Trojans Look Dominant; Give Me Playoff

Homerism goes through the same cycle every year: I'm against a playoff at the beginning of the season, but I'm for a playoff at the end of the year.

I've reached the latter point after watching USC's impressive Rose Bowl win against Penn State. The Nittany Lions looked pretty sloppy, but a lot of that should be attributed to the Trojans' performance, particularly along the line of scrimmage. PSU did a good job of making the game look respectable, but USC was on cruise control after taking a 24-point lead into halftime. (By the way, I suggest PSU quarterback Daryll Clark work on the hurry-up offense this offseason.) According to the eye test, USC looks every bit as good as Florida and Oklahoma.

Of course, USC has made a habit of looking dominant in its own backyard at the Rose Bowl against teams from a conference that has started to look less and less impressive as time has worn on. And Homerism still wonders how the Trojans can't manage to make it through conference play unscathed, as USC appears so much stronger than its league.

Regardless of how good USC looks, however, the Trojans didn't get screwed by the BCS. I still don't consider USC's body of work superior to those of Florida and Oklahoma. Yet, that doesn't make the idea of OU, Texas, Florida and USC squaring off in a four-team playoff any less attractive right now.