Once again, aaahh!!
 
Upvote 0
BuckeyeKid789 said:
Have You Guys forgotten about how good and similar that '02 Miami team was to this year's USC team? Hell, even Fresno St. and Arizona St. gave USC a game, you don't think '02 Ohio St. could? Once again, people pick an offensive team over a defensive team.
Click to expand...

i have not forgot one bit. but other people can easily make the argument that we almost lost how many games that year as well? hell im a buckeye fan but we SHOULD have lost to cincinnati. if that receiver catches that ball we lose. we definitely lucked out there.
 
Upvote 0
BuckeyeKid789 said:
Aaaahh!!Herbie said the '69 Longhorns showed guts when they came back from being down 14-0 to win 15-14 and were a magical team but he said the Buckeyes were lucky and needed a few breaks to win games. What the fuck!? Stupid shit like that really gets on my nerves. The Buckeyes were never lucky. How was that lucky when Craig Krenzel threw that touchdown to Jenkins in the Purdue game? They created their own destiny which makes them good, not lucky. Herbie is really fucking up the top 10 list so far. Once again, aaahh!!
Click to expand...

i agree with herbie and dont see anything wrong with what he said besides the whole speculation theory of older teams beating cureent teams because nobody really fuckin knows. biggest break of the year was the UC receiver dropping the TD pass on their last drive. if he doesnt drop that then no natl championship. i must honestly say i almost fainted when i saw that ball go to that receiver.:( but he dropped it:)
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top