After the national title game where USC failed to win its SECOND consecutive national title, it is clear that USC is one of the greatest 2nd or 3rd ranked teams in the history of college football.
Consider this, how far must you look back to find a non-championship team with a first round QB and two first round running backs in the backfield? One month? Two months? No, you have to go all the way back to 2004. That’s right, a full TWELVE months. Further, to find a team that didn’t win the national title who scored like USC during the regular season, you need to go all the way back to 2003 for the OU Sooners. What about winning streak? How many years must you go back to match USC’s 34 game winning streak? One year, two years? Hardly, you have to go back THREE years. That’s pretty amazing, huh?
So where does that put the 2005 Trojan’s? As you know, prior to the Rose Bowl, ESPN tried to find USC’s place in history among national title winners. Since they finished second, its time to take a look at how USC would stack up against some of the greatest runners-up in college football history. In a tip of the hat to ESPN, we’ll stick to teams that are part of the “greatest� decade, that is, the decade when the word “greatest� become the only positive adjective that sportscasters use.
2001 Florida Gators – (final rank – #3) Considered by Spurrier to be one of his best, if not the best, teams. UF lost two games by a total of 5 points – both without their starting tailback Ernest Graham. Note: Nebraska played in the BCS title game in what was until 2003, the biggest BCS debacle.
2002 Miami Hurricanes – (final rank – #2) 34 game win streak came to an end in the Fiesta Bowl. Ken Dorsey led a talented offense that included Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, Kellen Winslow, and Andre Johnson. The defense was loaded with star power.
2003 USC Trojans (final rank – #2) – In Leinhart’s first season as a starter, he led the Trojan’s through what was their most dominating season of the last three years. Unlike 2004 and 2005, the Trojan’s only had one close call – an overtime loss to Cal.
2003 OU Sooners (final rank – #3) – This team was loaded with talent and so impressive in the regular season as to be named the “greatest team of all timeâ€? by many sports writers.
2004 Auburn Tigers (final rank – #2) – Dominant offense with perhaps the two best running back prospects ever to share a backfield. Matched the offense with the #1 scoring defense in the country.
2005 OSU Buckeyes (final rank – #4) – After a dominating performance over the other media love child – Notre Dame, still somehow ranked below a Penn St. team that needed three overtimes to beat a twenty something ranked FSU team with no offensive line. Once they chose a QB, this team was as good as anybody. Only losses to #1 and #3 teams. Probably the best defense in the country in 2005.
Where does 2005’s USC team fit in this group?
