I am not sure how they ended up 6th, but I didn’t think they would end up 10th either. I was thinking 8. But in the defense of Alabama, they did lose to 1 and 2 so I guess 6 isn’t a far stretch. The same can be said for Texas Tech after getting destroyed in the bowl game by a team that ended up lower ranked than them.

that they are one of the most if not the most talented teams every year. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are the best team. As far as who has beaten USC, I watched them get pounded up the middle by Oregon State, that was no fluke, Jaquizz Rogers continually ran between the tackles and ate up the yards and the clock. And no they are good but even the Detroit Lions are more talented than USC…..there is not a college team that can play with an NFL team…that is no slight towards USC it is just the fact of the matter. And whether its a brain fart or a Laisez Faire attitude it does not matter….if they want to claim they are the best they have every opportunity to prove it on the field. If Pete Carroll is as good a coach as they say then why with such superior talent are they prone to the “upset” every year. If indeed the talent is as good as billed at USC then Pete Carroll should be considered an “underachiever”. I for one think the answer lies somewhere in the middle and that USC has considerable talent every year but not necessarily that much better than most perenial top 15 schools and no better than the top eschelon of the SEC and Big 12. And in saying that Pete Carroll is certainly one of the best 10 coaches but not necessarily that much better than most of them if any. That same Oregon State team, by the way, got trounced by Penn State and beat by Utah, and while I subscribe to the train of thought that one team may match up against one opponent better than another overall better team, that is the coaches responsibility to put his team in the circumstances that will overcome any weakness created by matchups. Having said that you can say that Mike Riley “out coached” the coach whose team “given two weeks to prepare is unbeatable”.

…that the Pac 10 teams don’t panic with USC like other teams do. It’s just another game for them, and they can show up and beat them.

Another things hampering USC these days is the fact that the PAC 10 is pretty weak and it doesn’t have a conference CG. Sure, all their teams play each other but it’s not the same as having that one last definitive layer of competition…