USC Football: Why the Trojans May Not Win the BCS Title Next Year

As one periodical after another pick USC to win next year’s BCS Championship Game, fans should consider the words of philosopher George Santayana, who once said, "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them."

The history of USC football is littered with teams predicted to win national championships—from the Matt Leinart team in 2005 that lost to Texas in the Rose Bowl, to the 1968 USC team trying to repeat with All-World O.J. Simpson. That team lost to a great Ohio State team in the Rose Bowl.

Winning a title is hard, and repeating is even harder. Just ask LSU, who could have beaten any other team in the nation in last year’s BCS title game except an Alabama team bent on redemption.

Few teams have gone wire to wire in the polls because of losing players too early entry in the NFL draft, ESPN-fueled national recruiting, unexpected dark-horse teams and an increase in well-coached talent that provides needed balance.

For the Trojans, going wire to wire has not been a common occurrence either. Nor has winning national championships when predicted to do so as a front runner.

USC’s long history dictates that the Trojans generally win titles when no one expects them to be a better-than-.500 team.

For example, in 1972 the Trojans were picked to be no better than .500 and won 12 games in a row and the national championship with a team that Keith Jackson still describes as the best team in the history of college football.

Still only a few diehard faithful fans foresaw that 1972 team achieving what it did.

Back in the spring of 1962, Trojans fans thought it was John McKay’s last year at the helm while he mulled over an offer to become the offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings for his college roommate Norm Van Brocklin before he was to be fired.

At the time, McKay’s vaunted I-formation offense had not caught fire, and the Trojans faithful had suffered through back-to-back losing seasons.

To everyone’s surprise, the Trojans rode an excellent defense and two outstanding QBs to a National Championship and a legendary Rose Bowl victory over Wisconsin, when the final quarter was played mostly in a dim twilight before lights were installed in the stadium.

It was no better in 1967 when the Trojans returned an experienced team that was rocked by injuries the year before, including a broken leg inflicted on their punter in Miami for which no penalty was called.

The Trojans lost four out of their last five games after the injury.

The home-schooled southern referees in Miami saw no penalty, and it started a late-season downslide that culminated in losing the Rose Bowl to Purdue when a very good UCLA team was not eligible to go to the Rose Bowl two years in a row.

In 1968, the same Miami team, led by Hall of Famer Ted Hendricks, traveled to the Coliseum and were beaten badly in a much publicized redemption game by a score of 28-3. The score could have been worse had McKay not called off the dogs.

The 1967 UCLA team, returning almost all of its starters, had been picked to compete for or win the national championship with soon to be Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban at the helm.

The Trojans, picked to be another .500 team, won the national championship, beating preseason No. 1 Texas, Michigan State, Notre Dame at South Bend for the first time since 1939 and UCLA in a legendary game.

No one had heard much about O.J. Simpson and a cast of future NFL stars including Ron Yary.

ESPN and others still show highlights of O.J.’s legendary runs (without a white Bronco) in the UCLA game.

And anyone who saw the 1972 team play still marvel at its accomplishments.

Diehard Trojans fans know that it took Johnny Baker’s last minute 33-yard field goal to beat undefeated Notre Dame in South Bend and snap the Irish’s 26-game winning streak to capture the 1931 national championship and return to 300,000 adoring fans on the streets of L.A. to welcome them.

It was the Trojans' second national championship and elevated the school to the hierarchy of college football.

And on it goes. One underdog after another excelling beyond predictions to capture college football’s championship, while front-runners faded and disappointed most Trojans fans.

If USC wins the national championship this year by going wire to wire, it will have accomplished a goal few others have attained. Most fans hope that the preseason pick to win it all will be an SEC team such as Alabama or LSU to put the pressure on someone else.

One thing is for sure, every team the Trojans face will get up for USC and play their best game against the over-hyped Trojans. And, you can be sure that teams like Oregon and Notre Dame will be looking for redemption after last season’s disappointing losses.

There is going to be a lot of hype and chest-beating between now and the season opener of 2012. Thankfully, games decide the national championship; not late-winter or early-spring hype.