By now we are all aware of the idiocy that spews from the mouth LSU coach Les Miles but there is a little more to follow up with in regards to scheduling.
From Matt Hayes at the SportingNews:
How about foot-in-mouth disease.
No matter what you think of those teams -- and I'm sure SEC snobs now are piping up about Tennessee's beatdown of Cal last season -- it's a different game when you're playing teams on a yearly basis, and when teams know your personnel and strengths and weaknesses.
The fact is all conferences have their bottom feeders but even in-conference foes can give the favorites a hard time. It's just silly to overlook a conference rival like SC did against both Oregon St. and ucla. To me its further proof that Miles is talking out of his ass when the bottom feeders of the SEC have been know to give the top teams a hard time.
Schlabach also has his take on scheduling:
[...]4. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: The Trojans greatly benefited from playing most of the Pac-10 Conference's most talented teams at home last season. But the schedule flips in 2007 with USC traveling to Oregon, Cal and Arizona State. The Trojans also have a pair of marquee nonconference games: at Nebraska on Sept. 15 and at Notre Dame on Oct. 20. Southern California's most difficult stretch begins Oct. 20, when the Trojans play four of five games away from home.
Nonconference opponents: Idaho (home), Nebraska (road), Notre Dame (road)
Toughest game: at Nebraska, Sept. 15
Easiest game: vs. Stanford, Oct. 6
Once again, Pete Carroll's anytime, anyplace, anywhere mentality will pay dividends if SC can get through the season unscathed. There are no cupcakes outside of Stanford and that is a mandatory game because they are in conference. Miles has some cupcakes on his OOC schedule so he should keep his mouth shut.
Also, SC plays every team in conference where the SEC doesn't. If LSU is so badass then drop the cup cakes and put the rest of the SEC on the schedule and show us how tough you really are, otherwise pipe down and worry about your own team.
Or, as Phil Jackson once said of Jeff VanGundy during their war of words in the 90's..."another worm is on the hook"!