USC Football: How Will the Trojans (and Their Fans) Define Success in 2012?

For most college football programs, a successful season would mean that their teams have a winning record and perhaps make a significant postseason bowl game.

That is not the case for the USC Trojans, certainly not in 2012.

From the moment that quarterback Matt Barkley uttered those memorable words, stating that there was "unfinished business to attend to," notions of much bigger prizes began to dance in the heads of those who follow the men of Troy.

But what exactly is that "unfinished business"?

Is it a Pac-12 title? A victory in a BCS bowl game? Or dare I say it, a national championship?

What constitutes "success" for the 2012 USC Trojans?

For a team coming off of two years of postseason bowl bans, many might say simply playing beyond the regular season would be considered a success.

Others might argue that, no, this is the USC Trojans, a proud and legendary program that went 10-2 in 2011 when they had nothing but pride to play for.

Those same people would likely point out that this season's Trojans will return a young but veteran team, one that will be led by probably the most talented quarterback in the nation, that same noble Trojan who started all this talk of national championships when he told his adoring fans that he would be coming back for 2012.

So we are now left with determining what the appropriate expectations are for the Trojans in 2012.

Or maybe we are asking the wrong question altogether.

Perhaps it would serve those who follow the program better to ask what would define disappointment for USC in 2012.

If the Trojans make it to a BCS game but lose, does that mean this season was a failure?

Does the same go for the title game?

Is 12-1 a failure? For some, the answer will be a resounding yes!

In the final analysis, each person who follows the Trojans will have different criteria for what defines success for their team in the upcoming season.

What is certain is that those expectations will be huge for the cardinal and gold this year.

But thankfully, their quarterback, the same one that started the ball rolling on this conversation, has even higher expectations.

And you can be certain that if he is pleased with 2012, then so are the fans.