Scout.com: America Deserves a USC vs. SEC Title Game

America Deserves a USC vs. SEC Title Game

By Barrett Sallee

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Jan 10, 2009

Florida’s 24-14 win over Oklahoma in the FedEx BCS Championship Game reaffirms the widely known fact that, when it comes to college football, the SEC is king. But, as Barrett Sallee explains, there’s still one thing left for the SEC to prove.

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Home of the last three National Championships, four of the last six, and an Auburn team that was robbed in 2004, the Southeastern Conference is widely regarded as the best conference in all the land. While SEC dominance is virtually unquestioned in this day and age, there is still one thing left for the SEC to do to solidify itself – beat USC in the big one.

In the 11 seasons since the inception of the BCS, there has been a National Champion from every BCS conference and a combination of eight different conference matchups in BCS National Championship Games. Noticeably missing from those matchups is the SEC vs. Pac-10 matchup that America deserves.

Considering USC’s resurgence and the SEC’s dominance this decade, it’s quite remarkable that this hasn’t happened. We should have seen it in 2004 between USC and Auburn, which would have been a matchup for the ages. But, as it were, the pollsters and computers chose to ignore an Auburn team that, during the 2004 season, had better credentials than both pre-season #1 USC and pre-season #2 Oklahoma.

In this seasons rendition of the BCS mess, Florida takes home the crystal football; while Utah, Texas and, to a lesser degree USC, all sat at home on Thursday night having legitimate championship gripes. The Trojans play themselves out of the big game with an unexplainable loss seemingly every year. In the Pac-10, they can’t afford to do that.

This season, even after games vs. Ohio State and The Rose Bowl vs. Penn State, the Trojans managed just the 39th toughest schedule in the nation, according to the NCAA. While Pac-10 zealots will brag about the 5-0 bowl record this season, it’s apparent that the lack of strength within the conference during the regular season is precisely what cost the Trojans a shot at the title this season.

If we’ve learned anything from the Trojans, we do know this – there’s not a better big game coach in America than Pete Carroll. In reality, they are one of the top two teams in the country on an annual basis. Hamstrung by the conference and a system reliant on computers that don’t watch football, they can’t afford hiccups along the way, which is exactly what has happened the last few years. But, that doesn’t change the fact that the Trojans are, unquestionably, one of the top teams in the nation year-in and year-out.

The National Championship is a beauty contest, and the SEC’s success – 5-0 all-time in BCS Championship Games – has earned the conference the benefit of the doubt, making the SEC Championship Game a de facto play-in game nearly every season. Had Auburn not suffered its injustice in 2004, Florida wouldn’t have got the benefit of the doubt in 2006. Had Florida not embarrassed Ohio State in 2006, LSU wouldn’t have been the first two-loss team to win the title in 2007. Had LSU not embarrassed the Buckeyes again in 2007, there could conceivably be some debate about the Gators presence in Miami on Thursday night. In college football, perception is reality.

The SEC gets the benefit of the doubt, and USC should too. Their continued dominance in big games is enough currency to give them a leg up over teams with similar records from every conference other than the SEC. The computers obviously won’t see it, but the writers and coaches filling out ballots should.

Trojan fans continually point to home-and-home sweeps over Auburn and Arkansas this decade as a show of superiority. SEC fans contend that there is no way that the Trojans can make it through a full SEC schedule with as much ease as they do the Pac-10. Despite the SEC hoisting the crystal football four of the last six years, that argument still hasn’t been settled on the field between USC and the SEC's best. 2009 is the time to settle it.

USC and Florida will likely be at, or near the top, of the preseason polls in 2009, regardless of the pending NFL decisions of Tim Tebow and Mark Sanchez. Florida, or whichever SEC team emerges as the league’s top team, will have to run the gauntlet of the SEC, which is far from given. USC will cruise through their schedule, with unexplainable loss in-tow, and be back in the BCS title hunt. Should we be presented with the opportunity to see a USC vs. SEC BCS Championship Game, it needs to happen. Can you imagine that game? USC vs. the SEC, to round out the decade, in Rose Bowl, for all the marbles. The SEC needs it. USC needs it. America needs it.