ESPN: Top 10 hated college football programs

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Ohio State, USC top targets of fans' ire

By Mark SchlabachESPN.com

The college football team fans love to hate? The discussion used to begin and end in South Bend. But Notre Dame's drop in the polls also has caused the Irish to drop in my rankings that are topped by college football's Public Enemy No. 1.

1. Ohio State. Many college football fans are hoping they don't have to watch the Buckeyes lose in the BCS championship game again. Most of those same fans only wish their teams had gotten there the last two seasons.

2. USC. No team has been as dominant during the last decade as the Trojans. A lot of fans wonder why the NCAA hasn't taken a closer look at how USC has done it.

3. Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish used to own the top spot on this list. Notre Dame used to win a lot more games, too.

4. Florida. The Gators don't get opposing fans' blood boiling as much as they used to -- like when former coach Steve Spurrier was taking jabs at many of his team's opponents. But many fans just can't believe quarterback Tim Tebow is really that good.

5. Oklahoma. The Sooners might be Ohio State Lite. Bob Stoops keeps getting his teams to BCS bowl games, but somehow keeps losing them.

6. Michigan. Add another fan base -- West Virginia -- to the growing allegiance of Wolverine haters.

7. Texas. Fans who hate the Longhorns are more envious than anything else. Everything is bigger in Texas, including the recruiting base, coaching salaries and tradition.

8. Alabama. Many college football fans are tired of hearing about Paul "Bear" Bryant. The Crimson Tide will never stop talking about him.

9. Miami. Coach Randy Shannon has gone a long way in cleaning up the Hurricanes' off-field image. Unfortunately, there was two decades' worth of garbage to clean up.

10. Tennessee. Unless you're a Volunteer fan, "Rocky Top" might sound like Sheryl Crow covering Guns N' Roses.

Mark Schlabach covers college football and men's college basketball for ESPN.com. You can contact him at schlabachma@yahoo.com.

Carson Palmer really, really hates Ohio State

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2008/07/carson-palmer-r.html

As Ohio State's Sept. 13 game at Southern California approaches, there naturally will be some trash talking as these two storied programs brace for what looms as a classic regular-season matchup between perennial Rose Bowl opponents.

But Carson Palmer may have taken it to the extreme in an interview last week with LA radio station KLAC. Palmer, after all, makes his living in Ohio as quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals, and his remarks may make the home-state fans ultra-critical of USC's 2002 Heisman Trophy winner.

You can click here to hear Palmer's inflection and judge for yourself just how seriously he meant his mini-rant, but here's the gist what he said after being asked if he was cautious when talking about Ohio State football:

"I don't watch what I say. I cannot stand the Buckeyes, and having to live in Ohio and hear those people talk about their team, it drives me absolutely nuts . . . It's amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and (Ohio State coach Jim) Tressel and all the crap I gotta put up with being back there. I just can't wait for two years from now when SC comes to the 'Shoe and I get to hopefully, hopefully we'll have a home game that weekend and I can go up there and watch us pound on them in their own turf and kind of put all the talk to rest. Because I'm really getting sick of it and I just can't wait for this game to get here so they can come out to the Coliseum and experience LA and get an old-fashioned Pac-10 butt-whoopin' and go back to the Big Ten . . . I can't wait."