College Football's 11 Best 11s: Down Goes Southern California

The Southern California Trojans defeated Ohio State last week for the second consecutive season.

This past Saturday, the Men of Troy dropped their game following the Ohio State victory for the second consecutive season. 

Oh, there will be excuses. The Trojans were flat. They were without their starting quarterback. The best defensive player, Taylor Mays, was injured and unable to perform.

That is all true.

It is also true the Huskies outplayed USC, converted successfully in more of the important situations, and generally appeared to be the better prepared team. 

From a purely statistical standpoint; the Trojans failed to convert on any of the 10 third down situations presented while the Huskies were able to convert on seven different third down occasions.

Add to that the Huskies had an over eight minute time of possession advantage. 

It doesn't matter what the newspaper clippings dictate and it doesn't matter what the player rating services decree, it only matters that on this particular day Washington was the winning team.

And the battle in Seattle wasn't the only display of a less than stellar performance by a highly ranked squad on this day of upsets and near misses.

Highly touted Florida, a 30 point favorite at home over the hated and previously lightly-regarded Tennessee Volunteers, escaped by a score of 23-13.

So much for the aura of invincibility.

Texas?

The Longhorns spent the better part of the evening performing down to the level of a green but feisty Texas Tech team. The Red Raiders played the Longhorns off their feet in Austin, finally bowing by a 34-24 score.

Hardly the makings of a "pay back" for costing Texas a possible BCS Title in 2008.

Brigham Young and Utah set back the reputation of the Mountain West Conference in its chase for BCS-level respectability.

The Utes losing at Oregon was not a great surprise but, the Cougars being dominated in Provo by unranked Florida State was embarrassing for all concerned.

The California Bears are a different story entirely.

No-one would have blamed Cal for not being ready for the big game in Minneapolis against the unbeaten Golden Gophers of Minnesota.

But the Bears were ready. Ready for a kickoff that was 9 AM Pacific Time and all the resurgent Gophers in the trappings of their beautiful new outdoor stadium could provide.

The titanic struggle finally broke in favor of the visitors in the final 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, resulting in a 35-21 Cal win.

It was an impressive display of power and speed, as menacing a force as seen during the entire day. 

                                                THE 11 BEST 11s

Ranking This Week                                                            Ranking Last Week

1. Florida                                                                             2.

2. California                                                                        4.

3. Texas                                                                               3.

4. Alabama                                                                          5.

5. Boise State                                                                     6.

6. Penn State                                                                      8.

7. Louisiana State                                                              9.

8. Southern California                                                       1.

9. Ohio State                                                                      10.

10. Oklahoma                                                                     11.

11. Michigan                                                                        N/R

On The Porch: Miami, Pittsburgh, Iowa, Mississippi, Georgia