Coronation of USC a bit premature?

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Like Big Oil, Southern Cal is enjoying an embarrassment of riches, a mother lode of talent unparalleled in college football's ranks.It was on full display last Saturday - from sharp-shooting quarterback Mark Sanchez to dazzling tailback Joe McKnight and menacing linebacker Rey Maualuga. All methodically making mincemeat of Ohio State, 35-3.No wonder pundits across the land are so enamored with the Trojans. They've practically anointed them national champions in waiting. It is hard to imagine USC losing a regular-season game... isn't it?Have we forgotten that soon? Nobody, in his wildest dreams, could have imagined Stanford, a 41-point underdog, knocking off the Trojans in Los Angeles last season. Is it really that much of a stretch to think that Oregon, Arizona State or California might have a chance to upset No.1 USC. Or even Arizona since that game is in Tucson.If we've learned anything from last season -- the wildest and wackiest ever -- it's that the old adage "on any given Saturday, anybody can beat anybody" has never been truer than it is today.Okay, the Unbalanced Line will give you this: USC will not suffer another demoralizing loss at the hands of Stanford this season. Redemption is a force the Cardinal will have a tough time reckoning with when the Trojans come to town Nov. 15.It is tempting to rush to judgment after a performance as dominating as USC's last weekend. But it's advisable to draw your conclusions carefully: Southern Cal is the team to beat in the Pac-10, but the Trojans are not unbeatable. And, as USC fans loudly declared during the game, the Buckeyes may have been overrated at No. 5, but they're still the team to beat in the Big 10, even though Wisconsin and Penn State would like to think otherwise.Based on the results of the first three weekends, there are some other early-season judgment calls that appear to be pretty sound:-- With two of the best offenses in the country averaging 50-plus points a game, No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 5 Missouri should win their respective divisions in the Big 12 and meet for the second consecutive year in the conference championship game, which will likely also decide one of the spots in the BCS title game.-- Chances of an SEC team emerging from that conference unscathed are about as good as Notre Dame's chances of going unbeaten; okay, maybe just a tad bit better. But with half of the Associated Press poll's top 10 consisting of SEC teams... you get the picture.-- The Irish have a ways to go before they can count themselves among the nation's elite again, but they should be able to chalk up seven or eight wins and get a half decent non-BCS bowl.-- The coaches who vote in the USA Today Poll never fail to disappoint when it comes to ranking teams. After staggering past unranked Mississippi State, 3-2, Saturday night, Auburn remained at No. 9 in the coaches' poll this week. Go figure.-- Penn State's new "spread HD offense" is the real deal, lightweight competition notwithstanding. The Nittany Lions are averaging 55.3 points a game through their first three, the fourth best scoring output in the nation.-- South Florida's 37-34 come-from-behind victory over then No. 13 Kansas is the kind of win that can catapult a team to greater heights, quite possibly a BCS bowl.-- East Carolina's quest for one of the coveted BCS bowl spots took a major hit with the loss of linebacker Quentin Cotton, who suffered a likely season-ending knee injury in the Pirates' 28-24 victory over Tulane.-- Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel is leading the Heisman chase, and Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is fast on his heels.-- Tyrone Willingham is likely coaching his last season at Washington, as is Greg Robinson at Syracuse. Both are off to 0-3 starts, which makes Willingham 11-28 and Robinson 7-31 at their respective schools.-- It comes as no surprise the WAC has acknowledged the deplorable replay error in the Wisconsin-Fresno State game Saturday night. It was too outrageous to ignore.To the astonishment of television viewers, an on-field fumble call in the third quarter was overturned and the ball given back to Fresno on its own 26-yard-line, when video replays showed indisputable evidence that the call on the field was right. The inexplicable reversal ranks right up there with the bogus on-side kick replay decision that cost Oklahoma a victory at Oregon a couple years ago.Fortunately, in this case, Wisconsin went on to win, 13-10.With the WAC's officiating credibility on the line, a thorough inquisition is in order and, quite possibly, a firing. Unless the replay official was blindfolded.(Contact John Tucker at jtucker@unionleader.com) (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)