Bigger underdog: 05 Texas or 07 Giants?

T

That's Right

500+ Posts
This game was almost like the NFL version of our NC game, but I was wondering who you think was a bigger underdog in the nation's eyes, us against "Greatest of All-Time" USC, or NYG against "G.O.A.T." New England. I kind of feel like NYG was kind of the sexy pic for some people this year whereas basically nobody outside of the Longhorn nation gave us a chance. Thoughts?
 
I say the Giants. We were at least undefeated and had a known superstar on the team, the X factor. We had tons of talent, sure, but VY was already legend in his own right.

The Giants were not undefeated and not even close to it. We started out ranked second in the nation and ran the season the same. Giants, nobody gave them a thought in preseason predictions.
 
I disagree. VY was well known after the previous Rose Bowl, the Heisman race and other performances. Now, people did not know just how great he was but they knew his name and that he was good.
 
I don't argue that, but to quote Dan Fouts, who got paid to know everything about both teams, the same Dan Fouts who saw VY destroy Michigan a year earlier, (after they announced that VY had 5 comeback wins) "But this is USC!". The X factor and magic of VY was not known to many outside of the Longhorn faithful before that game. I don't think any non Longhorn fans wold have predicted he'd be anywhere close to 30 for 40 passing on the night.
 
The Giants were a 5th seeded wild card playoff team. The Horns had been #2 all season.

What gets me in the buildup to the game is the fact the Giants had just beaten the Cowboys and Packers on the road. No small task. But not good enough to give them a fighting chance in this game. The spread should have been 6 or less.

Plus the Patriots had not run everyone out of the stadium in their recent games. One of their opponents lost when their coach called a quick timeout on a play that might have sealed a win.

I think the Giants game was the biggest upset. Either the Cowboys or the Packers would have been a more likely team to pull it off, but not the Giants.

Interesting that both losses (Patriots, Trojans) were by coaches considered the best in the game. Not just the best, but THE best. Like unbeatable.

Yet, they lost when their defenses could not stop a team from beating them. So much for the glory of offenses.

Defense wins championships. And loses opportunities.
 
Giants were a bigger underdog and its not even close. Texas had been #2 all season, were riding something like a 19 game win streak, and had pretty much destroyed every team they faced. NYG were w wildcard and lost to the patriots at home 4 games ago.
 
The Giants started peaking at the exact right time. Anyone who realized this made bank over the last 2 games. Including me. Thanks for the easy $5000 bookie.
 
Bigger underdog by what standards? This was definately a huge upset but the Pats were struggling the last part of the year and I think alot of people really thought the Giants had a reasonable shot to win this game. No one outside of Texas fans thought we would beat USC. I still remember sitting in the stands at the Rose bowl when USC scored that last TD when Brown broke his arm and all of the USC kickoff team was jumping up and down celebrating and most of our sideline looked down and gloomy and Vince was standing by himself on the field jumping up and down right back saying It ain't over..we'll get the last laugh. It was at that moment I knew we were gonna win that game. Wow great times!
 
Giants-Pats is the bigger upset. Not even close. Throughout the year, people were giving Texas a shot at the national title. Lee Corso put the Longhorn head on before the game. Texas was undefeated and ranked #2 all year.

After the Cowboys beat the Giants in the Meadowlands, did anyone, even the truest Giants homer, think that Eli Manning would lead the New York Football Giants would win the Super Bowl?
 
I looked on Sportsline and every single one of their experts picked NY to win. Not a single one picked NE. Regardless of spread, I don't recall any expert picking us to win.
 
All the computers that used margin of victory had us favored before the Rose Bowl against USC.

There's not a computer algorithm you can come up with that would have had the Giants ahead of the Patriots. Well, I guess you could put a heavily weighted factor in the ratings based on proximity to New York City, but you know what I mean.

The Giants were clearly bigger underdogs.
 
I'm not so sure the "easy" answer to this question is the Giants.

The Giants had already played New England very close at the end of the regular season, and they beat the two "best" teams in the NFC in consecutive weeks, on the road, to make it to the Superbowl.

Personally, I don't know anyone who is surprised that the Giants won, but I know several people who were surprised that Texas won, even a few Texas fans. This is only anecdotal evidence of course, but it does make me pause to consider.

Anyway, I don't know which was the bigger upset, all I know is that I'm delighted that Texas beat the Greatest College Football Team Of All Time.
 
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