The USC Trojans Are the Real National Champions!

Last night in Miami a great football game was played by two very good teams to decide who would be crowned the NCAA Football National Champions for 2008-09.

When everything was said and done, the Florida Gators proved that they were just a little bit better than the Oklahoma Sooners. Oklahoma had at least an equal chance to win this game, but managed to shoot itself in the foot twice in the first half by not being able to convert two key opportunities inside the Florida three-yard line into any points.

All in all, these two teams looked very evenly matched, with perhaps a slight edge going to Florida. The Gators were crowned National Champions...but did the system really work, and are they actually the best team that college football has to offer?

Since the National Championship picture does not include a playoff system, as it rightly should, the only way a true champion can be determined is based on strength of schedule and comparative analysis against common opponents. This is why the USC Trojans, in my view, have more than just a legitimate claim to being named the number one team in the nation.

When USC lost a game to the Oregon State Beavers early in the season, it proved to be an uphill battle rising through the national rankings for them all season long, mostly because the pollsters were under the false impression that USC played in a significantly weaker conference than some of the other major players in the hunt for the National Championship. Nothing could have been further from the truth.

With the season now concluded, we clearly see that the Pac-10 was perhaps the strongest conference in the land. The Pac 10 went undefeated (5-0) in bowl games and silenced all critics about the strength of its conference.

The Big 12, on the other hand, was overrated for much of the season, and the world got a chance to see teams like Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma all lose their bowl games, while the Texas Longhorns were equally exposed, as they needed a miracle blunder and a defensive brain cramp by clueless Ohio State coach Jim Tressel just to save themselves from certain defeat.

USC holds impressive blowout victories over No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Ohio State, and No. 10 Oregon. They also won their conference, the same conference that we now know is likely the strongest in the nation.

As far as common opponents are concerned, Penn State beat the Ohio State team that, for all intents and purposes, had Texas beat. Given the way in which USC manhandled both Penn State and Ohio State, that should, and does, immediately give the Trojans the upper hand over the Longhorns in any potential debate over who should be ranked higher.

The fact that Oklahoma lost by double digits at home to Texas pretty much proves that USC, and not Oklahoma should have been the team playing Florida in the BCS National Championship game. Too bad the "genius" BCS computer couldn't have figured that obvious truth out a few weeks ago when the matchups were being made.

Given the closeness of the game between Florida and Oklahoma, I think it's pretty logical to make the statement that the USC Trojans probably like their chances against that Florida Gator team a whole lot.

The final AP poll had USC ranked third behind Florida and Utah, a team that was solid, but went undefeated against a legitimately weak Mountain West Conference. Just look back to week one when the Utes squeaked out a win against hapless Michigan, and it's apparently obvious that they are getting most of this newfound respect as a result of going undefeated by default.

Also, does anyone who's not a Utah Ute alumni, a delusional Trojan hater, or a devout Mormon actually believe that the Utah Utes would stand any kind of a chance against the powerful Men of Troy? Not likely. Not in this reality anyway.

The coaches' poll had Florida No. 1, USC No. 2, Texas No. 3, Utah No. 4 and Oklahoma NO. 5. This is largely in part because the American Football Association of Coaches made a prior agreement to have all of its voters place the winner of the BCS National Championship game first on their ballots.

The Utah Utes received one first place vote from their coach Kyle Whittingham, who defied the agreement and voted for his team anyway. I guess he won't get to vote next year.

Once again shouts are coming from the rafters for a playoff system to decide who really is the best college football team in the country, and hopefully one day we will get it. For Christ's sake, if President-Elect Barack Obama is even calling for some type of playoff format, then can the NCAA get on the ball and try to give the fans something they really want already?

Despite the controversy about who can lay claim to the crown this year, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the USC Trojans are the number one team in the nation...despite what any BCS computer might "think." I think the evidence backs this up pretty nicely.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?