The featured roundtable discussion offered a variety of views about No. 4 TCU and their argument to be included in the BCS Championship Game.

LaVell Edwards: I believe TCU is going to come out of this on the short end.  It’s a shame they won’t get a shot at it because clearly they’re the best team I’ve ever seen around here.  They are legitimate in my mind.  We kind of lock into Florida, Alabama and Texas all year long and that’s the way it’s been.   I definitely think TCU could beat Alabama, Florida or Texas, no question in my mind they can.

George Welsh: I saw TCU play Virginia and I was very impressed.  I really like TCU.  I don’t know what they have going for them but they have a lot.  They have a great pass rush; they do a great job on defense.  Now the quarterback who was off to a slow start against Virginia is obviously playing a lot better.  I like TCU also.

John Cooper: I saw Texas play last year.  I went out and watched the Fiesta Bowl.  I like Texas and we all like Mack Brown but Gene Stallings’ right- Texas is one-dimensional.  If McCoy has a bad day, Texas is going to get beat.  Their biggest win all year was over Oklahoma State.  I don’t know about you guys but I watched Oklahoma State last weekend and I was not impressed.

We talk about TCU but TCU went to Clemson and beat a pretty good Clemson team, went to BYU and won that game pretty easily over a pretty good BYU team, they beat Utah who is 9-2.  I would give TCU a slight edge over Texas.  We don’t even need to talk any more about Alabama and Florida.  Those two teams are going to play each other and the winner of that game is going to play for the national championship.  We need to be talking about Texas and TCU and see who should play the winner of that SEC game.  I think if TCU went against Texas right now they would beat them.

Gene Stallings: I’m not sure that Texas will beat Texas A&M.

Pat Dye: Looking at those four football teams, if they all played the best they could play, Alabama’s the only one TCU couldn’t beat.  I just think physically they would beat them.  I think Florida’s got some problems and y’all say Texas has some but I don’t see any problems in Tuscaloosa.

Terry Donahue: I saw TCU two weeks ago play in person.  I’ve seen Alabama twice (in person).  TCU has the best defensive football team I’ve seen all year except for Alabama.  I just thought they were so fast at every position.  They have eight receivers they throw into a game and it’s hard to tell one from another.  I voted them ahead of Texas in the poll because if you consider every facet of the game I believe they could beat Texas or at least deserve a shot at beating Texas.  So I voted them ahead of Texas.

RC Slocum: I have some of the feelings that everyone else has but I think Texas is a good defensive team and an explosive offensive team.  What happens is that we talk about the Boises who beat the people they have to beat and Texas does that too.  I don’t know if we’ve seen Texas’ best game.  They came back in the second half and beat Oklahoma.  They ran the ball some then.  I have the same concern Gene has, you’d like for them to be more balanced.  That’s what they do.  They make so many big plays in the passing game.  They’ll run it in there every once and a while.  I’d be more concerned about their kicking game than anything else.

I just wonder in a match up with Florida or Alabama… all three of those teams are good defensive teams but how many can make the big explosive plays on offense and I would say Texas.  Alabama’s better at running the football and I appreciate that.  Florida is better at running the ball.  But if you ask which of those three offenses is the most explosive I’m going to say Texas is.  All three are comparable defensive teams.

Everything you hear about TCU is good and deservedly so.  That coach has done a great job.  They’re a speed defensive team that would give anybody problems.  I think that would be a good match up.  I would still take Texas in that match up maybe just for psychological reasons.  They played Texas a year ago and they played Texas for a half.  TCU was TCU and Texas was Texas.  If those two played today, I’d pick Texas.

I think they’re so good at what they’re doing that they’re choosing to throw the ball.  They’re promoting McCoy for the Heisman.  They had trouble in the Oklahoma game and they came out in the second half and gashed Oklahoma running the ball.  I thought it was the difference in the ball game.  I know Mack, way down deep, likes to throw the ball.  They do it by design and man, they do it in such a hurry.  My son’s up in Green Bay coaching and we’ve got guys who coached in the pros.  Coaches there talk a lot about explosive plays.  You can’t line up against those good NFL defensive teams and grind the ball down the field over and over and score enough points to win the game.  You have to make explosive plays.  That’s what prompts my question of which team out of Alabama, Florida and Texas can make explosive plays.

