Before the Bowls: AU Single Digit Margin Victories in 2004 AU 10, LSU (9-2) 9. MOV: 1 Home game. AU 21, UA (6-5) 13. MOV: 8 Road game. USC Single Digit Margin Victories in 2004 USC 31, Stanford (4-7) 28. MOV: 3 Road game. USC 23, Cal (10-1) 17. MOV: 6 Home game. USC 28, Oregon (6-5) 20. MOV: 8 Road game. USC 29, UCLA (6-5) 24. MOV: 5 Road game. OU Single Digit Margin Victories in 2004 OU: 38 OSU (7-4) 35. MOV: 3 Road game. OU: 42 T A&M (7-4) 35. MOV: 7 Road game. AU trailed 2 times in 2 games all season. Against LSU, AU trailed until the end of the 4th. Against UA, AU trailed until three minutes into the third, never to relinquish the lead. AU has trailed at the end of 5 quarters all season, and never trailed once they got the lead. OU trailed 6 times in 4 games all season. Against UH, OU trailed once in the first quarter, and were never behind at the end of a quarter. Against KSU, OU trailed three times, once in each of the first 3 quarters, but never trailed at the end of a quarter. Against OSU, OU trailed once in the second quarter, but never trailed at the end of a quarter. Against T A&M, OU trailed until the mid-way point of the third quarter, never to trail again. They've only trailed for 2 quarters all season long, and have relinquished the lead twice all season. USC has trailed 6 times this season, in 6 games. Against VT, USC trailed in the second quarter to regain the lead in the third, never to trail again. Against BYU, USC trailed in the first but never trailed at the end of a quarter. Against Stanford, USC trailed from the second through 6:15 of the third quarter, never to trail again. Against OSU, USC trailed the first and second quarters, regained early in the third never to trail again. Against Arizona, USC trailed in the first quarter through the first 5 seconds of the second quarter, never to trail again. Against Notre Dame, USC trailed in the first quarter until the end of the second quarter, never to trail again. USC has trailed at the end of 7 quarters this year, and has only relinquished the lead twice all season. The SEC has 5 teams in the top 20 (AP/Coaches) more than the Big-12 and Pac-10 combined. The SEC has 4 teams in the final BCS top 15, the same as the Pac-10 and Big-12 combined. There are more mid-majors in the top 20 than in the Big-12. There are more mid-majors in the top 20 than in the Pac-10. Auburn has won more games against 9 win teams than OU and USC combined. Auburn has won more games against 9 win teams than the entire Pac-10 conference. Auburn has won more games against 9 win teams than the entire Big-12 conference. Auburn has won as many games against 9 win teams as the Pac-10 and Big-12 conferences combined. The Sugar Bowl pits the SEC Champ against the ACC Champ. There are 5 teams in the top 20 in the SEC, 4 in the top 20 in the ACC. That's 9 schools in the top 20 represented by their conference champions in the Sugar Bowl. There are more top 20 teams in the ACC and SEC than the Pac-10, Big-12, Big-10, and Big East combined. There are more top 20 teams in the ACC and SEC than the Pac-10, Big-12, and every mid-major conference combined. And, one interesting factoid... Should Auburn, UT, UGA, and LSU win out, Auburn will have won 5 games aganst teams with 10 wins. That would be the toughest schedule in the history of college football. So you say the SEC had a down year? Really? As of December 1, 2004 here are some facts from the official SEC webpage: Has the most teams ranked in this week's Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN polls and Bowl Championship Series Top 25 ratings. The five teams ranked this week are (AP/USA Today-ESPN/BCS): 3/3/3 Auburn, 8/7/7 Georgia, 13/12/11 LSU, 15/15/15 Tennessee and 20/19/22 Florida. Has had more different teams ranked in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Top 10 than any other conference. The SEC has had five different teams at one time or another ranked in the Top 10 this season - Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee. Among the six teams that have been ranked at one time or another in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Top 25 polls this season, the longest losing streak by any team has been two - once by Florida and once by South Carolina. Eight SEC teams defeated a team this season that was ranked in the Associated Press or USA Today/ESPN Top 25 at the time the game was played. The SEC had more intra-conference games decided by five-points-or-less than any other