USC Football Needs to Go Undefeated in 2012 to Garner National Attention

When USC broke Oregon’s 21-home-game winning streak (the longest active streak in the nation) then proceeded to demolish UCLA 50-0 the next week, everyone started to think it.

And when the Trojans finished sixth in the final AP Poll of the year (the only poll they were even allowed in this season), people started to say it.

USC is back in the national spotlight.

But please don’t hold your breath. The final chapter is about to be written. This season will determine whether the Kiffin Era of USC football gets an extra page in the history books or its own 30 for 30 documentary.

So far, the script reads pretty darn well. Rumors and accusations surrounding the previous regime leave a dynasty tarnished and broken. The innocent are punished for the actions of the guilty. Justice is served in the eyes of the system, but injustice lives in the hearts of the people.

Sounds like something Steven Spielberg wrote, doesn’t it?

Forget for the moment that USC is a private research facility in the middle of one of the largest media markets in the world. It sounds better when you leave out a few details. But there is one factor that cannot be overlooked:

USC must go undefeated in 2012 if they want to be considered officially back in the national conversation again.

The 2011 season, contrary to what many people may feel, was not USC’s figurative rise from the ashes. It was the penultimate chapter. Now they need to try to write “happily ever after” in permanent marker.

At a school where 8-4 is considered a complete atrocity, this means the Trojans have no choice but to go for broke.

Or in this case, 14-0.

A chink or two in the armor would still give them a chance for Rose Bowl contention. And though nothing quite compares to the Granddaddy of Them All, this story is not about tradition.

It’s about vengeance.

If you take inventory in Heritage Hall, you will find two missing items. The first is a crystal ball won in South Beach in January 2005, and the second is a bronze statue won in New York that same year.

USC has 17 returning starters, including two All-Americans and five Freshman All-Americans, led by the way-too-early Heisman front runner Matt Barkley. He'll be throwing to possibly the best receiver duo in the nation with Biletnikoff finalist Robert Woods and Freshman All-American Marqise Lee, together for at least one more year.

The Pac-12 is in flux with four new head coaches, three of which are in the Southern Division. The only player comparable to Barkley, Stanford’s Andrew Luck, is probably on his way to Indianapolis with a multi-million dollar check in his wallet.

Yes, USC might have to face Oregon twice, but they will host the Ducks during the regular season. And if both teams square off weeks later in the Pac-12 Championship game, then theoretically there is a chance the Ducks will have to fly south again to defend their title.

The fact is, USC should go undefeated. And if they do, they have not only secured a place for their golden-armed, golden-haired gunslinger in New York, but a free trip back to South Beach.

Aha.

That is what Barkley meant when he said that he and the 2012 squad had some serious “unfinished business” to attend to.

Seven years later, the Trojans could find themselves back exactly where their story began and the current set of characters will have one last chance to leave their kingdom exactly how they found it.

The same number of trophies. The same dignified glory.

A Rose Bowl in their first year back in the postseason would be nice, but it wouldn’t get the entire nation to drop everything to see what comes next. But winning a national championship at the spot where their last one was taken away?

Well, let’s just say Pat Haden should have Steve on speed dial.