Last weekend began with a classic showdown between Ohio State and Michigan, and ended with speculation that the two times might face each other again in the National Championship in January. After last night’s trouncing of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish by USC, that seems far less likely now:
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Too much speed, too much defense, and too much Dwayne Jarrett.
With all that, Southern California didn’t need last-second heroics to beat Notre Dame this year.
John David Booty passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns to Jarrett as USC overpowered the sixth-ranked Fighting Irish 44-24 Saturday night and likely leapfrogged Michigan in the race for the national championship.
I suspect that, when the BCS rankings come up later today, USC will get more than the .007 points it needs to bypass the Wolverines. After that, and notwithstanding the fact that USC tends to peak in November, only UCLA stands in the way.
More coverage, from a decidedly pro-Trojan viewpoint, from Brendan Loy
Ahh, that was fun to watch. I must say that I drank enough of the kool-aid that I thought ND was going to make a game of it (I thought they’d beat the 8-point spread but still lose).
The question now is whether they’ll fall far enough that the BCS bowls realize they don’t deserve to be there. As much as I’d like to watch them get their butts kicked, they might get matched up with someone like Boise State or the Big East champion and actually win a BCS bowl. I *really* don’t want to see that.
[...] It’s not at all unexpected after their commanding victory over Notre Dame, but the USC Trojans have officially passed the Michigan Wolverines in the AP Top 25 Poll to move into second place. NEW YORK (AP) — Southern California is the new No. 2. [...]