USC Football 2011: USC May Not Be Eligible but Rankings Mean Everything for 2012

Thanks to Reggie Bush, the USC Trojans were forced to vacate a lot of wins, a national championship, lost 30 scholarships over three years and received a post season ban which extends up through this year. Bush was found to have 18 different instances of violations, including cash payments, a house for his parents, a car, travel, clothes and food.

Whether the fans agree with the punishment, especially given the revelations surrounding Paul Dee, commissioner of the NCAA Committee of Infractions, and athletic director for the bulk of the time Nevin Schapiro allegedly provided benefits to Miami players, the punishment still stands and the Trojans can’t compete in a bowl this season.

But that doesn’t mean this season isn’t important. In fact, Southern Cal will need a great season this year in order to make it to a bowl next year.

The first and most obvious thing to gain from a solid season is experience for players and the recruiting boost from kids seeing that they can still win football games while on probation.

The second thing is the quantifiable benefit to the rest of the Pac-12. The more ranked teams the league has, the stronger its national perception. The stronger the national perception of the conference, the more likely it is to land multiple BCS bids or get a team to the national championship with a couple of losses.

But the third is how much USC will benefit from finishing the season with a high rank, thus setting themselves up for a strong preseason 2012 ranking.

The Trojans typically have a lot of kids leave for the NFL, either early or post-graduation, and this year looks to continue the trend. Matt Barkley is being projected as a first round pick and seven other projected starters are seniors, though some of them may still have a redshirt year available.

Should a mass exodus take place like what happened at Auburn, USC will need a great season to keep them in the preseason top 25. To compare, Auburn won the national title last year and is currently ranked 22^nd in this season’s preseason AP poll.

If there aren’t too many departures, the Trojans will need as high a preseason ranking if it wants to reach the national championship game over powerhouses like Alabama, LSU and Florida State who have been recruiting at the highest levels and have ten more scholarships to offer players.

Lane Kiffin’s merit as a coach, as well as Monte Kiffin’s, will largely be determined in this tough year with games at Arizona State, Notre Dame and Oregon and home games against Stanford, Arizona and Utah.

Oregon is currently the best of the league but it may not be so much longer if the NCAA proves they paid to get players like Lache Seastrunk. Stanford was great last year and looks to continue its success but a new head coach and soon no Andrew Luck will likely derail those aspirations quickly.

If USC wants to retake its spot at the top of the Pac-12, it will need a great 2012 season. And that starts with its performance and ranking in 2011. 

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