Baseball Toaster: The Griddle : Overrated? USC? Not by me?

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Chicago Cubs	53	36	.596	C1
2	Philadelphia	48	42	.533	E1
3T	Arizona	44	45	.494	W1
3T	Los Angeles Dodgers	44	45	.494	W1
5	St. Louis	50	40	.556	C2
6	Milwaukee	49	40	.551	C3
7	Florida	46	43	.517	E2
8	New York Mets	45	44	.506	E3
9	Cincinnati	43	47	.478	C4
10	Atlanta	42	48	.467	E4
11	Pittsburgh	41	47	.466	C5
12	Houston	41	49	.456	C6
13	San Francisco	39	50	.438	W3
14	Colorado	38	52	.422	W4
15	San Diego	35	55	.389	W5
16	Washington	34	56	.378	E5

American League

Rank	Team	W	L	PCT	Division
1	Tampa Bay	55	33	.625	E1
2	Los Angeles Angels	54	35	.607	W1
3	Chicago White Sox	51	37	.58	C1
4	Boston	53	39	.576	E2
5	Minnesota	50	39	.562	C2
6	Oakland	48	41	.539	W2
7	New York Yankees	47	42	.528	E3
8	Texas	46	44	.511	W3
9	Baltimore	44	43	.506	E4
10	Detroit	44	44	.5	C3
11	Toronto	42	47	.472	E5
12	Kansas City	40	50	.444	C4
13	Cleveland	37	51	.42	C5
14	Seattle	35	54	.393	W4

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Comments

2005-12-30 10:14:38

1. Penarol1916

I think the real point of the article is that this USC team isn't even as good as last year's team and has yet to win the national title, yet ESPN is pitting them against the best teams of all time.
Personally, I think that Texas is very over-rated, they played one good team all season in Ohio State and were lucky that Jim Tressel was an idiot with regard to who should be playing quarterback the whole game, but if people are going around proclaiming this version of USC the 3rd best of all time. I think that USC will be deserving national champion, but calling them an all-time great even before their bowl game is over-rating them.

2005-12-30 10:18:49

2. Bob Timmermann

But is ESPN guilty of overrating or just overhyping?

2005-12-30 10:47:19

3. Stevenalpert

It is hype but deserved. USC has superior line play and a better coach and they will win convincingly unless they fumble a lot and make dumb penalties. Actually, I recall a Miami bowl game (maybe it was against TX or Nebraska) where they committed a record number of penalties and it still did not matter they won by 40 or 50 anyway. USC is similarly unbeatable next week. I am still in Las Vegas and to bet on USC without points you have to lay 3-1 (bet $300 to win $100). That is amazing odds for two undefeated teams matching up in the Rose Bowl. Texas is getting no respect. This could be because they are not so special (I do expect 'SC to bottle up Young and expose the Longhorns lack of options) but it is also because this USC team in general (for the last 3-4 years)is the best ever. They own the Heisman trophy (they do not just win it, they have a few guys competing one another for it) and they have only lost one game (and it was in overtime to another great team). I happily laid the $300. Let's hope Texas is not Buster Douglas or Villanova.

2005-12-30 11:09:15

4. sanchez101

ESPN's special comparing 2005 USC to the greatest teams of all time would make a lot more sense if it was the 2004 Trojans, but the main purpose of the piece isnt to actually compare the two teams or to provide reasonable analysis, or even to answer their own question. The purpose is to hype the national championship game, which is why they cant really use 2004 USC. Of course I think they could still use the 2004 team, the roster didnt change that much, but thats probably not how ESPN and ABC think.

2005-12-30 11:17:56

5. Penarol1916

3. I believe that you are thinking of the 1991 Cotton Bowl when Miami absolutely destroyed Texas and the NCAA instituted its anti-celebration rules the next year using 7 examples of Miami's behavior during that game. That game was also the focus of a book by John Fienstein about how Texas fans thought that by winning the SWC that year they were back as a power program, but Miami showed them that they still have a long way to go.

2005-12-30 11:32:33

6. Linkmeister

ESPN has so many channels and so many talking heads that it has to fill the time and occupy the "talent" somehow, and hype seems to be the simplest way. See also the idiotic "Steve Phillips as GM for a day" gibberish they televised last month, with "real" ESPN reporters asking questions. They should have been embarrassed to participate.

2005-12-30 13:00:30

7. Telemachos

My favorite ESPN talking point that's been getting a lot of play over the last few days is the question posed to another talking head: "Can you remember another bowl in your lifetime that's been sooo anticipated? This is the matchup of all time!"

I'm waiting for someone -- anyone! -- to answer, "Yes, last year... when the USC/Oklahoma game was hyped to the same ridiculous measure".

2005-12-30 13:17:16

8. jasonungar05

What is amazing to me about SC is that in the last three years there have been only 4 games where they didnt win by at least 7 points. (not counting the three losses).

They lost 3 games by a total of 13 points. 2 of them in overtime.

In the last 3 bowl games they outscored opponents by 71 points.

I predict a blowout.