PE.com - College Sports

Harris Splits Difference, USC 5th

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:54:53 -0800

And in our third poll of the day, the Harris Interactive that is the second poll component of the BCS ratings, has USC No. 5 this week.

Here's the release:

Top 25 Rankings of the Harris Interactive College Football Poll

ROCHESTER, N.Y.-- October 12, 2008-- Today's Harris Interactive College Football PollSM shows the Top 25 results compiled from rankings submitted by the Harris Interactive panel of former coaches, players and administrators, and current and former members of the media. Texas took the top ranking after defeating previously #1 ranked Oklahoma 45-35. Alabama moved up one spot to #2, while Missouri and LSU both dropped out of the top 10 after suffering losses. Penn State, Oklahoma, and USC now round out the top five spots.

October 12 Harris Interactive College Football Poll

Rank Team Record Points Previous Game Next Game Previous Rank

1 Texas (72) 6-0 2804 Beat No. 1 Oklahoma 45-35 No. 11 Missouri 5
2 Alabama (37) 6-0 2752 Idle Mississippi 3
3 Penn State (4) 7-0 2602 Beat No. 24 Wisconsin 48-7 Michigan 6
4 Oklahoma 5-1 2255 Lost to No. 5 Texas 45-35 No. 16 Kansas 1
5 USC 4-1 2225 Beat Arizona State 28-0 at Washington State 8
6 Florida 5-1 2224 Beat No. 2 LSU 51-21 Idle 11
7 Texas Tech 6-0 2191 Beat Nebraska 37-31 (OT) at Texas A&M 7
8 BYU 6-0 2044 Beat New Mexico 21-3 at TCU (Thur) 9
9 Georgia 5-1 1901 Beat Tennessee 26-14 No. 22 Vanderbilt 10
10 Oklahoma State 6-0 1829 Beat No. 4 Missouri 28-23 Baylor 17
11 Missouri 5-1 1706 Lost to No. 17 Oklahoma State 28-23 at No. 1 Texas 4
12 LSU 4-1 1624 Lost to No. 11 Florida 51-21 at South Carolina 2
13 Ohio State 6-1 1589 Beat Purdue 16-3 at No. 18 Michigan State 12
14 Utah (1) 7-0 1489 Beat Wyoming 40-7 Colorado State 13
15 Boise State 5-0 1240 Beat Southern Miss 24-7 Hawaii (Fri) 15
16 Kansas 5-1 1187 Beat Colorado 30-14 at No. 4 Oklahoma 16
17 Virginia Tech 5-1 912 Idle at Boston College 18
18 Michigan State 6-1 800 Beat No. 23 Northwestern 37-20 No. 13 Ohio State 21
19 South Florida 5-1 640 Idle Syracuse 19
20 North Carolina 5-1 607 Beat Notre Dame 29-24 at Virginia 25
21 Wake Forest 4-1 569 Beat Clemson 12-7 at Maryland 22
22 Vanderbilt 5-1 454 Lost to Mississippi State 17-14 at No. 9 Georgia 14
23 Ball State 7-0 226 Beat Western Kentucky 24-7 Idle 32
24 California 4-1 217 Idle at Arizona 26
25 Pittsburgh 4-1 164 Idle at Navy 33
Number of first place votes shown in parentheses.

Other teams receiving votes: Tulsa, 161; TCU, 141; Minnesota, 129; Florida State, 96; Georgia Tech, 87; Northwestern, 46; Boston
College, 39; Oregon, 19; Auburn, 17; Fresno State, 16; South Carolina, 13; Connecticut, 11; Cincinnati, 9; Western Michigan, 7; Wisconsin,
6; Illinois, 1; Notre Dame, 1.

Dropped out of Top 25: Auburn, Northwestern, Wisconsin.

AP Elevates USC, But Just to 6th

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:19:15 -0800

The media is a little tougher on the Trojans than the coaches.

USC went up to No. 6 in the sportwriters' vote today but stayed behind Oklahoma and got passed by Florida, big winners over LSU.

No. 25 Cal is the only other Pac-10 team to get a vote.

Here it is:

AP Top 25

Rank School Record Points Prev

1 Texas (39) 6-0 1599 5
2 Alabama (26) 6-0 1582 2
3 Penn State 7-0 1492 6
4 Oklahoma 5-1 1306 1
5 Florida 5-1 1284 11
6 USC 4-1 1247 8
7 Texas Tech 6-0 1210 7
8 Oklahoma State 6-0 1184 17
9 Brigham Young 6-0 1131 9
10 Georgia 5-1 1081 10
11 Missouri 5-1 984 3
12 Ohio State 6-1 908 12
13 LSU 4-1 893 4
14 Utah 7-0 834 14
15 Boise State 5-0 714 15
16 Kansas 5-1 620 16
17 Virginia Tech 5-1 540 18
18 North Carolina 5-1 416 22
19 South Florida 5-1 397 19
20 Michigan State 6-1 371 23
21 Wake Forest 4-1 330 21
22 Vanderbilt 5-1 258 13
23 Pittsburgh 4-1 182 24
24 Ball State 7-0 166 25
25 California 4-1 115 29
Last Updated: Sun, Oct 12 2008

Others Receiving Votes
Tulsa 84, TCU 61, Minnesota 48, Florida State 38, Georgia Tech 25, South Carolina 9, Kentucky 7, Oregon 4, Northwestern 3, Cincinnati 1, Notre Dame 1.

Coaches Move USC Up to No. 4

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:12:05 -0800

Now we know -- how high one-loss USC could go. At least in the opinion of the coaches, who elevated the Trojans all the way to No. 4 today. Guess the good news here for USC is the Coaches/USA Today poll is an official component of the BCS rankings.