From what I’ve seen, I would take Texas first, Florida second and Alabama third in making explosive plays.  If you ask me who can grind the ball out I would put Texas third.  You get in those games and anybody’s going to have a hard time with those three defenses moving the ball.  It comes down to who can get the big chunks and I think Texas has the ability to do that more than the other two.  TCU is explosive too, they do a good job throwing the ball and they run the ball.  It would be a good match up.

Fisher DeBerry: Having played TCU for many, many years and knowing their background, they can play with anybody — I guarantee you defensively.  The reason I haven’t voted them higher than I have is because I don’t think their offense is that good.  The quarterback has played well the last three or four weeks and it would be a heck of a match up to see TCU play Texas just like it will be to see Alabama play Florida.

Kirk Herbstreit: I’m just intrigued listening to this.  I think the one thing that’s changed with the BCS from 1998 to now is non-automatic qualifier — the perception of the Utah, Boise State, TCU or whoever it happens to be.  I remember in ‘98,’99, 2000 you would never even imagine having this discussion about TCU.  I think the success of Boise and Utah and others of not just getting to a BCS bowl game but what they’ve done when they’ve gotten there, Utah beating Alabama last year in the Sugar Bowl, I think proves that these teams can play one game with these teams.

One coach was talking about the schedule and doesn’t TCU outpersonnel teams they play? I personally feel that the MWC is one of the most underrated conferences in the country because they have a TV program with Versus and nobody sees these teams.  For TCU to go to Virginia, to go to Clemson, to go to Air Force, to go to BYU, and go to Wyoming and beat these teams the way they have…I think that’s a more impressive resume that what Texas has gone through.

Texas hasn’t played anybody outside of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.  They’ve played nobody all year.  It doesn’t mean they aren’t a great team.  We just won’t know how good they are until they play Nebraska for the Big 12 championship and the national championship to play the winner of the Florida-Alabama game.  We can speculate but we really don’t know how good Texas is.

Did Pete Carroll’s assistants leaving for new jobs have an impact on the team?

Don James: I didn’t think so but maybe it’s true.  Pete Carroll is the defensive coordinator.  The offense hasn’t changed, the coaches have changed.  Maybe with them coming in from Denver, they had a difficult time with it.  They weren’t very dynamic.  They don’t like to run the ball.  They will very seldom run the ball twice in a row.  They’re a great offensive team when it’s going.  This is the first time the quarterback and the receivers (they lost their best receiver) didn’t get it going.  They didn’t have other people to come in there.  I think that probably made a difference, a combination of things.  Not a good year.

Frank Kush: USC has the talent, but they just don’t have their act together offensively or defensively.  It seems like one of those internal problems where the coaches don’t know who to play.  We’ve got the same problem here at Arizona State.  We’ve gone through three quarterbacks and we still don’t know what we want to do.  It’s unfortunate because it’s affecting the team in general, psychologically in my opinion and certainly offensively here at Arizona State.

John Ralston: I feel the same way, I think Stanford is the best team in the Pac-10.

John Cooper: I was talking to the Ohio State coaches and they still think USC was the best team they’ve played all year for what it’s worth.

Robinson: I think a number of things worked against them.  They’ve had a change in the coaching staff and that got them off a little bit.  Their overall squad isn’t as fast as it used to be.  You don’t get a sense of that speed.  You look at some of these teams and say “Wow, they’re fast” and you just don’t say that about USC this year.  They’re good, they’re physical and all that, but that never happened.  They got caught up early too in the quarterback thing.  They were going with the freshman starter and than he got hurt.  It seemed like it used up all their attention and the rest of the team didn’t come along.  They didn’t do well.  You’ve got to have some perspective.  They’ve been champions seven year in a row in the Pac-10 and contending to be national champions so this is an aberration in that regard.  I don’t think there is dissension or discontentment.  They just aren’t doing it.  John Ralston made the point that Stanford is really good.  Maybe the rest of the Pac10 has come up and is not afraid of them.

Jim Harbaugh is a guy who says, “I’m not afraid of you, I’m going to kick your ass,” and he did.

And then there’s Oregon.  No one wants to play Oregon.  They’re like Georgia Tech.  You just don’t want to play those guys that are crazy.  They run all over the damn place and you don’t know where the ball is.  A lot of things have conspired against USC, but there’s no falling off the mountain.  They may have slipped down from the top, but they’ve got their hiking boots on and they’ll get their ass back up there.

