USC Football: 5 Reasons Lane Kiffin Is on the Cusp of a Dynasty

The USC Trojans were banned from postseason play the last two years, but those days are over. This school is now eligible to compete for BCS national championships, and I guarantee it will end up with at least a couple within the next few years.

Whether you like the program or dislike head coach Lane Kiffin, you have to respect the tradition of the university and the amount of talent this team brings in. Many schools were able to benefit from the Trojans' minor setback, but this team is on the verge of accomplishing great things.

Here are five reasons why USC will form another dynasty.

Matt Barkley and Company

Okay, seriously—is there any other team out there right now that has a better shot to win the national championship?

USC returns nine starters on the offensive side of the ball, and the offense averaged nearly 36 points per game a year ago.

They're led by quarterback Matt Barkley, who would have been a very high NFL draft pick this year and is coming off a ridiculous season where he threw for more than 3,500 yards and 39 touchdowns.

The Trojans also return seven starters on a defense that was ranked 45th in scoring defense.

It may not be the best in the world, but it's better than a lot of other teams out there. When you combine that with the fact the Trojans score oodles of points on offense, the defense gets more than enough stops to win games.

USC should be the favorite to win the BCS national championship this year, and it would begin the process of a dynasty for the program.

Weakness of the Pac-12

Many talk about the Big East being the weakest conference in the BCS, but the Pac-12 has to be a close second.

Oregon is the only threat to this Trojans team at this point, and the Ducks lost their leading rusher and starting quarterback from a year ago.

Stanford will continue to be relevant as long as it can recruit well, but losing Andrew Luck will cripple it for at least a year or two.

Washington has an explosive offense and is an exciting team, but the defense can't stop anyone from scoring, as if the opposing offense had 22 guys on the field.

Other than that, this conference is absolutely terrible and shouldn't be feared by any of the top teams.

There is no reason the Trojans shouldn't run through the Pac-12 schedule this season and for the next few years to come.

Recruiting

USC is limited with the number of scholarships it can offer, as it's still recovering from the scandal that prevented it from participating in postseason play.

But that didn't stop the Trojans from putting together one of the top recruiting classes this year.

It doesn't matter what the circumstances are at USC. This is a program that sells itself and will land some of the nation's top players regardless.

There are only a handful of programs that can say that, making it that much more difficult to compete with the Trojans.

It's that much easier to win when your team is loaded with 4-star and 5-star players, and that's the case for USC.

SEC

The SEC has won the last six BCS national championships, but how long is that streak really going to last?

Of course, it could continue for several seasons—it does have the strongest conference from top to bottom.

But eventually it's going to come to an end. It's just too hard to stay on top forever.

All good things eventually come to an end, and with the additions of Missouri and Texas A&M, the conference has gotten that much more difficult.

It's getting to the point where you lose one game and it could cost you a chance for the SEC championship and BCS national championship.

Teams in the SEC are going to continue to beat each other up, and that only increases the Trojans' chances of sneaking into the title game to begin their dynasty.

It's USC

This takes me back to my first slide.

It's USC, and it has the best chance to do so.

If it's not an SEC team, which other team has an opportunity to win multiple national championships?

Sure, you could say a team in the Big Ten like a Michigan or Ohio State, but those teams have a much more difficult road. Not to mention the Trojans have a great chance to gain a head start on the Buckeyes, as they're banned from postseason play for a year.

You could say a team like Texas or Oklahoma, but there's little consistency lately from those two schools.

Don't even bother mentioning the Big East, and the ACC is about as inconsistent as they come and wouldn't have seen a complete team such as USC.

This year will be the key season to creating a dynasty. If Barkley is able to lead USC to the promised land, expect college football to have a problem on its hands for the next few years.

If it's not the Trojans, then who?

Randy Chambers is a B/R featured columnist that covers college football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail].