ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Happy First Friday of Preseason Practices!

To the notes ...

Kevin from Los Angeles writes: I am looking for information about attempts by USC to schedule games with SEC teams. It's a constant topic of heated debate, of course, on the chats, and my, and most USC alums and fans, assertion is that the SEC has been ducking such attempts. There is really little if any definitive info that I have been able to find online to support my point, but, maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places.

Ted Miller: Kevin included the link to my story from May on this topic, which is still about all I can tell you.

If you're looking for this: USC called Georgia and Georgia said, "EEEEEEK!"

Or the reverse.

You won't find it.

There has been contact at various times with the usual suspects, but pinning someone down on specifics is hard. Folks who do scheduling want to keep the discussions private, and they typically are successful.

An insider once confirmed to me there was some talk between USC and LSU back when Skip Bertman was the Tigers AD, but it never got far.

My impression -- and it's just based on scuttlebutt, so take it for what it's worth -- is that neither USC nor the SEC's top teams have been chasing each other much of late.

USC's schedule is full through 2014, and the slates ahead don't feature a marquee opponent such as Ohio State or Auburn or Virginia Tech, which is disappointing.

So if your questions boils down to a request for me to give you concrete evidence that the SEC is afraid of USC, I can't do it.

Feel free, though, to have your own suspicions.

Steve from Tucson writes: I think a good worse case scenario for Arizona would be ASU hiring away Sonny Dykes to improve their offensive prowess.

Ted Miller: Dykes' next move isn't going to be helping someone's offense. It's going to be him taking over a program as a head coach.

Tyler from Berkeley writes: I don't believe USC is ready to relinquish its stranglehold on the Pac10 championship-have you seen there O-line? (I could probably step in for Sanchez and complete 50% for 200yards/game). If the boys of Troy are the most vulnerable they have been in years, why does everyone pick Oregon or Cal as the favorite to make a grab for the Roses? Granted Oregon's schedule is favorable and if Cal has a QB with a pulse they should be a tough out but why no Beaver talk? Not that the Beavers need another commentator on the blog, but, lest we forget: the Beavah' has beat Cal 2 years running and can claim 2 wins over USC in the last 4 years?

Ted Miller: Cal is the top pick because a lot of guys are back from a good team.

Oregon is next because some key guys are back from a team that finished ranked in the top 10 last year but falls below Cal because it has questions on both lines.

Oregon State is behind those two because its outstanding 2008 defense and offensive line took some big personnel hits, and the Ducks' performance in the Civil War is still lodged in folks' heads.

Also, the Beavers will be on the road against USC, Cal and Oregon, which is a huge deal in a conference where teams struggle mightily on the road.

Jess from Coos Bay, Ore., writes: Preseason award watch lists are being released. I know anything with the word preseason in it carries little to no weight. However, do you have to be on the preseason list to be considered for the award at the end of the year? How can players make the list if they haven't even played in a game yet(Corp)? Who makes up these lists?

Ted Miller: Watch lists don't mean much. If a player not on a list hangs up impressive numbers, he'll get added.

Each award is different. You can check out the respective Web sites for guidelines as to how the watch list, semifinalists and finalists are decided. For the most part, it's either a committee of sports media or folks who work for the award.

Many awards just review returning players from All-Conference teams to put together a watch list.

As for Corp making a list: He's the USC quarterback. That's the premier position in college football. Three of the last four Trojans quarterbacks were first-round draft picks -- including two in the top five -- and the fourth was picked in the fifth round.

And, oh by the way, even Trojans backups end up doing OK.

Kelly from Corvallis, Ore., writes: Would it be possible for Mike Riley to redshirt either Canfield or Moevao or have they both already burned that year?

Ted Miller: Kelly, I wrote something stupid in a story, trying to be flip, and got a handful of notes about it. I was well-aware that both Canfield and Moevao have used up their redshirt year. My quip was supposed to be a jest over the notion that, with so many good players coming back in 2010, it might be nice for the Beavers to slip in a veteran quarterback, too.

Kathryn from Clovis, Calif., writes: Recently there's been much chatter about the Rose Bowl having to take a midmajor team, if either a Pac10 or Big10 school makes the National Championship Game. If I recall correctly, the Fiesta and Sugar Bowls have each hosted a midmajor twice. But I believe the Orange Bowl is similar to the Rose Bowl, not yet hosting a midmajor.Yet I haven't read or heard anything about the Orange Bowl being contractually obligated to invite a midmajor. Is there not a clause in the BCS contract regarding the Orange Bowl, forcing them to take a midmajor? If not, it doesn't seem fair that the Rose Bowl is being singled out.