Terry Donahue: I think one of the things to me that has been the most interesting about USC over the last couple of years is that they have kind of moved away from the really hard, physical running game USC traditionally has always had.  It was one of those things they always had.  They would pound on you with good backs and really good offensive linemen.  It doesn’t seem like that philosophy is ingrained at USC any longer.  It seems that they’ve gotten away from that and it seems to me they’ve become so reliant on the quarterback position to play.  They’ve had Heisman Trophy winners and first round picks at quarterback and they’ve been really good in the past.  But still in terms of leading with the run and countering with the pass, I think they do more of the opposite now.  When you have a young quarterback who makes a few mistakes things can blow up on you.

Ralston: Stanford’s red-shirt freshman quarterback has come on strong.   A guy who is a red-shirt freshman playing with the varsity you would expect not to be very good, but he’ll keep Stanford up there as long as he’s there.  We keep talking about their running back but their quarterback is as good as anybody.

What was a much-anticipated battle for the Big Ten title this weekend in Columbus lost a lot of luster Saturday when 9-1 Iowa lost a game (to Northwestern), a starting quarterback (Ricky Stanzi), and any prayer of beating the 8-2 Buckeyes, the Legends say.

Click on the image below to read the full story in SN Today

	Legends Poll
November 9, 2009 – Week 10

Dick MacPherson: Everybody who plays Oregon better know how to defense the spread or they’re in trouble.  Because they’ve got a guy who knows exactly what to do if they don’t have the defense right and I think USC blew it.

Frank Kush: I watched that game very closely and I was so impressed with the diversity of their offense.  Not only the quarterback running the ball. Masoli, he’s very capable of passing, running, etc but their running backs too.  They’ve got two running backs —James and Barner — that I think are exceptionally good.  But above all I think the coaching is remarkable and the diversity of their offense is just as good as I’ve seen in the country.  They attack just about every hole at the line of scrimmage.  Whether it’s the quarterback or the running backs, whoever it may be, they’re pretty dog gone athletic.  James, that running back, to me has to be one of the quickest I’ve ever seen.  I was really impressed with them.  They just kicked the hell out of (USC).

Kush: I don’t think the entire Pac-10 matches up with the SEC what I’ve seen of them.  Southern Cal has talent but I don’t think they were into it for some reason.  Just watching the Pac10, Cal was over here (Arizona) and I wasn’t impressed with them even though they kicked Arizona State’s butt.  But the interesting thing about it is that Oregon and Oregon State, in my opinion, get the maximum out of what they have from the standpoint of talent.  But I think the Southeastern Conference, from what I see, has a heck of a lot more talent than the other conferences.

John Cooper: I’m going to tell you guys, Southern Cal has as much talent as anyone in the country — including Florida, LSU, and any of those teams down South.  And for Oregon to beat up on them like they did…I think if they play like that I think if you were to play them on the west coast or in Pasadena they could beat anybody in the country.  Based on what I saw.

Kush: They were remarkable.  No question about it.

John Robinson: I think SC hasn’t developed as a team.  They started out having to replace 10 defensive players and they just couldn’t do it.  They just haven’t matured as a team.  They got preoccupied with the quarterback position and it seems like they just forgot about the rest.  Now Oregon. Utah was like Oregon a year ago.  I think they had an undefeated year and nobody thought they were any good and they go down and beat Alabama badly in a bowl game.  So those teams out West don’t see the spread as much and it’s effective especially when you put the speed element with it.  SC hasn’t seen it very much, doesn’t know how to defend it.

Robinson: I think Oregon for the last few years has really recruited speed.  They’re little guys, they all look like midgets when you see them but they can RUN.  And they teach speed.  I remember back in the wishbone, teams like Oklahoma were faster than everybody.  I think Oregon and Texas who throw the ball a lot are tough to handle.  And I know we’ve been talking about all this conference stuff, but what it comes down to is one team playing one game.  We don’t know that Oregon doesn’t match up with anybody in the country for one game.  Now, they’ve lost a lot of defensive players.  I think they could get embarrassed on defense against a really strong powerful team.

Robinson: SC is not the team it wanted to be and it’s slipped away from them.  The good players are not playing the way they’d like to be playing and it’s an anomaly for them because Pete Carroll’s teams have always played really well.  The story out here is Oregon, and I think they’re going to go the rest of the way and that’s a great thing for the Pac-10.

Pat Dye: I was impressed with Oregon’s defense against Southern Cal, and I know everyone’s going to be impressed with their offense…that quarterback is like Houdini, but I thought their defense was quick and they ran to the football.  After looking at them against Southern Cal, I guarantee you that you can call Nick Saban or Urban Meyer and neither one of them is going to want to play them.

