interesting articles on espn
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/column...van&id=2226062
2. Why is USC playing Fresno State this late in the season?It's rivalry weekend, and the Trojans are playing … the Bulldogs? A team not even in the Pac-10? A team that's not only perennially good, but this-year good?
I know what you're thinking because it's what I'm thinking: USC coach Pete Carroll is willing to take on all comers. Fresno State's motto is, "Anybody, anytime, anywhere." USC got tired of Fresno State saying, "What are you, scared?"
That's not what happened -- well, maybe Carroll and everyone else at USC got tired of Fresno State calling every 15 minutes asking for a game -- but the Trojans agreed to play because, well, there wasn't anyone else.
First, you have to understand USC's nonconference scheduling philosophy: one Notre Dame, one game against a team big enough to demand a home game in return and one store-bought home game.
The Trojans had the Irish this season. They had Arkansas, with a return trip set for next September. And they had, well, until late February, no one.
In the 2001 USC media guide, the 2005 schedule listed Temple. The Owls fit the profile. They would come to Los Angeles without a return game. But Temple, perhaps coming to its senses, dropped out. And go figure, Trojans couldn't find anyone who wanted to travel across the country to play a team that has won 32 consecutive games.
They didn't know that last winter. USC had won only 23 consecutive games. But you get the point.
"We talked to probably 35 schools," USC associate athletic director Steve Lopes said. "At that point, everyone is filled."
USC had some flexibility, however, precisely because it isn't playing UCLA this week. The Trojans also had an off week Sept. 10. When ABC coaxed the Trojans and Bruins into moving their game to Dec. 3, USC acquired two more off weeks.
"Fresno had been calling Darryl [Gross, the former No. 2 at USC, now the Syracuse athletic director], and calling me," Lopes said. "We knew they had an opening, and we knew they wanted to play us."
Fresno State didn't have anyone bail out on it. In recent years, Fresno State played at Oklahoma and at Tennessee without a home game in return because Texas Tech and Oklahoma State bought themselves out of fulfilling the "and home" part of home-and-home deals.
The Bulldogs kept trying to find a game. They didn't want to add a second I-AA opponent. Once this game became a possibility, school officials asked the Western Athletic Conference and ESPN to keep Nov. 19 open for a possible USC game.
And now it's here. One of the best games on rivalry weekend will match two teams that have never played one another in the regular season.
Enjoy.
and 1 more
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/column...van&id=2226062
No. 16 Fresno State at No. 1 USC
OK, this is the fourth game, but with a 10:15 p.m. ET, kickoff, the only way most of the country will see it is with a TiVo. USC will win, because the Trojans won't take Fresno State lightly. In the locker room at Berkeley last Saturday, coach Pete Carroll told his players that the Bulldogs would be the best team they've seen all season.
Coachspeak? Sure. But it seems to work. Victory No. 33 in a row coming up.
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Originally Posted by johnnylightnin
