The Dust Settles

There was a lot to talk about after Survival Satur ... scratch that. Schadenfreude Saturday.

Don't deny it, Trojan faithful. You spent most of the day reveling in football's Top 25 implosion. LSU? Those trash-talking cajuns struggled against a nobody! Texas? The loss couldn't have been more wonderlic wonderful. Oklahoma? Exposed again! Florida? Yeah, USC would have beat Ohio State, too.

You loved it. In fact, you loved it a little too much. Karma reared its ugly head. That MySpace bulletin seems a little out of line now, doesn't it?

Here's a look back at the pundits, bloggers and news that caught my attention:

USC vs. Washington

• John Walters from NBC Sports predicted a 33-31 upset. He was probably alone, but he certainly wasn't far off.
• USCFootball.com Publisher Ryan Abraham crafted my favorite slug: Sloppy in Seattle. Unfortunately I can't link to Jonathan Kay's article because it's part of their subscription service.
• SI's Stewart Mandel caught WeAreSC.com forum posters having a John David Booty revolt (look at item #3) during and after the game. Speaking of WeAreSC, one poster saw JDB and Matt Leinart chatting on campus on Monday.
• AP's Ralph Russo raised his own questions about Booty. Hey, at least his mom doesn't feed him chicken.
• AP's Gregg Bell dared to invoke a scarier thought: last year's Oregon State.
• Tyrone Willingham talked tough on a tough hit (see video above).
• Apparently the Dawg House was missing a DB who spent time in the big house.

Triage Report

• Sure, USC is loaded with injuries. But at least that staph infection is clearing up.
• The Conquest Chronicles is never just skin deep. In fact, they got pretty detailed about Kris O'Dowd's injury.
• O'Dowd, Rachal, Johnson, Paterson, Wright, it just goes on. Hello, Mozique McCurtis!
  

Polls, Rankings, Lists

• I honestly didn't think LSU would jump USC in the AP poll. Neither did CBS' Dennis Dodd. Neither did LSU's coach, saying USC "should be first, probably." It's been a long time since they've been #1.
• LSU topped another list: Bruce Feldman's 10 scariest places to play. ESPN's College Gameday will be there when Florida visits on Saturday. USC's Coliseum was fourth scariest.
• Speaking of scary places, Oregon and Arizona State fared pretty well in the polls. I didn't think the Ducks would crack the top 5, but somebody besides Kirk Herbstreit thinks they deserve it. The Sun Devils, now 5-0, climbed five spots. Before the season, I thought these were the two road games that could be the biggest traps for USC. Now they may not be overlooked.
• Another Bristol Boy, Brett Edgerton, noticed that seven of the AP preseason top 10 have lost at least one game in the first month. It's at the bottom of Gameday Final.
• If polls are getting just too serious for you, enjoy Steve Harvey's Bottom 10 in the LA Times.

Elsewhere

• This may be old, but the forums were buzzing this weekend about a USC rap song. You can listen here or here. If anybody has a link to the classic "I Love USC (and I Hate UCLA)" that parodied Biz Markie's "Just A Friend," please share it in the comments. It was popular in the Nine-Oh a few years ago.
• The Big 10 isn't messy enough, so why doesn't Michigan forfeit that Penn State win just to clear things up?
• Unlike Sam Keller and his uni-sleeve, Vince Young doesn't need special clothes to cover his absurd tattoo. It reminds me of like the Bourne Identity crossed with a bad wonderlic score.

Comments

[Hear that Lonesome Whistle Blow]

Q&A:
How did Florida go from #1 in January to #4 in August?
Same way that LSU went from #2 in September to #1 in October.
(payback time)

[SD Hoosier]

This link has a video with I Love USC (and I Hate UCLA) as background:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gwUQOQYSXI&mode=related&search=

I never heard it before, but it's pretty catchy!

Keep up the good work!