I see no reason to begrudge the voters the drop to #2. In addition to what Kyle has already remarked, I see that we had 22 votes to top each poll in the preseason, and this week we have 20 in each poll. That means that a total of four voters changed their minds. I expect the fallout to be much more dramatic when the USC/Ohio State victor gobbles up nearly all of the first place marbles. On the flip side, we are in position to play at least six ranked opponents throughout this season. Each win should get us back some first place votes, and (as Kyle suggests) one loss won’t dash our hopes to win it all next January. GO DAWGS!!!

If it gives the coaches a valid reason to play the No Respect card, I’ll take it.

The first-place votes we lost to USC (assuming that’s the way it went, as opposed to some weird shuffling among the top three), I doubt we’ll get them back for the rest of the season. It’s possible, I suppose if we completely blow some heavy-duty competition off the field, but simply beating our ranked opponents week to week won’t do it. And if we and the USC-OSU loser each finish with only one loss, we could still find ourselves in New Orleans instead of Miami come January with sufficient WWL lobbying for a USC-OSU rematch.

But no sense in sweating any of that. Let’s win games.

Southern California is a fine football team and (based upon the present, admittedly scant, evidence) is as deserving of the No. 1 ranking as any other and more than most. Even if the Trojans beat the Buckeyes, though—-and I have always believed they will, now more so than ever—-it is folly to assume the Men of Troy will survive their slate unscathed.

The Pac-10 is a solid conference; anyone who doubts that ought to ask a Tennessee fan. Since beginning its current glory run in 2002, U.S.C. has gone undefeated once while losing eight games in a six-year span. Those eight losses were to Kansas State and Washington State in 2002, Cal in 2003, Texas in 2005, Oregon State and U.C.L.A. in 2006, and Stanford and Oregon in 2007.

Six of U.S.C.‘s last eight losses came against conference competition. During the Trojans’ six-year stretch of dominance, they have lost once to two-thirds of the other nine Pac-10 teams. Only the Huskies, the Sun Devils, and the Wildcats have failed to bump off Southern Cal in the last six years. In the Pac-10, any team really can beat any other team on any given day.

Moreover, I find it hard to believe that ESPN would lead the charge for an Ohio State-Southern California rematch. The Worldwide Leader just signed an epic partnership deal with the Southeastern Conference and the boys in Bristol know that the two least palatable options for the average viewer are (a) a championship game rematch and (b) another Buckeye appearance in the national championship game.

If Georgia gets to 12-1, the ‘Dawgs will have given the ESPN family of networks more than its share of telegenic ratings boosts. That shouldn’t come into play, but, if it does, there’s no doubt in my mind that Georgia-Southern Cal, a matchup that should have happened in 2002 and again in 2007, would be the most attractive marketing opportunity from ESPN’s point of view.

If the Worldwide Leader doesn’t know that, I’m pretty sure Mike Slive, who just signed a big-money deal with the network, would have a better shot at convincing the powers that be of that than Jim Delany, who has spent the last year and a half haggling with cable companies over the Big Ten Channel.