Cal, at No. 22, is the only other Pac-10 team in the Top 25.

Here's the entire Coaches Poll:

Rank School Record Points Prev

1 Texas (44) 6-0 1505 5
2 Alabama (14) 6-0 1452 4
3 Penn State (3) 7-0 1416 6
4 USC 4-1 1198 9
5 Texas Tech 6-0 1195 7
6 Oklahoma 5-1 1147 1
7 Florida 5-1 1145 12
8 Brigham Young 6-0 1143 8
9 Georgia 5-1 1010 10
10 Oklahoma State 6-0 958 17
11 Ohio State 6-1 920 11
12 Missouri 5-1 886 2
13 Utah 7-0 819 13
14 LSU 4-1 776 3
15 Kansas 5-1 676 15
16 Boise State 5-0 648 16
17 Michigan State 6-1 468 19
18 Virginia Tech 5-1 467 18
19 Wake Forest 4-1 376 21
20 South Florida 5-1 334 20
21 North Carolina 5-1 321 26
22 California 4-1 169 25
23 Vanderbilt 5-1 147 14
24 TCU 6-1 138 27
25 Ball State 7-0 135 29
Last Updated: Sun, Oct 12 2008

Others Receiving Votes
Tulsa 121, Minnesota 55, Florida State 49, Pittsburgh 45, Georgia Tech 31, Northwestern 21, Cincinnati 18, Oregon 14, South Carolina 10, Boston College 3, Connecticut 3, Fresno State 2, Notre Dame 2, Miami (FL) 1, Kentucky 1.

How High Will USC Go?

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:43:29 -0800

With three teams ahead of USC losing Saturday -- Oklahoma to Texas, LSU to Florida and Missouri to Oklahoma State, while Texas Tech almost fell to Nebraska in overtime, USC should move up today from its No. 8 spot.

But how much? Will teams like Florida and Oklahoma State catch USC from behind?

Will Oklahoma not drop past the Trojans from its No. 1 perch?

A good guess might have USC, whose 28-0 shutout of Arizona State might look better than it actually was, moving up a couple of spots

USC's Sanchez Exits Early

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:34:55 -0800

There's no telling how USC quarterback Mark Sanchez felt after the Trojans' 28-0 win over Arizona State Saturday.

No telling how he felt about himself physically. It would have been interesting to ask him since there were lots of opinions on how he looked, whether he was ready physically, or whether his problems, especially the turnovers in the third period, were more a result of just not getting enough work the last week because of the bone bruise in his left knee.

But there was no way to ask Sanchez since he'd exited the premises before almost any of the media had arrived.

It's really the first time in seven years that a USC quarterback took off early like that before talking. Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart hung around after suffering concussions.

And John David Booty was there after throwing four interceptions with a broken hand against Stanford.

But Sanchez was gone. Have to catch up with him Monday.

UCLA first quarter recap....

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 20:05:03 -0800

Both teams missed field goals but Oregon has a 7-0 lead thanks to a 5-yard touchdown run by QB Jeremiah Masoli, where he made DE Korey Bosworth look foolish as he got juked out of his shoes.

UCLA's Blake out.....

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:08:31 -0800

UCLA DE Tom Blake will not play tonight because of his lingering abdominal strain. Reginald Stokes will start in his place.

USC shares the shutout

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:26:14 -0800

Holding a 28-0 lead late in the fourth quarter, the Trojans put their younger reserve players into the game to preserve the shutout.
"The defense takes a lot of pride when you give up no points," coach Pete Carroll said. "I liked the fact that the young guys were out there at the end of the game, scrambling around and trying to keep them out of the end zone and they got it done. That's a big accomplishment."

More anti-Neuheisel....

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:08:15 -0800

We've been chronicling all week about why UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel is not a welcome man in Eugene, and there was more of it today.

A boat store near the stadium had its marquee flash the following "Neuheisel has nothing Bruin in LA."

Weather update....

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:00:49 -0800

The temps for UCLA's game at Autzen Stadium are expected to be in the low-40s to upper-30s tonight. Let's just say that it already feels really cold here and its expected to drop another 15-20 degrees from the current temps.

Views from Autzen Stadium....

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:00:12 -0800

Here's a video clip of Autzen Stadium right now, for those who are interested....

Welcome to Autzen Stadium....

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:00:00 -0800

It's a chilly and breezy day here at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon for what has long been my favorite Pac-10 stop in terms of game-day experience (I'll take Seattle over Eugene in terms of overall value).

We're about three hours from kickoff and the field looks nice, but I've always been curious why there is no Nike swoosh in the field, given Phil Knights deep pockets and love of his Ducks. Although rumor has it the rubber pellets in the fieldturf are all shaped like swooshes.

USC beats ASU, 28-0

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:46:59 -0800

The Trojans won their second consecutive Pac-10 game, beating the Sun Devils at the Coliseum. USC improves to 4-1, 2-1 in conference.

PHOTOS: USC Trojans vs. Arizona State Sun Devils

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:16:41 -0800

William Wilson Lewis III/The Press-Enterprise

Rudy Carpenter, of Arizona State University, left, is sacked in the second quarter by Brian Cushing, of USC, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a contest between the Arizona State University Sun Devils and the USC Trojans.

William Wilson Lewis III/The Press-Enterprise

Dimitri Nance, left, of Arizona State University is tackled by Christian Tupou, right, of USC, during the first quarter.

USC-ASU: Worst 16 Minutes Ever?

Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:15:42 -0800

It's a minute into the fourth quarter and since halftime, USC has two first downs, four turnovers and 34 total yards.

How bad is that?

But ASU can top that. The Sun Devils have just 14 total yards for one first down and a pair of missed field goals by Thomas Weber, the nation's top kicker.

This is way beyond bad.