Ted Miller: You can read the rules here. Or you can just poke yourself in the eye. Same thing.

No anti-Rose Bowl conspiracy. Because the Rose Bowl has two anchor conferences -- Pac-10 and Big Ten -- unlike the other BCS bowls, which have just one, a provision was worked into the rules that would help a non-BCS team play in the the Rose Bowl at some point.

For the games of January 2011 through 2014, the first year the Rose Bowl loses a team to the NCG and a team from the non-AQ group is an automatic qualifier, that non-AQ team will play in the Rose Bowl.

As for the Orange Bowl, it's just been the luck of the draw so far. [Edit note: I first wrote that the Orange Bowl picked last this year. It picked last last year -- I always get the year of the season vs. the year of the bowl messed up. Dumb me. The Orange Bowl ended up with Cincinnati last year when the Sugar Bowl grabbed unbeaten Utah]. 

Oliver from Sunnyvale, Calif., writes: Is there a determining factor in what qualifies a player to be a returning starter? Number of starts the previous season?

Ted Miller: Six starts is the general rule. So you USC fans can stop emailing me about how USC actually has a zillion starters back on defense, not three as the official Pac-10 media guide says.

Vizzle from Eugene, Ore., writes: Wow Miller... Did you just diss Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, and Supply Side economics all in one posting on a football blog!? Do I have to throw you in there with all of the other bat crazy celebrities that use entertainment as a platform to "pro
mulgate" their political agenda and persuasion? Please, Miller, say it ain't so! If you are going to go on about Rand and the bunch at least promote your economic credentials to this junior economist.

Ted Miller: Vizzle (For Snizzle!) refers to this story.

Clearly, I was just reporting a potential reality of the Stanford-Wake Forest game!

As for Rand ... it took me two months to get through "Atlas Shrugged." Her writing style is much like this.

Thomas from Los Angeles writes: A couple years ago, when lsu and ohio state were picked to play in the bcs championship game, the rumor floating around was that the bcs guys made a deal to prevent a bowl game (perhaps the rose bowl) between usc and georgia in order to avoid a split national title. is there any truth to this rumor? i know the rose bowl claims they paired usc and illinois because of tradition, but "tradition" didn't stop the rose bowl from selecting oklahoma and texas during the bcs era. what gives?

Ted Miller: Really nothing sinister here.

The Rose Bowl picked Oklahoma (2003) and Texas (2005) as part of the "natural" process of the BCS rules those years (ask Cal fans about Texas some time).

To match Georgia and USC in the Rose Bowl after the 2007 season, the Rose Bowl would have had to ask the Sugar Bowl to release Georgia. It didn't ask, but it's hard to imagine why the Sugar Bowl would give up an SEC team, sacrificing ratings and ticket sales, so the Rose Bowl could match the Bulldogs and USC.

Moreover, as hard as it is for some to believe, the Pac-10, Big Ten and Rose Bowl administrators really do cherish the tradition of the Rose Bowl -- they had the BCS rules redone to avoid having 2003 repeated when USC and Iowa were snagged by the Orange Bowl, thereby sending Oklahoma to the Rose Bowl.

Now, as for my personal opinion: I would have loved to see a Georgia-USC bowl game. Rose, Sugar, Weedeater, whatever. It would have been a fun game.

Doug from Orem, Utah writes: As the football season nears and fan rhetoric amps up (as if it ever stops), I'm interested in your take as to which fan base in the PAC-10 is the most delusional.In fact, please rank all of us with some supporting commentary. (Am I asking for too much?)

Ted Miller: Yes.

All fans are wonderful. And delusional.

John from Phoenix writes: I'm an Arizona born and raised, graduate of Arizona State University, die-hard USC Trojan fan. That's right. My Dad went to school at SC, even had a class with OJ. I ended up attending ASU (ahem, didn't have the 25k a semester for USC), but could never shake the deeply ingrained USC love I had since a kid. Just wondering your take on that. Is it sacrilege to stick with the team that you grew up loving and spurn the school you actually attended? (And for any who think I'm just a front-runner, I suffered through Robinson part II and Paul Hackett just like every other SC fan.)

Ted Miller: Hmm. This is a tough one.

We need to check with the experts.

I'm going to throw this to the peanut gallery below for a ruling.