conference in the nation. The league had 15 of its 48 league games or 31.3 percent decided by five points or less. The MAC was next with 14 of 56, followed by the Big Ten 10 of 44 and Big 12 with 10 of 48. Among all Division I-A conferences, the SEC attempted less pass plays per game than any other conference in the nation (27.5) ... The league also averaged less plays per game than any other conference (67.0) and was 8th of 11 conferences in total offensive yards per game (367.8). (League's strong defensive play) The SEC is the only conference of the three that has four teams with nine wins or more. The next highest total in a league is the Big Ten with three teams with nine wins or more. No other conference has more than two. The SEC has five teams ranked in the nation's top 20 in total defense. The SEC has five teams ranked in the nation's top 35 in total offense. After the Bowls We beat more 10 win teams, more 9 win teams, trailed in fewer games for fewer quarters, had 3 games with a MOV in the single digits, never relinquished a lead, 43% of the points scored aganist our #1 D were when we were up by 20 or more points, and only 1 opponent out of 13 had the ball in the 4th quarter with a chance to tie or beat us. USC had 1 fewer win against 9+ and 10+ teams, trailed in 7 games for more quarters, had 5 games with a MOV in the single digits, relinquished 2 leads, had only ~20% of the points scored on its D when USC was up by 20 or more points, and had 5 opponents that possessed the ball in the 4th quarter with a chance to lead. Against Auburn, only 1 team had the ball in the 4th quarter with a chance to tie or take the lead (LSU). USC: 5 different teams had that chance (UCLA, Va Tech, Cal, Oregon St., Stanford) Wins over 10 win teams: AU: 4 UT, UGA, UT, VT USC: 3 VT, Cal, OU AU won more games against 10 win teams than any other team in the nation, USC included. Wins over 9 win teams AU: 5 LSU, UT, UGA, UT, VT USC: 4 VT, Cal, ASU, OU AU won more games against 9 win teams than any other team in the nation, USC included. Average margin of victory Auburn 22.3 USC 24.3 Strength of schedule According to CBS Sportsline: Auburn #19 USC #25 According to the NCAA: Auburn #5 USC #18 Single Digit Margin of Victory AU: 3 LSU: 1 point, Home Game. UA: 8 point, Road Game. VT: 3 point, Bowl Game. USC: 4 Stanford: 3 point, Road Game. Cal: 6 point, Home Game. OSU: 8 point, Road Game. UCLA: 5 point, Road Game. AU gave up 147 points all season, the lowest point total in the nation. Of those 147 points, 64 were given up when AU was up by 20 or more points. Thus, 43.5% of all AU points allowed were when the game was in hand. (Season Average for first stringers: 6.3 ppg) USC gave up 169 points all season, the fourth lowest point total in the nation. Of those 169 points, only 34 were given up when USC was up by 20 or more points. Thus 20.1% of all USC's points allowed were when the game was in hand. (Season Average for first stringers: 10.3ppg) AU trailed 2 times in 2 games all season. Against LSU, AU trailed until late in the 4th. Against UA, AU trailed until three minutes into the third, never to relinquish the lead. AU has trailed at the end of 5 quarters all season, and never trailed once they got the lead. USC has trailed 7 times this season, in 7 games. Against VT, USC trailed in the second quarter to regain the lead in the third, never to trail again. Against BYU, USC trailed in the first but never trailed at the end of a quarter. Against Stanford, USC trailed from the second through 6:15 of the third quarter, never to trail again. Against OSU, USC trailed the first and second quarters, regained early in the third never to trail again. Against Arizona, USC trailed in the first quarter through the first 5 seconds of the second quarter, never to trail again. Against Notre Dame, USC trailed in the first quarter until the end of the second quarter, never to trail again. Against Oklahoma, USC trailed 7-0 in the first quarter, never to trail again. USC has trailed at the end of 7 quarters this year, and has only relinquished the lead twice all season. AU has never trailed by more than 6 points all season. USC trailed by 2 scores in two games. The SEC has 4 teams in the top 20 (AP). Average ranking: 9.5 The Pac-10 has 3 teams in the top 20 (AP). Average ranking: 9.67 Average ranking of top 3 teams SEC: 7.33 Pac-10: 9.67 Auburn was outgained by 2 teams in total yards: LSU: 308-301 Virginia Tech: 375-299 USC was outgained by 1 team: Cal: 424-205