| Date | TFG | RBA | Away Team | TFG | RBA | Home Team | Plays | Odds TFG / RBA |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004/08/28 | 20 | / 26 | Virginia Tech | 13 | vs | 4 | / 2 | USC | 24 | 147 | 74.5% | / 73.6% |
| 2004/09/11 | 45 | / 58 | Colorado St. | 0 | at | 6 | / 1 | USC | 49 | 164 | 92.2% | / 84.8% |
| 2004/09/18 | 2 | / 1 | USC | 42 | at | 82 | / 95 | BYU | 10 | 174 | 96.0% | / 93.2% |
| 2004/09/25 | 3 | / 1 | USC | 31 | at | 55 | / 47 | Stanford | 28 | 153 | 89.4% | / 94.8% |
| 2004/10/09 | 9 | / 4 | California | 17 | at | 4 | / 2 | USC | 23 | 147 | 77.2% | / 78.0% |
| 2004/10/16 | 20 | / 23 | Arizona St. | 7 | at | 3 | / 1 | USC | 45 | 162 | 84.2% | / 76.4% |
| 2004/10/23 | 72 | / 78 | Washington | 0 | at | 2 | / 1 | USC | 38 | 175 | 97.1% | / 94.3% |
| 2004/10/30 | 2 | / 2 | USC | 42 | at | 44 | / 41 | Washington St. | 12 | 183 | 87.0% | / 82.0% |
| 2004/11/06 | 1 | / 2 | USC | 28 | at | 36 | / 31 | Oregon St. | 20 | 183 | 87.5% | / 81.4% |
| 2004/11/13 | 93 | / 71 | Arizona | 9 | at | 1 | / 2 | USC | 49 | 161 | 98.1% | / 96.4% |
| 2004/11/27 | 34 | / 33 | Notre Dame | 10 | at | 2 | / 2 | USC | 41 | 155 | 87.5% | / 83.6% |
| 2004/12/04 | 2 | / 2 | USC | 29 | at | 37 | / 30 | UCLA | 24 | 160 | 89.8% | / 89.0% |
| 2005/01/04 | 2 | / 1 | USC | 55 | vs | 1 | / 6 | Oklahoma | 19 | 166 | 40.6% | / 45.0% |
| USC Trojans | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | WinPct | SoS | Off. | Def. | Pace | ||||||
| 2004 | 0.928 | 2 | 0.607 | 24 | 30.4 | 1 | 10.9 | 2 | 167.2 | 83 | |
Justin
After the 2003 season USC set out to prove that they were the team to beat. With the exception of the week of November 13th, though, it was the Oklahoma Sooners who were the wire-to-wire TFG #1. USC, Auburn, and Miami jostled around for the #2 spot most of the season, but by the time of the BCS title game it was clear that Oklahoma and USC were the top two teams in college football. Once again, the BCS and TFG agree on this fact. Oklahoma had the #2 offense at 29.7 PPH and the #1 defense at 9.2 PPH, while the Trojans had the top-rated offense and the second-rated defense. Even against top-rated teams such as (9) Cal and (20) Virginia Tech -- who would finish the season at #5 and #9, respectively -- the Trojans put up solid performances. The title game wasn't even close, as the final score of 55-19 doesn't even start to describe the degree to which USC dominated Oklahoma. Auburn went 13-0, but thanks to the BCS format didn't get a shot at USC. TFG says they only would have had a 39.8% chance against the Trojans, but those are roughly the odds that USC had against the Sooners. Chalk up another argument for a plus-one or even an eight-team playoff.
| USC Trojans | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | WinPct | SoS | Off. | Def. | Pace | ||||||
| 2004 | 1.000 | 1 | 0.552 | 19 | 23.7 | 5 | 7.0 | 4 | 170.4 | 63 | |
Eddie
Looking back on history, the 2004 season could be remembered as the year where blind conference loyalty and homerism leaped to the forefront of college broadcasting. (1) Southern Cal was an unquestioned champion according to RBA but faced weak opposition in the championship because the BCS cast aside (3) Auburn instead of (6) Oklahoma, leading SEC fans into a non-stop redneck publicity campaign that continues to this day. Between Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Matt Leinart, Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, and an embarrassment of riches on the lines and two-deep, the Trojans sported the most consistent offense on this list at 24.7 +/- 1.9 PPH. Their defense had moments of weakness, surrendering 28 to Stanford and 20 to Oregon State, but were otherwise dominating at 1.9 +/- 10.4 PPH. The Trojans left little doubt that they were a legitimate national champion. Oh, the #2 team that should have been playing in the national championship game against USC was... (2) Boise State.
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