Roy Kramer: I think Phil Knight gave Oregon new shoes to wear because I’ve never seen so much speed against Southern Cal as I did that night.  They were impressive.  You know they’ve got that loss to Boise State and in all fairness if you look at the ratings across the board, Boise State is riding Oregon’s balloon.  And if that balloon were to burst it would affect Boise State as much as Oregon.  This makes TCU a much stronger outside candidate because they beat Clemson at Clemson, they had that good win over BYU and if they beat Utah they’re going to have a better resume across the board than Boise does.

The only good thing about it at the BCS is that it sort of plays out with the rankings because Florida and Alabama play each other and I think Texas can ride it out to the national championship game.  You can argue about the other people but I think it’s hard to argue against Texas and the SEC champion playing for the national title.

If you asked me about the two best-coached teams in the country I agree that Oregon and Iowa should be it from what I’ve seen based on what they’re playing with.

So why do no Legends Poll voters have 8-0 Hawkeyes in their top five?

Click on the image below to read the full story in SN Today

	Legends Poll
October 26, 2009 – Week 8

What did you think of the Ohio State-Wisconsin game?

Cooper: “The Ohio State Wisconsin game — one of the ugliest games to watch.  The only thing good about it for Ohio State is that they won the game.  If you guys can believe these stats: Wisconsin had the ball for 42 minutes, ran 89 plays, and had 368 yards and got beat 31-13.  Ohio State had the ball for 17 minutes, ran 40 plays and Pryor, their quarterback, had the worst game I’ve ever seen him play.  He was 5 of 13 throwing the ball.  So, Ohio State, their defense is solid, but they don’t have the athletes that some of those teams down South have but they’re pretty solid.  Their front 7 is pretty good, they rotate a lot of those guys and, again, I think Ohio State is the class team in this league but they did not play real well Saturday.”

Tell us about Wisconsin.

Cooper: “Wisconsin is a big, strong, slow team.  They didn’t have a lot of weapons on offense.  They have a big running back. If you stop him, you stop their offense.”

Mallory: “Wisconsin — that was just typical Wisconsin — they’re just a big, strong come after it team. Not fancy. They ran and threw that ball with pretty good balance. They did both pretty darn well. It’s like John said, it came down to three big plays that really cost them. They had two interceptions and that kickoff return for a touchdown. That’s the thing about Ohio State, they find a way to win. So you’ve got to take your hats off to them.”

What did you see in the Michigan-Iowa game?

Mallory:  “That was a good game. It was just went back and forth. I felt Iowa was just a little more sound team. Michigan had several turnovers that were costly to them. Right at the end, they tried to finish the game. Forcier threw an interception and he pulled him and went with another freshman quarterback. It’s never easy when you have to play two freshman QBs. Nevertheless, they’re going to be darn good football players. He brought Robinson in, and he took the ball and moved it right down the field. Michigan had about two minutes to win it, down 30-28. They came back and started another drive, but got intercepted. And that finished the game.”

How did Iowa quarterback Rick Stanzi look?

Mallory:  “Stanzi had an interception early. But I think that he’s a young man who has come along and made a lot of improvement. I remember watching him last year, and I think for the most part, Iowa is coming up with a better balance on offense. I think that he’s made a lot of progress. There were some question marks on him, but I think he’s made good headway.”

What is the best part of Iowa’s team?

Mallory: “I like Iowa’s defense. I think they play good, hard-nosed, get after it defense. I think they’re a good team on that side of the ball. I do think Iowa’s offense has come around. I think for the most part, Iowa is a good, sound team and they don’t beat themselves.”

What’s your impression of the Big Ten conference so far?

Mallory:  “I don’t think the Big Ten is in the conversation with the SEC. Ohio State is a top-10 football team, but after that, you’ve got parity in the league. You look at Penn State and Wisconsin, they’re good, but I wouldn’t classify them as great teams. I think they deserve to be in the top-25, but I still think the best team is Ohio State.”

“It’s the coaching part of the game that I’d be curious about. Like why Alabama is different from everybody else. They’re more physical and tougher, and it seems like a year or two ago, it was the fast quick, not so physical teams that were good. And here Alabama looks like a throwback to the era when we all coached.“

Why do these teams have certain things going for them?

Pat Dye: I think Alabama can play the way they’re playing because they have better people than anybody else in the conference except Florida and maybe LSU. That’s Saban’s style of coaching: He’s going to get better people and they’re going to line up and he’s going to be as simple as he can be. They’re not too simple on defense, but they impose their will upon you on offense. They make you defend the run game, and then they go with the play action pass.

