USC Chokes Away Another Shot at the National Championship

USC has done it again. The Men of Troy will no longer be the No. 1 team in the country and will not play for the National Championship, again. The Oregon State Beavers made sure of that. What is it about the Trojans? How can they beat up on quality non-conference opponents year after year, only to lay an egg during the conference season? The Pac-10 and especially Mike Riley and the Beavers have the Trojans figured out. Sure, USC will win most of their games, usually enough to take home the Pac-10 crown based on the extraordinary talent they have on their roster. But, the fact that USC loses to inferior teams, including Stanford in 2007, Oregon State and UCLA in 2006, and now in 2008 to the Beavers again speaks volumes about a team that has been outstanding, but unable to close the deal. Pete Carroll is unquestionably one of the top three coaches in the nation and he is a master game-day coach, but his teams, whether it be overconfidence and complacency or poor ... (link)