Robinson: It’s good to hear that still works!

John Cooper: Nick Saban, I’ve coached against him and Bill Mallory has in this league, and he’s a damn good football coach. He’s a tough, hardnosed, no-nonsense type guy. He coaches probably the same way as us when we thought we were pretty good.

Dye: Auburn can’t line up against Alabama and be conventional and beat them. There’s no way. They have to do something that’s going to give them problems with getting in the right place on defense and keeping up with where the ball’s going. I think that’s what you’re seeing across the country —with the Houstons and the Boise States and their offenses — is creating problems for defenses until you get to somebody like Alabama where their people are better than your people.

RC Slocum: I hear people talk right now, saying that nobody even plays defense anymore. I think you need to look at that. Back in the day, when both sides of the ball were running a wishbone or a conventional run-type offense and were getting 50-55 plays on offense and both teams were doing that, defenses weren’t giving up as many points. But they weren’t getting exposed. Now when teams are getting 90 snaps against you — with the way they’re managing the clock and the no-huddle offense — a defense can play pretty well and still give up some points. If you get exposed that many times, you’re probably going to give up some points.

Frank Kush: Some teams — like Oregon State — are very consistent. They’re not the most talented, but I’ve been impressed with them fundamentally. In contrast, there are some teams that commit a lot of penalties, make a heck of a lot of mental mistakes and are inconsistent. I think coaching is so significant. That’s why the likes of the Paternos and some of these guys continue to win — they’re getting the maximum amount out of their players and get them prepared mentally.

• Cooper says Tebow should have been pulled from the game with the big lead.
• Cooper says Oklahoma’s offensive line needs to protect better.
• Billingsley likes the LSU-Georgia game as the impact game of the week.
• Billingsley thinks Georgia still has a shot because of their early loss.
• Cooper was impressed by the South Florida win over FSU.

• Billingsley says head-to-head is the most important thing in college football rankings.
• Billingsley’s program looks at the ranking of the team that a team loses to.
• Cooper thinks USC will run the table.

With nearly everyone picking Florida, Alabama, and Texas to vie for the national title, Oklahoma finds itself playing underdog for the first time in a long while.

“Oklahoma is in the national title race as much as any other team right now,” Legend Fisher DeBerry said. “They are a solid, well-coached football team.”

As long as the Sooners take care of their own business, DeBerry could be right. Their first chance to prove they have righted the ship comes this weekend when Oklahoma takes on a Miami team that is coming off an embarrassing loss at Virginia Tech.

Oklahoma also has its shot at revenge for last year’s loss in two weeks against Texas.  If the Sooners can win out — a schedule including five ranked opponents — then they will have a great shot to head to Pasadena.

Other one-loss teams looking to join the Sooners in the early national title talk are USC and Virginia Tech.

The Hokies sent a clear message that they weren’t going anywhere in the ACC in their 31-7 win over Miami.

“Virginia Tech has proven that it will be a very difficult team to beat [this year] in the ACC,” said former Virginia head coach George Welsh — a man with experience in the league. The Hokies are looking to earn a chance for another shot at an Alabama-quality team in a BCS match up.

USC — another one-loss team — has a chance to pounce on a demoralized Cal squad and regain momentum heading deeper into the conference schedule this week. Cal was on the cusp this year until they were handing a demoralizing 42-3 loss at Oregon.

The Trojans and Hokies are familiar with the national stage and hope that they can make everyone forget their early losses.

Still, undefeated teams remain and are making their case in the national title debate.  All reigning from the Midwest: Iowa, Michigan, and Cincinnati have tough enough schedules to make a case for inclusion to the big game if they can win out.

Cincinnati enjoyed its first BCS berth last year and is poised to make another run.

“Cincinnati has been impressive over the past couple years,” Legend John Cooper said. They are a team deserving of our attention.”

Michigan and Iowa might be long shots but they have both showed they can come back in the 4th quarter against big-time programs.

“There are still some unanswered questions at Michigan, but they have an opportunity this year to answer those questions,” Cooper said.

Don’t forget about Ohio State, either. The Buckeyes’ lone loss was to a gritty USC opponent on a last-minute drive. They find themselves in a familiar situation and are sure to make a statement in the Big Ten once again.

With the first third of the season behind us, coming away with a loss after this week could prove devastating.

So, the question looms: Which of these teams can keep their composure through to the end?  Or will Boise State, TCU, or Houston crash the party?